Your Reject of the Race - Monaco!

[Captain Hammer]

No-one's shown themselves to be a Reject just yet, but there's still plenty of time to go.

Discuss.

[K-RON]

Caught some of the BBCs coverage online today, nice to see kamikaze kobayashi putting the sauber into a wall, he hasn't done that for a while

[CarlosFerreira]

Too early to say, but has di Grassi, in the old Virgin, beaten Glock in the new spec car in the second practice, after being beaten for a second in the first session? Unless Glock catches up, he's a shoo-in. Too early to judge, though.

[Tealy]

Got to think Kobayashi and Senna will bin it pretty early in this race. If by some miracle it rains on Sunday then Massa could be in contention too.

[Captain Hammer]

Based on FP2, I'm going to say alarmist propaganda. There have been concerns about the traffic for a week now, with speclation that the new teams would compromise the flying laps of the established teams. Yet in FP2, it was Massa who impeded Kovalainen ...

[P_Friesacher]

Yet in FP2, it was Massa who impeded Kovalainen ...

AND Glock!

[AndreaModa]

Loved Hekki's little dive in at Anthony Nogues though! Now THATS how to overtake round Monaco!

Senna did 11 laps in FP2, and was around 2 seconds off Chandhok so if he doesn't up it soon he must be looking good for the honours (2 straight races in a row?!)

[Phoenix]

Potentially, I'd say Vettel, but maybe it'd be more fair to say Kobayashi. Let's see...

[FullMetalJack]

Senna did 11 laps in FP2, and was around 2 seconds off Chandhok so if he doesn't up it soon he must be looking good for the honours (2 straight races in a row?!)

Has anyone been ROTR two races in a row?

[Cynon]

Ralf Schumacher

[Klon]

Ralf Schumacher

His second one was "only" a shared nomination though, so I'd think it'd be the first real clean sweep

[LionZoo]

So far it's been pre-race predictions for me. Before the race the walk was how Red Bull was untouchable and that McLaren was going to be really strong. Instead we have two Ferraris and two Mercedes in the top 5 after FP2.

[Captain Hammer]

Hispania because Bruno Senna reportedly damaged his chassis in Barcelona and the team have not been able to work out what is wrong with it, so he's forced to run the race wth a car that is even slower than it should be.

[CarlosFerreira]

Hispania because Bruno Senna reportedly damaged his chassis in Barcelona and the team have not been able to work out what is wrong with it, so he's forced to run the race wth a car that is even slower than it should be.

They're Mercedes standard, then.

[Valrys]

Hispania because Bruno Senna reportedly damaged his chassis in Barcelona and the team have not been able to work out what is wrong with it, so he's forced to run the race wth a car that is even slower than it should be.

Seriously? Good lord, I love HRT, but that's verging on Andrea Moda'esque

[Captain Hammer]

But it wasn't pre-meditated. And the car has clearly passed scruitineering. It may not even be physical damage; Senna claims something is wrong at the end of the car, but HRT haven't been able to find anything wrong. They haven't have long to look, either, and it's not like they would ever be able to bring something to replace it in time for the race.

[Malta Shadows F1]

Hispania because Bruno Senna reportedly damaged his chassis in Barcelona and the team have not been able to work out what is wrong with it, so he's forced to run the race wth a car that is even slower than it should be.

Seriously? Good lord, I love HRT, but that's verging on Andrea Moda'esque

na, not yet, they have done fairly well up too this point, and with only 4 days between the races, and a very limited budget this does not surprise me all that much. now its not fixed by the next race....then we got issues.

[FullMetalJack]

Any driver who complains about the backmarkers holding them up.

[mario]

Hispania because Bruno Senna reportedly damaged his chassis in Barcelona and the team have not been able to work out what is wrong with it, so he's forced to run the race wth a car that is even slower than it should be.

They're Mercedes standard, then.

Except Dallara probably won't make another chassis for HRT, given how little support they have given them so far.
On a side note, there was a painful moment for HRT when it was pointed out that Chandhok's fastest lap was barely a tenth faster then the GP2 cars - in fact, during FP1, HRT was actually slower then the top 6 cars in GP2. All in all, if anybody is going to be a moving road block, it'll probably be Bruno, thanks to the problems he has been having with his car.
Also, the Radio 5 coverage of the practise session provided the listeners with some quality lines from Davidson, including one bit where he was talking about how easy it was to clout the barriers at Monaco, and not realise that you'd actually hit one. He mentioned how he once came in from a practise stint during free practise, and after taking a quick look at the car, the chief mechanic said to him "Did you whack a barrier on that run?", to which Davidson said "No, I don't recall doing that". The mechanic then replied "In that case, how did you get that massive mark on your rear right tyre then?"
But if you do get a chance to see the practise session, I hope that they have some onboard footage of Kubica, because he was extremely aggressive, throwing the car around in the sort of way that Gilles Villeneuve would approve of. It was quite something to watch - and despite all of that, he was very quick as well. I wish that I'd put him higher up the list for my predictions for Monaco this weekend, because he could well get himself onto the podium at this rate, and fully on merit.

Any driver who complains about the backmarkers holding them up.

That is basically what Jarno Trulli has said in this article http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83597 where he says that the teams will only have themselves to blame if traffic ruins somebody's lap (which it almost certainly will at some point - we've already seen a few near misses in practise, and I can forsee the strong possibility of a crash in qualifying, particularly if it is wet and the visibility is poor).

[FullMetalJack]

Any driver who complains about the backmarkers holding them up.

That is basically what Jarno Trulli has said in this article http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83597 where he says that the teams will only have themselves to blame if traffic ruins somebody's lap (which it almost certainly will at some point - we've already seen a few near misses in practise, and I can forsee the strong possibility of a crash in qualifying, particularly if it is wet and the visibility is poor).

Just because of that, Trulli is exempt from this rounds ROTR.

[Cynon]

Any driver who complains about the backmarkers holding them up.

That is basically what Jarno Trulli has said in this article http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83597 where he says that the teams will only have themselves to blame if traffic ruins somebody's lap (which it almost certainly will at some point - we've already seen a few near misses in practise, and I can forsee the strong possibility of a crash in qualifying, particularly if it is wet and the visibility is poor).

Just because of that, Trulli is exempt from this rounds ROTR.

Even if he engages ARCA brakes in turn 1 and wrecks the entire field in front of him?

[DemocalypseNow]

I hope Senna's HRT lasts until the end of the race, just so it can act as a mobile chicane for the whole race and make everyone crash who tries to pass him.

Which would make anyone who failed to get past Senna ROTR.

[Klon]

Even if he engages ARCA brakes in turn 1 and wrecks the entire field in front of him?

Especially then...

[mario]

Any driver who complains about the backmarkers holding them up.

That is basically what Jarno Trulli has said in this article http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83597 where he says that the teams will only have themselves to blame if traffic ruins somebody's lap (which it almost certainly will at some point - we've already seen a few near misses in practise, and I can forsee the strong possibility of a crash in qualifying, particularly if it is wet and the visibility is poor).

Just because of that, Trulli is exempt from this rounds ROTR.

To be fair to them, the Lotus duo, and their competitors over at Virgin Racing, are closer to the pace this time around - Lotus are about 3 seconds off the pace, with Heikki a second off De La Rosa (and that was without trying the softer tyre, which is probably worth a few tenths), with Virgin Racing perhaps a tenth or two behind. So, roadblocks they may be, but everybody was managing to trip over each other at the end of FP3, thanks to Massa going very slowly out of Nogues corner and backing everybody up (possibly in retaliation to Petrov for holding him up on one of his fast laps).
Only HRT are diabolically slow, being over 1.7s off the Virgin Racing cars, and nearly 5 seconds off the pace in total. As Davidson pointed out, they are barely faster then a GP2 car, and not as well organised as a GP2 team - they managed to send Chandhok out with a wonky steering wheel.

[CarlosFerreira]

Only HRT are diabolically slow, being over 1.7s off the Virgin Racing cars, and nearly 5 seconds off the pace in total. As Davidson pointed out, they are barely faster then a GP2 car, and not as well organised as a GP2 team - they managed to send Chandhok out with a wonky steering wheel.

mario, about this and your previous post regarding HRT, do you know what is their production situation? Do they have the capacity to produce a new monocoque if needed? I am supposing most of the bit and bobs come from outside suppliers anyway, but I'd imagine Dallara was building the big, structural carbon fiber bits, so they may have a problem there.

In short: should one of the drivers stuff it big time today or tomorrow (knock on wood, etc), would the team be able to provide a new car for Turkey?

They're looking horrid this weekend. Not only do they have a substandard chassis, it looks like they're also coming up with a substandard preparation level.

[TomWazzleshaw]

My ROTR nomination so far: Fernando Alonso. For binning at Massenet during Practice when not much was up for grabs.

[CarlosFerreira]

My ROTR nomination so far: Fernando Alonso. For binning at Massenet during Practice when not much was up for grabs.

He did a Petrov there, that's for sure... but let's not forget he'd been fastest all weekend up to that point, and nothing much is lost at this stage.

EDIT: turns out I was wrong, Autosport's Jonathan Noble has just tweeted that Nando's car is too badly damaged, and so he won't be taking part in qualy today. Oh boy...

[Cynon]

ROTR to Alonso if he does nothing else with his Monaco weekend, because he'll have effectively thrown away the race win!

[mario]

Only HRT are diabolically slow, being over 1.7s off the Virgin Racing cars, and nearly 5 seconds off the pace in total. As Davidson pointed out, they are barely faster then a GP2 car, and not as well organised as a GP2 team - they managed to send Chandhok out with a wonky steering wheel.

mario, about this and your previous post regarding HRT, do you know what is their production situation? Do they have the capacity to produce a new monocoque if needed? I am supposing most of the bit and bobs come from outside suppliers anyway, but I'd imagine Dallara was building the big, structural carbon fiber bits, so they may have a problem there.

In short: should one of the drivers stuff it big time today or tomorrow (knock on wood, etc), would the team be able to provide a new car for Turkey?

They're looking horrid this weekend. Not only do they have a substandard chassis, it looks like they're also coming up with a substandard preparation level.

I would assume that HRT might have one more chassis available to them, as they are allowed to bring the components to build up a third car, including a spare chassis. So, if one of the drivers was to have a big crash, either here or during the next few races, then I think that they could possibly put another car together - but that would probably be it, and it would be a big strain on their budget.

However, as to actually producing a monocoque in house, that would not be possible at the moment, as they simply don't have an autoclave large enough for a large component, such as the chassis, to cure in, nor do they have enough skilled technicians who know how to work with carbon fibre to produce the larger, load bearing structures. They are looking to get those facilities ready for 2011, and we might hear something on that front at Canada, according to Kolles http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83611
Either way, HRT are struggling - the car just doesn't look as if it has been set up correctly, and they've been having mechanical problems as well, so they've lost a lot of time in the practise sessions. And we now know that Bernie is concerned about their finances; however, he says that he is going round and trying to find more sponsors for the team, and is doing his best to make sure that all the new teams make it into their second season. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83600

That said, thanks to Alonso's practise rash, they'll be qualifying ahead of one Ferrari today - and I guess that we could well have a repeat of the Coulthard-Bernoldi battle on Sunday. Although a bit unlucky, this has effectively thrown away any chance for Alonso to get ahead of any of the title contenders this weekend, save for a freak event in qualifying which puts all of his rivals far down the grid as well.

[CarlosFerreira]

I would assume that HRT might have one more chassis available to them, as they are allowed to bring the components to build up a third car, including a spare chassis. So, if one of the drivers was to have a big crash, either here or during the next few races, then I think that they could possibly put another car together - but that would probably be it, and it would be a big strain on their budget.

However, as to actually producing a monocoque in house, that would not be possible at the moment, as they simply don't have an autoclave large enough for a large component, such as the chassis, to cure in, nor do they have enough skilled technicians who know how to work with carbon fibre to produce the larger, load bearing structures. They are looking to get those facilities ready for 2011, and we might hear something on that front at Canada, according to Kolles http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83611

This is really unpleasant for them. I really wonder if it was them or Dallara that burned the bridges.

[RAK]

Looking like an early decision on Fernando Alonso, and I'd tend to agree - if it weren't for the fact that it'll probably add a bit more excitement to a usually processional race. Looking forward to him struggling to get past the Hispanias... and the Virgins... and the Loti, among others.

[tc3j3r]

Mark Webber for spoiling the fairytale qualifying result.
The TV director for spending more time showing Alonso standing in the garage than any of the drivers who actually participated in qualifying.

[Salamander]

Mark Webber for spoiling the fairytale qualifying result.

Ditto.

[shinji]

The TV director for spending more time showing Alonso standing in the garage than any of the drivers who actually participated in qualifying.

I know, I'd understand if it was Spain, but really, who cares. It wasn't like he was doing anything interesting either.

[Ferrim]

Alonso has taken an early lead on this one. But he could still redeem himself.

On the other hand, Kubica is looking great for the IIDOTR, although I must say that it isn't completely unexpected for me.

[Cynon]

Alonso has taken an early lead on this one. But he could still redeem himself.

On the other hand, Kubica is looking great for the IIDOTR, although I must say that it isn't completely unexpected for me.

I'd say Petrov might have a hand on that if he doesn't wreck again. He's got some promising (at least, this week) pace and knows how to overtake bucketloads of cars in a short period of time... Alternatively, give it to Renault as a whole. But then again, doesn't the Renault have a really short wheelbase?

[mario]

Alonso has taken an early lead on this one. But he could still redeem himself.

On the other hand, Kubica is looking great for the IIDOTR, although I must say that it isn't completely unexpected for me.

I'd say Petrov might have a hand on that if he doesn't wreck again. He's got some promising (at least, this week) pace and knows how to overtake bucketloads of cars in a short period of time... Alternatively, give it to Renault as a whole. But then again, doesn't the Renault have a really short wheelbase?

Renault do have a shorter wheelbase, although both Red Bull and Ferrari have longer wheelbases and are still similar on pace (and Mercedes might actually have a shorter wheel base, although I'll need to check that). Although that will help, the car does have good mechanical grip, and very good rear traction (Kubica was able to get on the power very early out of tighter corners, like Rascasse). Moreover, the RS27 is said to have a fairly smooth power delivery, and the development rate on the R30 is pretty strong.
We'll have to wait and see, though, what happens tomorrow; Renault are in a very strong position (Kubica may yet still fancy his chances for the win if he can get on the inside of Webber off the start), and must fancy their chances of getting a very healthy points haul this weekend.

[mario]

I would assume that HRT might have one more chassis available to them, as they are allowed to bring the components to build up a third car, including a spare chassis. So, if one of the drivers was to have a big crash, either here or during the next few races, then I think that they could possibly put another car together - but that would probably be it, and it would be a big strain on their budget.

However, as to actually producing a monocoque in house, that would not be possible at the moment, as they simply don't have an autoclave large enough for a large component, such as the chassis, to cure in, nor do they have enough skilled technicians who know how to work with carbon fibre to produce the larger, load bearing structures. They are looking to get those facilities ready for 2011, and we might hear something on that front at Canada, according to Kolles http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/83611

This is really unpleasant for them. I really wonder if it was them or Dallara that burned the bridges.

It seems that they both set fire to their sides of the bridge; before being bought out, there was talk that Campos had been very slow on paying Dallara, and missed a number of payments. From Dallara's point of view, Campos would have looked like a liability, since they were uncertain of being paid. That probably would have made Dallara very unhappy with HRT; the comments of Kolles, continually castigating Dallara and blaming them for their problems, have simply finished off what was already a strained relationship.

[CarlosFerreira]

It seems that they both set fire to their sides of the bridge; before being bought out, there was talk that Campos had been very slow on paying Dallara, and missed a number of payments. From Dallara's point of view, Campos would have looked like a liability, since they were uncertain of being paid. That probably would have made Dallara very unhappy with HRT; the comments of Kolles, continually castigating Dallara and blaming them for their problems, have simply finished off what was already a strained relationship.

I have asked myself in the past why was it that, as soon as Kolles popped in, he started shooting at Dallara. That Dallara would hardly answer back I can understand - they work with so many people, they can't risk making costumers wary just to answer one disgruntled man. All very strange, though.

[Dj_bereta]

Fernando Alonso Throw away a possible podium.