Monaco – Qualifications: Schumacher returns, Webber on pole!

Despite the pessimistic weather forecast, the qualifications for the sixth round of the world championship will begin under clear skies. It will be a particularly important session for Michael Schumacher, who will be penalized five grid places following his collision with Bruno Senna in Barcelona, but especially for the most recent winner, Pastor Maldonado, who will have to drop 10 places due to his contact with Sergio Pérez during Free Practice 3.

Q1: Charles Pic and Jean-Eric Vergne open the track. Maldonado temporarily takes the lead in 1:19.773, quickly surpassed by Fernando Alonso in 1:17.128. Attacking, Sergio Pérez hits the rail at the Piscine and destroys his left rear tire as well as his steering. The Mexican immobilizes his Sauber at the Rascasse, the red flag is deployed fifteen minutes before the end of this first part of the session. Alonso leads Vergne, Kobayashi, Ricciardo, and Schumacher.

The session resumes while some top drivers haven’t recorded a timed lap: notably the Red Bulls, Button, and Massa. Hamilton and Schumacher improve and rank second and first respectively. Alonso positions himself between the two, before Rosberg takes the lead with 1:15.929. Schumacher improves by a tenth. Massa and Maldonado are behind the two Mercedes. Kobayashi touches the barrier just before Sainte-Dévote.

With five minutes remaining, the Lotus team make their move: Grosjean climbs into the top 10 while Räikkönen struggles more due to traffic. Hülkenberg takes the lead on super soft tires (red) with a time of 1:15.418. Grosjean falls short by three-tenths, but on soft tires.

Some top drivers are already using super soft tires, like Kimi Räikkönen who is struggling to qualify for Q2 and Sebastian Vettel who is also in an unusual position. Räikkönen moves up to sixth position and Vettel to fourth. At the back, Kovalainen falls short by 40 thousandths of a second to Vergne, the last qualifier.

It should be noted that all the drivers are within the 107% rule. For reference, in Q1 qualifying, drivers must achieve a time less than the 107% limit: the fastest lap of Q1 plus 7%. If they do not, their participation in the Grand Prix is subject to the stewards’ discretion. If a driver is outside the 107% at the end of Q1, they may be permitted to race if they have consistently set times below this limit during the three practice sessions.

Eliminated in Q1: Kovalainen, Petrov, Glock, De la Rosa, Pic, Karthikeyan, and Pérez.

Q2: Vergne is the first to set off, on super soft tires, and records a lap of 1:16.885. Rosberg quickly takes the lead, also on red tires, with a 1:15.022. Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, and Schumacher do not manage to surpass the German.

Jean-Eric Vergne hit the barrier and damaged his front wing and right rear suspension. He has to return to the pits at low speed, hindering the performance of other drivers, including Massa who arrived very quickly and had to slalom between the two Toro Rossos. It was at the tunnel exit where he lost his car, the same spot where Rosberg and Pérez crashed last year.

Six minutes from the end, Grosjean and Räikkönen’s Lotuses are still outside the top 10. The Finn cannot improve enough, while Grosjean is struggling. Massa, on the other hand, has no problem as he sets 1:14.911 and takes the lead. He is the first to go under a minute 15 this weekend. Vettel secures eighth place, temporarily knocking Grosjean out of Q3. Button is outside the top 10. Grosjean improves and finally manages to climb among the best, in P8. The last place in Q3 will be contested between Vettel, Räikkönen, and Button: the Finn does better than the Briton but worse than the German, so it’s the McLaren driver who falls short in this Q2.

Eliminated in Q2: Hülkenberg, Kobayashi, Button, Senna, Di Resta, Ricciardo, and Vergne

Q3: Ultra-soft tires and full power, they are ten vying for a spot, the one from which 75% of winners have started in Monaco, the pole position.

Rosberg takes to the track first, followed by Maldonado and Hamilton. The Mercedes driver eases off knowing he’s slower, Maldonado temporarily takes the lead with 1:15.245. Grosjean then improves with 1:14.639. Schumacher falls short by four-tenths. Rosberg improves by 60 thousandths and moves to the top of the time sheets. Hamilton is three-tenths behind, Webber is ahead by one-tenth of Rosberg. After the first run, Rosberg leads Grosjean, Webber, Hamilton, and Schumacher. The Ferraris and Vettel have yet to set a time.

Massa sets the eighth provisional time for his first lap, Räikkönen the sixth. Maldonado is positioned between the two men. Alonso falls short with the fifth time, four-tenths behind Rosberg. Webber takes the fastest time with 1:14.381, but Schumacher snatches it at the last moment! The seven-time world champion takes pole position but will start sixth due to his penalty in Spain. Behind him, it’s Webber who inherits the first position on the grid, followed by Rosberg, Hamilton, and Grosjean.

Results of the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying session: