F1 Monaco Grand Prix: Mercedes Finally Manage The Tyres?

The Monaco Grand Prix, the most historic and glamorous F1 race on the calendar, is always set on the backdrop of vast wealth, with yachts and diamonds as far as the eye can see. Underneath all the materialism, a serious Formula 1 race takes place on the streets of Monte Carlo. Historically, McLaren are the most successful team around this famous circuit, but come to Monaco with a vastly inferior car than the team are used to. Red Bull and Ferrari have shared the majority of the race victories so far this season, with Kimi Raikkonen the only other man to win a Grand Prix outside these two constructors. Mercedes have promised much in qualifying, but have too often failed to deliver when the lights go out. In Monaco, where qualifying is of utmost importance, Mercedes had another chance to rectify this problem. However, even before the event started, the team was embroiled in controversy.

 

Mercedes, on the Saturday, were the subject of a Ferrari and Red Bull protest, accusing them of doing illegal testing. Pirelli, the F1 tyre supplier, used the Mercedes team to a tyre test between the Spanish and Monaco grand prix. As in-season testing is illegal in F1, the other top teams are now accusing the German constructors of attempting to gain an unfair advantage with the tyres. In defence of Mercedes, Pirelli made a statement, suggesting that they had a contract with the FIA, which allows the Italian suppliers to ‘limited testing’. This debate overshadowed the events of the race, as the dispute was to be determined after the event.

 

In practice session 3 (P3), the first real drama of the weekend on track unfolded, with carnage being the best adjective. Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean and Adrian Sutil all had significant impacts with the vicious Monaco barriers, with the Brazilian needing all four corners of his car replacing. This meant that he was unable to complete a qualifying lap, meaning that he would start from the very back of the grid. For a grand prix track like Monaco, this is a virtual death sentence in terms of points. With overtaking so difficult, any mistakes can prove pivotal for the whole weekend. Such mistakes got even more likely in qualifying.

 

Saturday morning broke with drizzle and rain hanging overhead, making track conditions even more perilous, and room for driver error even lower. Q1 saw havoc, as the changeable weather conditions saw all of the drivers out early to set banker laps, with the genuine possibility that any of the top runners could fall. The ever improving track conditions meant that the times tumbled towards the end of the session, leaving Paul di Resta the big name casualty in Q1. Caterham’s Guido van der Garde, on the other hand, was the primary beneficiary, progressing from Q1 for the first time in his career. Q2, on a drying track proved just as difficult for the drivers, as the switch to slick tyres seemed imminent but a wrong decision could cost you a place in the top 10. Despite the confusion, the only big name casualty from Q2 was Lotus driver Romain Grosjean. Fernando Alonso had looked like he was in trouble, but a good decision on tyres got him out of danger, and comfortably into Q3. Q3 was undertaken with the track practically bone dry, and the super soft tyres made their first proper appearance. This left Mercedes, and Nico Rosberg, to take their 4^th and 3^rd consecutive pole positions respectively. Even more importantly for the German constructors, Lewis Hamilton managed to put his car alongside Rosberg’s, giving Mercedes a first row lockout. A priceless achievement, with overtaking so difficult in Monaco, it allowed Mercedes to control the race pace.

 

The start of the race was typically chaotic, with cars attempting to go three abreast through what would ordinarily be a single file corner. Sebastian Vettel, knowing the importance of splitting the Mercedes drivers, started pressurising Hamilton intensely, giving the Brit a mirror full of Red Bull. However, he found it difficult to pass, allowing Rosberg to begin scampering away at the front. Further down the field, collisions between Pastor Maldonado and Guido van der Garde wrecked the pair’s race, and gave an indication of what was to come. The two McLaren drivers, after a dressing down post-Bahrain, continued to squabble, with Jenson Button’s ire all too evident over the radio. After the initial jostling for position, it became ever more obvious that this was to be a strategic race, meaning that whoever managed the tyres best would win, with the Mercedes being traditionally poor at this.

 

Felipe Massa’s weekend then went from bad to worse on lap 31, with the Brazilian involved in a carbon copy of his P3 crash, putting him out of the race, and into the hospital for checks. This brought the safety car out, eliminating Nico Rosberg’s lead, and allowing the Red Bulls to jump Lewis Hamilton in the stops, giving them the perfect opportunity to attack the race leader. However, after a long safety car period, it looked like the Mercedes’ tyres were in better shape than their Austrian counterparts, enabling Nico Rosberg to escape once more, and put Hamilton on the rear wing of Webber. Once again, due to the largely ineffectual DRS zone into St Devote, positions were maintained, meaning that up to half distance, Hamilton had to look at the rear wing of the Aussie’s Red Bull. Then, in a very crash-heavy Grand Prix, Marussia’s Max Chilton and Pastor Maldonado collided, skewing the Venezuelan into the barriers. Gilles Bianchi, the next man on the scene, careered into the already displaced barrier, bringing out the red flag.

 

This stop benefitted the Red Bull drivers, allowing them to change their badly worn tyres on the newly-formed grid. After a coming-together with Sergio Perez, championship-chasing Fernando Alonso was told to give the place back to the Mexican after the restart. This had disastrous consequences for the Ferrari man, with him falling back behind both Sutil and Button before the end of the race. Red Bull’s tyre changes also had relatively little effect, as once again Rosberg was able to scurry clear, and put Hamilton all over the back of Webber. Whilst little changed at the front, a final safety car period was still to come. Under pressure Lotus driver Romain Grosjean mistimed his braking point and careered into the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo. This will have done little to enamour himself to the Lotus bosses, and will also have annoyed Rosberg, as once again his hard-earned lead was eradicated. Nevertheless, despite these setbacks, the Mercedes driver held on to claim his first Monaco success, and become part of the first father-son pairing to win the historic grand prix, with father Keke having won the 1973 Monaco GP. Sebastien Vettel’s 2^nd place also represented a significant success, as his title rivals Alonso (7^th) and Raikkonen (10^th) both finished way down the field, extending the German’s overall lead. Despite his disappointing 10^th place finish, Kimi Raikkonen will still have cause to smile, as he extended his scoring run to 24 races, now just two behind Michael Schumacher’s record. Knowing the Finn though, he will not be smiling!

 

       The Monaco Grand Prix has often been criticised for a lack of overtaking, and this one did little to rectify that tag. It did, however, show fantastic driving skill to keep their cars out of the barriers at such speed, and entertainment when they failed to. The pre-race rhetoric was all about who could manage the tyres best. Mercedes clearly could, as they kept outrunning the Red Bulls after successive safety car stints. However, with the recent controversy, the question has to be asked whether they have managed to master the tyres through illegal means? I am certain that this row will rumble on for a while, and I hope it does not detract from future races.