Monaco GP: Luke's view; Race


By Luke Marc Carlile-Stanton
May 25 2008

It was a race full of action and drama and after a good start for both drivers, Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli could only come home 12th and 13th after suffering incident themselves. Jarno having tire issues and Glock finding the barriers several times. Meanwhile up front after a crash into the wall in the opening laps Mclaren driver Lewis Hamilton took the win.

Robert Kubica came home second in the BMW-Sauber with Ferrari driver Felipe Massa rounding out the podium. Mark Webber took fourth for Red Bull Racing with Sebastian Vettel getting his first points of the season in fifth for Scuderia Toro Rosso in fifth and Rubens Barrichello getting his first points since 2006 finishing in sixth place for Honda.

Williams Toyota driver Kazuki Nakajima was seventh with Mclaren's Heikki Kovalainen bouncing back and rounding out the points ater stalling on the formation lap. Fellow Finn and reigning World Champion Kimi Raikkonen could only manage ninth after an accident prone race. Former double World Champion Fernando Alonso had an equally eventful race and rounded out the top ten in the Renault.

Honda's Jenson Button was 13th ahead of Timo and Jarno with Nick Heidfeld finishing 14th in the BMW-Sauber...but 4 laps back.

Driver of the day...well it can only go to one man. Adrian Sutil drove a fantastic race and was on course for a fourth place until after a saftey car period he was place in an unusual position for a Force India driver; being in between the two Ferrari's of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. Under pressure from Raikkonen coming out of the tunnel, the World Champion lost control of his Ferrari in the braking area crashing into the back of Sutil. It ripped off Raikkonen's front wing and damaged Sutil's Force India enough for him to retire.

Joining Sutil in the non finishers was Scudeira Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Bourdais, Red Bull Racings David Coulthard, Force India team mate Giancarlo Fisichella  in his 200th Grand Prix), Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr and Williams Toyota's Nico Rosberg.

So it was a disappointing race for Toyota after looking promosing after the start. Timo got to know the Monaco barriers very well in the end and Toyota going the wrong way on strategy meant Jarno was helpless. But lets hope for better luck next time out.

Next race: The Canadian Grand Prix.

2008 Monaco Grand Prix: Race Result

1 L. HamiltonMcLaren2:00:42.742
2 R. KubicaBMW+ 3.064
3 F. MassaFerrari+ 4.811
4 M. WebberRed Bull+ 19.295
5 S. VettelScuderia Toro Rosso+ 24.657
6 R. BarrichelloHonda+ 28.408
7 K. NakajimaWilliams+ 30.180
8 H. KovalainenMcLaren+ 33.191
9 K. RäikkönenFerrari+ 33.792
10 F. AlonsoRenault+ 1 laps
11 J. ButtonHonda+ 1 laps
12 T. GlockToyota+ 1 laps
13 J. TrulliToyota+ 1 laps
14 N. HeidfeldBMW+ 4 laps
Non finishers
15 A. SutilForce India F1+ 7 laps
16 N. RosbergWilliams+ 17 laps
17 N. Piquet jr.Renault+ 31 laps
18 G. FisichellaForce India F1+ 40 laps
19 D. CoulthardRed Bull+ 70 laps
20 S. BourdaisScuderia Toro Rosso+ 70 laps