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Monaco F1 Grand Prix 2012: Qualifying Report - Michael Schumacher achieves 69th pole position of his career

By Adji | Published Saturday, 26 May 2012

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg qualified in first and third positions during this afternoon’s qualifying session for the 70th Monaco Grand Prix. Following a 5-place grid penalty, Michael will start from sixth position on the grid tomorrow, while Nico will line up in second place.

• Michael qualified on pole for the first time since the 2006 French Grand Prix but will start from P6 after a grid penalty
• Nico’s third place in qualifying will translated to a front row start for tomorrow’s race
• Last year, Sebastian Vettel qualified on pole by 0.441s; today, the same gap covered the top five qualifiers!

Michael Schumacher
“It is simply a wonderful feeling to set pole after such a long time, and particularly here in Monaco. Okay, it has taken a little bit longer than I might have wanted in the second chapter of my career, but that makes it even sweeter. It’s just beautiful. We already thought that this circuit should suit us, and it’s the perfect confirmation of all the work from every team member in Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart - a big thank you to every one of them, because this is a team result. Of course, it’s unfortunate that I won’t start from the very front but that’s how it is. I will do as well as I can. We know that overtaking is tough but with DRS and KERS, you might as well try it - and you can be sure I will.”

Nico Rosberg
“I am pleased with the result today and especially for what we have shown as a team in the past few weeks. We have had a couple of difficult races since the win in China but there has been a lot of hard work to turn it round, and today we were on top as a team which is great to see. Thank you to everybody back at base who has brought us back to the front again. I had a pretty smooth qualifying session, and managed to save two sets of new super soft tyres for the race, but it was just so close out there this afternoon, it’s incredible and fantastic for Formula One. Congratulations to Michael, he did a fantastic job. Of course, I am sorry for him that he must take the penalty, but that means I will be on the front row in Monaco. And at a race where overtaking can be so difficult, that’s a great place to start.”

Ross Brawn
“It was a wonderful qualifying session and we are obviously delighted. Michael will take a five-place penalty tomorrow, but today he was the quickest guy out there - congratulations to him. Nico did a fantastic job as well, and was in the hunt for pole throughout the session. Having both drivers in the top three shows that the team has done a superb job this weekend to dial in the car and follow the evolution of the track. But it was a real team effort today and my thanks also to everyone back at the factories in Brackley and Brixworth. Now, we have one more step to make. Last year, we suffered big problems with the tyres at the beginning of the race. That is something we must avoid tomorrow.”

Norbert Haug
“What a phenomenal performance from Michael. He was the fastest man on track today when it counted and Michael truly deserves this P1 result. His five-place penalty puts him back on the third row while Nico will start from the front row tomorrow. Thank you to everybody in our team for a great effort today. Inside our team, our belief in Michael was never in danger and this has paid off big time.”

~ Official photos and report courtesy of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS ~

Copyright © 2012, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Posted in 2012, f1, grand prix, mbamgf1, mercedes amg petronas, monaco, qualifying, report, saturday | Leave a comment

Monaco F1 Grand Prix 2012: Qualifying Report - Lewis Hamilton 4th, Jenson Button 13th

By Adji

LEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-27A-03
- P3 programme: 1m15.734s (+0.575s), 19 laps, 7th
- Qualifying:
- Q1: 12th, 1m16.063s
- Q2: 5th, 1m15.166s
- Q3: 4th*, 1m14.583s

* Following a 5-place grid penalty awarded to Michael Schumacher after the race incident in which he was involved in the previous race at Barcelona, Lewis Hamilton starts the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday from 3rd.

“I’ve had a good feeling all weekend, but his afternoon was massively tough: one of my toughest qualifying sessions for some time, in fact. And there are two great drivers ahead of me who’ll make it even tougher for me tomorrow.

“I’m fortunate to be one place higher owing to Michael’s penalty, but we struggled a little today, particularly with the very low-speed stuff. It was difficult to get the tyres to ‘switch on’ and give us the grip we needed.

“Still, qualifying was so much fun - I really enjoyed it - and the tyres and strategy can play a big part around here. If I get a good start, we’ll suddenly be in fighting position for the win.

“Anything can happen at Monaco and I’ll give everything tomorrow.”

JENSON BUTTON
- MP4-27A-03
- P3 programme: 1m15.471s (+0.312s), 19 laps, 5th
- Qualifying:
- Q1: 15th, 1m16.399s
- Q2: 13th*, 1m15.536s
- Q3: -

* Following a 10-place grid penalty awarded to Williams-Renault's Pastor Maldonado, Jenson Button starts the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday from 12th.

“Monaco is all about qualifying - that’s just the way it is - but I didn’t quite have the pace this afternoon. The car felt good this morning and we looked strong, but then we couldn’t translate that performance when it mattered.

“It’s strange, because it’s there at certain points of the weekend – even this morning, in P3, the car felt good and I was pretty happy. I’m hoping that our pace will be better in the race - but it’s very tricky to overtake here.

“The drivers around me are going to be on the same strategy, so it’s going to be tough, but as always we’ll do our best. I’ve only finished in the points at Monaco three times before - in first, second and third positions.

“I hope I get another one of those tomorrow!”

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“Our car is reasonably good on the few high-speed corners there are here at Monaco, and it’s pretty decent in terms of traction too. Under braking, however, we’re slightly struggling because it would appear that we aren’t managing to get quite enough energy into the tyres.

“As a result of that, Jenson narrowly missed out on making it through to Q3. But it was an incredibly close qualifying session, as we’ve got used to seeing so far this season. Lewis, for example, lost a tenth or two at Sainte Devote on his first run in Q3, but his second run was strong and solid for the most part - and, as a result, he’ll start tomorrow’s race from P3.

“Obviously, here at Monte-Carlo, where it’s notoriously difficult to overtake, you’d always prefer to be starting from the front row of the grid rather than heading up the second row – but the Monaco Grand Prix is always a long and gruelling race, and there’s no doubt that Lewis will be aiming to challenge the two cars ahead of him over the 78 laps.

“Moreover, tomorrow’s weather conditions may well be changeable, we’re told, which could make the shape of the race less predictable still. And, on this famously daunting street circuit, anything can happen, as we’ve seen so many times before.”