May 24
Q. When you had to give the place back to Sebastian Vettel, did you expect him to come past you a bit earlier than he did?
Felipe Massa: Yes. I think it was a little bit of a mistake from my side because I cut the chicane and I went to the wrong side – because I went to the right. It would have been better to go to the left and make Vettel pass me on the right and then I am inside for the corner – it was a bit stupid from my side so I lost the corner there. Fortunately I got the place back after.
Q. From the second stint onwards, you had the pace of the Brawns, so did you have a car that could have won?
FM: I think we need to analyse the second stint, compared to Jenson – and if we had a similar pace then maybe we had the car to win the race if I started from pole position.
Q. So what do you think was still missing?
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May 24
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said that his team’s results in the Monaco Grand Prix marked “just the start” of its fightback against the dominant Brawns.
Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa finished third and fourth in the race to give the Italian squad its best helping of points this year.
Domenicali then warned its rivals that Ferrari will continue to close the gap on the front-runners as the season wears on.
“For sure we’re very happy with the result because it shows that what we’re doing at home at this moment is good and that we are working in the right direction,” Domenicali told BBC TV.
“The Brawns are for sure the best at the moment, but we are catching up and getting closer, so this is very positive.
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May 24
Jenson Button continued his dream start to the 2009 season in Monaco by leading Brawn’s second straight one-two sweep, beating his team-mate Rubens Barrichello again.
Ferrari enjoyed its best race of the year so far to take third and fourth with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, but Mark Webber’s fifth place was little consolation for Brawn’s usual main rival Red Bull, which saw Sebastian Vettel crash out early on.
Flawless starts from Button and Barrichello established the Brawn duo in first and second places by the opening corner, with Raikkonen fending off Vettel to hold on to third.
Both the Brawns and Vettel had started on the delicate super soft tyres, and it was the Red Bull that started to struggle first – soon lapping as much as three seconds off the pace.
That allowed Massa, Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen to close right in, with Massa crawling all over the Red Bull until he cut the chicane in avoidance when caught out by its early braking. The Ferrari then lost out to the opportunistic Rosberg as well as he let Vettel back past.
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May 24
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
The Monaco Grand Prix
Monte Carlo, Monaco, Monaco;
78 laps; 260.520km;
Weather: Sunny.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Button Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) 1h40:44.282
2. Barrichello Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) + 7.666
3. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 13.443
4. Massa Ferrari (B) + 15.110
5. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 15.730
6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 33.586
7. Alonso Renault (B) + 37.839
8. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1:03.142
9. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) + 1:05.040
10. Glock Toyota (B) + 1 lap
11. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 1 lap
12. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 1 lap
13. Trulli Toyota (B) + 1 lap
14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) + 1 lap
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 2 laps
Fastest lap: Massa, 1:15.154
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 52
Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 31
Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 16
Piquet Renault (B) 11
Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 11
World Championship standings, round 6:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Button 51 1. Brawn GP-Mercedes 86
2. Barrichello 35 2. Red Bull-Renault 42.5
3. Vettel 23 3. Toyota 26.5
4. Webber 19.5 4. Ferrari 17
5. Trulli 14.5 5. McLaren-Mercedes 13
6. Glock 12 6. Renault 11
7. Alonso 11 7. Williams-Toyota 7.5
8. Raikkonen 9 8. BMW Sauber 6
9. Hamilton 9 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 5
10. Massa 8
11. Rosberg 7.5
12. Heidfeld 6
13. Kovalainen 4
14. Buemi 3
15. Bourdais 2
All timing unofficial
May 23
Ferrari says that qualifying both its cars in the top five for the Monaco Grand Prix – with Kimi Raikkonen just 0.025s away from pole – is proof that the team has improved the initially uncompetitive F60.
Following Massa’s racey showing in Barcelona two weeks ago, Raikkonen put Ferrari on the front row for the first time in 2009 while Felipe Massa qualified fifth despite not getting a clear lap throughout Q3.
“This is a good result and confirms the team is working well,” said team principal Stefano Domenicali. “There’s obviously slight regret at Kimi missing out on pole by a whisker and at the fact that Felipe hardly managed a single clean lap in Q3, which prevented him from getting a better grid position.
“Overall, we can be reasonably satisfied: we are in a good position for tomorrow’s race and we have confirmed that we have made progress on the performance front over these past few weeks.
“There is still some way to go but we’re moving in the right direction.”
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May 23
Jenson Button took his fourth pole position of the season in a frenetic qualifying session for the Monaco Grand Prix.
The championship leader kept a relatively low profile for most of the hour, then charged to the front with his final Q3 lap, beating surprise front row man Kimi Raikkonen to the top spot by 0.025 seconds.
But there was disaster for last year’s winner Lewis Hamilton, who had been tipped as a dark horse contender for pole given McLaren’s faith in its Monaco package. The world champion crashed in Q1 and will start 16th.
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Nico Rosberg (Williams) both held provisional pole early in Q3, before Raikkonen showed Ferrari’s resurgent form by producing a 1m14.927s in the closing seconds.
But even as the Finn completed the lap, Button was going even faster, crossing the line a few seconds later to snatch pole away and further strengthen his championship prospects.
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