Monaco – Qualifications: Rosberg and Mercedes on the Right Track!

The rain arrived on the Rock just a few minutes before the start of the session, soaking the Monaco track. Three drivers crashed during FP3: Felipe Massa, Adrian Sutil, and Romain Grosjean. A race against time is underway for the Brazilian and the Franco-Swiss drivers, as their participation in the session is not guaranteed.

Q1: The Caterhams and Toro Rossos are the first to take off on intermediate tires. The Marussias too, and incidentally, Jules Bianchi is a victim of what seems to be a mechanical issue after a few hundred meters, and he comes to a stop in Beaurivage. The yellow flag is waved while the car is evacuated—with some difficulty—by the Grand Prix marshals. Meanwhile, the rain resumes, making things more complicated for all drivers on track, except for Grosjean and Massa, who are still stuck in the pits waiting for their car to be repaired. Esteban Gutierrez makes a minor mistake and runs straight into the escape road at Mirabeau. A very common mistake this weekend.

Mark Webber takes the lead time on intermediate tires with 1:36.529, but he is overtaken by Paul di Resta with 1:35.705. Jean-Eric Vergne, in turn, takes the lead. Times improve with each run: the track is gradually drying, the last on track could prevail. Lewis Hamilton and then Sebastian Vettel successively top the timesheets. Pastor Maldonado sets the best time.

With 10 minutes remaining, the standings are very unstable and drivers are gaining handfuls of seconds each lap. Grosjean seems ready to take to the track: he is seated in the cockpit of his Lotus E21 and should have a few attempts. For Massa, the situation is more delicate and the Ferrari might not be repaired in time. Rosberg takes the lead with 1:24.826.

With four minutes remaining in Q1, Grosjean takes to the track and Hamilton moves to the top of the timing sheets with a 1:23.779. The Lotus driver sets the first provisional time, benefiting from new tires and a drier track. He can thank his mechanics. Maldonado finishes Q1 with the best time, with a final flying lap in the last seconds. Van der Garde manages to make it out of Q1, and it’s Paul di Resta who falls victim to this surprise!

**Eliminated in Q1: Di Resta, Pic, Gutierrez, Chilton, and Bianchi**. Massa did not take part in the qualifying session.

Q2: The session resumes and the drivers rush onto the track to set a time as quickly as possible because rain is threatening and continues to fall. Rosberg leads this pack and cuts the chicane at the tunnel exit. Vettel and then Webber take P1, with 1:32.132 for the Australian. But the times are dropping very quickly, and now the McLarens and then the Mercedes are taking the lead. This waltz continues as Hülkenberg, Räikkönen, Pérez, and then Grosjean each set the best provisional performance in turn.

After the first half of Q2, Button is now the leader, but Rosberg takes charge of changing that. The German clocks in at 1:22.119. Improvements are no longer plentiful, and the standings seem to be heading towards a semblance of stability, at least for a few moments. The lull allows the teams to take the gamble on slick tires: most of the drivers are equipped with them, with 2 minutes and 30 seconds remaining.

Alonso searches for the limit and thoroughly warms up his tires before setting off. Webber takes P1 in these conditions while Alonso is in provisional sixth place. The time shuffle continues, and Vettel secures the fastest lap, ahead of Räikkönen and Rosberg. But behind, it’s Grosjean who suffers from these changes and can’t do better than 13th. Another Frenchman puts in a good performance, as Jean-Eric Vergne qualifies for Q3.

Eliminated in Q2: Hülkenberg, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Bottas, Van der Garde, and Maldonado.

Q3: Räikkönen takes to the track first, followed by almost everyone. Almost, because Vettel waited a bit before leaving, to give himself some space compared to the other drivers. It’s Webber who sets the fastest time of this first round with 1:15.134, six-tenths ahead of Hamilton.

The second round is underway: Hamilton, then Rosberg with 1:14.919, take the lead, but Webber doesn’t let them and clocks in at 1:14.726. The Australian holds the provisional pole, but Vettel wants to show what he’s made of: 1:14.333 for the three-time world champion, in full attack mode.

Alonso, provisionally fifth, launches an attack on the clock. He energetically warms up his tires. Webber sets the fastest time again, at 1:14.131. Behind him, Hamilton does better at 1:13.967 but Rosberg improves by 91 thousandths! Alonso is far off, Vettel falls short by a tenth of Rosberg, and Webber returns to the pits!

Pole for Nico Rosberg – the fourth of his career – and Mercedes! The Silver Arrows monopolize the front row, a very, very notable advantage in the principality! Vettel and Webber make up the second row, Räikkönen and Alonso the third.

Results of the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix Qualifying: