The 2013 Grand Prix of Monaco is finally here. There is no Formula 1 event more glamorous or race track more challenging than the race through the streets of Monaco. The challenges of this race are plenty. The narrow streets closely lined with barriers, the bumpy and changing road surface, and unpredictable weather. Getting a pole position is crucial to winning this grand prix because it’s incredibly difficult to pass on Sunday.
Today was full of action. Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean crashed in separate incidents during the final morning practice. Massa’s Ferrari suffered heavy front and rear damage. Both Ferrari and Lotus teams scrambled to fix their cars. Lotus was able to bring Grosjean’s car back to life with under five minutes remaining in the Q1 session. He was able to advance to Q2 and finish qualifying in 13th place. Ferrari team had to change Massa’s transmission and were unable to put the car back together in time. He will start the Sunday race dead last.
Weather kept playing games with intermittent showers and drivers remained on intermediate wet tires throughout Q1 and Q2. But the track started to dry out during Q3. The times kept getting faster and faster with drivers leap frogging one another in the closing minutes. Nico Rosberg crossed the line right after teammate Lewis Hamilton and took pole position by under one tenth. Sebastian Vettel tried to better the boys from Mercedes, but was unable to do so.
Mercedes locked out the front row and is in prime position for tomorrow’s race. That being said, Monaco is one of the most unpredictable circuits, and any number of crashes can dramatically change the outcome. And if it rains, then all bets are off. Tomorrow is going to be great!
2013 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco Qualifying Results (Top 10):
| Nico RosBerg | 1:13.876 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 1:13.967 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 1:13.980 |
| Mark Webber | 1:14.181 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 1:14.822 |
| Fernando Alonso | 1:14.824 |
| Sergio Perez | 1:15.138 |
| Adrian Sutil | 1:15.383 |
| Jenson Button | 1:15.647 |
| Jean-Eric Vergne | 1:15.703 |
Check out this fun TFLcar review of the 2013 Mercedes SL 550:
Andre Smirnov is a life-long automotive enthusiast, software engineer, writer, and reporter. He has been writing and reporting at TFLcar since 2011. When not working or spending time with the family – you can find him tinkering in the garage or scouring the internet and other media for various automotive, mechanical, and computer related information.
