Renault, McLaren and Red Bull lead the way.

By Parminio
May 19 2005

Red Bull's David Coulthard jumped into the number 3 spot in final Thursday practice for the Monaco GP with his teamate Liuzzi parking his car in 7th.

Red Bull's David Coulthard jumped into the number 3 spot in final Thursday practice for the Monaco GP with his teamate Liuzzi parking his car in 7th. That was the biggest surprise of the day. The next biggest surprise was the lack of pace by Ferrari.

Both Ferrari's looked pretty dismal. Rubens had several moments, topped off with a spin and Michael Schumacher had plenty of moments topped off by straight-lining the chicane after the tunnel. It looked as though the Ferrari just could not stop at all. Rubens spin was very similar in nature as well. It was as if both the red cars were driving on ice.

Not knowing fuel loads is of course a major factor. If the Ferrari's were running in race trim and nobody else was, they would be in good shape. But the look on Michael Schumacher's face said otherwise. It's painfully obvious so far that Bridgestone still has some work to do.

Back at McLaren however, things are looking good. The cars looked very stable throughout the circuit and neither Juan, Kimi or Wurz appeared to have any problems at all.

Alonso in his Renault however, looked untouchable. The car was simply smooth as silk around the circuit.

Qualifying on Saturday should be an adventure of sorts, as now that Thrusday practice is over, the walls come down and the track is given back to the city. That means the early runners will be the street sweepers for the drivers qualifying at the end of the order.

That does not bode well at all for Michael Schumacher as he will be the 4th driver out to qualify.