Eurosport - Fri, 22 May 08:14:00 2009
All the reaction following practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, including Jenson Button's assertion that it is getting harder for Brawn GP to dominate.
1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren): "It definitely gives me a much better fighting chance for this weekend in terms of getting the car a bit further up - but the others looks very strong. We just have to try and do the best job we can, and bit by bit we get a little bit quicker. But we have to see what the others are doing. My mechanical grip is quite good. It is very bumpy here and it is still very, very hard work and I do struggle in the high-speed corners."
2. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren): "There was a lot of traffic today - but that's normal for Monaco. Today's running tells us we'll be more competitive here. The most important thing is that we've made consistent improvements - we've made good progress on the set-up and I've been dialling myself further into the car and the track on each run. While our car seems to behave well around here, there's still some work to do - we won't be able to do miracles over the weekend."
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari): "We worked our way through the usual programme for the first day of practice, based on evaluating the two different types of tyre that Bridgestone has brought here and on finding the best set up on the car. I would say the car is handling reasonably well: there are still a few areas where we can improve but I am pleased with what we achieved today. Driving here is always a challenge, even if Sunday"s race can then be rather boring, with overtaking practically impossible and if you end up behind slower cars there is nothing you can do but wait for the pit-stop."
4. Felipe Massa (Ferrari): "It's hard to say if there"s been an improvement since Barcelona, but we are in amongst the other front runners, which is already a good sign. Everything went well from the start of the day, when we worked towards the race. From what we"ve seen today, our car seems to be quick and consistent in performance terms. In the past, I wasn"t particularly keen on this track, but more recently that has changed. Last year, I took pole and today I immediately felt comfortable, working on settings for the car, which we had never tried before."
5. Robert Kubica (BMW): "Today was extremely disappointing. We clearly lack outright performance and, due to the engine failure in the second session, I had far too little track time. There is nothing to add."
6. Nick Heidfeld (BMW): "After brake problems on both cars in the morning, the second session was okay for me. On the long runs I was lucky in terms of traffic, but it was the opposite when I was on new tyres towards the end of the session. I lost time when I was stuck behind other cars, but even without this it doesn't look as if this circuit is good for our cars. We will keep working on it."
7. Fernando Alonso (Renault): "Monaco on a Thursday is always more important for the drivers than for the team because it gives us time to get used to the circuit and feel comfortable in the car. We did quite a lot of laps today so it was useful for me and I'm happy with the car. I think that we are quite competitive, but qualifying will be the key to the race and our preparation today should help ensure we get the most from the car on Saturday."
8. Nelson Piquet (Renault): "It always takes a few laps to get used to racing on the tight streets of Monaco, but after the morning session I was back in the groove. The car worked well today and we didn't have any problems, which allowed us to complete a lot of laps. The track was dirty this morning and improved during the day, just as it always does in Monaco, but that made it difficult to evaluate the tyres and the set-up changes we made. Overall though I think we are in reasonable shape for the weekend."
9. Jarno Trulli (Toyota): "We did our normal work of setting up the car and trying to find a good balance. Of course the track surface was dirty this morning and that meant there wasn't much grip. In second practice I had some problems with the tyres and with degradation so we must look into that and work out a solution. We have plenty of work to do but here in Monaco we have an extra day to study the data and improve the set-up. We certainly won't be having a day off tomorrow."
10. Timo Glock (Toyota): "That was not an easy day for me. We tried out several mechanical and aerodynamic set-ups in the morning and then in the afternoon we spent more time looking at the tyres. It's hard to say where we are at the moment. Overall, in terms of lap times it was not great but it's always tough to judge after practice. We need to work on getting better traction and getting the best out of the tyres, which was a bit of a challenge in the afternoon. It's tricky but we have a lot of information to look at and we'll make improvements before qualifying."
11. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso): "There is also potential in the car, so if we can put all the elements together for Saturday, it should be good. It is also positive that we had no problems with the car and that we didn"t crash, which is always a key to a good weekend here in Monaco. As for the tyres, both types worked well, so now we need to improve our car set-up, even if some of the new parts we have here are also an improvement."
12. Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso): "We are suffering from a slight lack of pace, but overall we did the best we could in these two sessions. Now we must look at the data for Saturday and the race, because it looks as though we are going to have two different sets of requirements for the short and long runs, although it is not tyre related. This is of course a special place to drive, although today it was a bit of a struggle to keep away from the barriers."
14. Mark Webber (Red Bull): "It was a bit of a mixed bag today. We didn't have a great run, reliability-wise, which was a first this season. There was a vibration in the rear of the car during this morning's session so we stopped early, but the boys did an amazing job to get the car back out for the afternoon. I think it was a good recovery for us to do as many laps as we did. We didn't get the ultimate lap time in the second session, as we were running under yellow flags at the end, but the long runs were good and we've gathered plenty of data to go through for Saturday. It looks very tight and competitive here, so it should be an exciting race."
15. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull): "We had an engine failure in the morning, which cost us some track time. Things like that are important for the driver, as well as the car, as you need to get into a good rhythm round here. Nonetheless the boys fixed the car, which I think was quite tricky as some of the parts arrived last minute, so it wasn't easy. But, we still managed to complete quite a few laps and get a lot of data - including a view on the different tyre compounds, so I think we're in decent shape, but of course we always want to be on top."
16. Nico Rosberg (Williams): "For us it went quite well, we started off quite poorly and I wasn't feeling comfortable in the car but we made some big changes and started to improve things, and in the end we are looking strong, like I was hoping actually, and I think we are going to drop back less than on other weekend. We are certainly lighter than other people again today, that is why we are first, but I have a feeling that we are quicker than normal and we are going to drop back less, and I hope we can do a top five in qualifying which is great."
17. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams): "This morning was good but for reasons we will look at tonight, the afternoon session was a bit difficult in the car. So I am hoping we can establish what was happening and use third practice to make sure I am well-prepared for qualifying."
18. Jenson Button (Brawn GP): "It is getting harder and harder: in the last two races you would say that the Red Bull was as quick as us. If you look at the lap times, which I do at every race, the consistency of Mark (Webber) at the last race and Sebastian (Vettel) when he was in clear air in Bahrain, their pace is very good. But they haven't put the weekend together and we have - as a team, we've done a better job. When they do actually get everything together they're going to be quick, and I think here in Monaco they are going to be quick. I think McLaren has a good car mechanically, so they should be competitive around here. So yeah, it's going to be a tough weekend. But I am looking forward to it."
19. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP): "We have had a good first day to start our weekend here in Monaco. I love driving the street track; although it is lacking grip at the moment, this should improve in time for qualifying on Saturday. We were able to evaluate a lot of different things today with positive outcomes. I had some oversteer in the car but it was controllable and overall I am very satisfied with the balance."
20. Adrian Sutil (Force India): "Today was quite a normal practice day. The track was very slippery in the morning and it took quite some time to be able to push for a lap time. The car felt okay, reasonably balanced under the high downforce configuration, but the biggest problem we have at the moment is the rear tyre graining. Both the soft and the supersofts seem to be really bad and after even a medium-length run the graining is so bad it really affects the balance of the car. I am confident we can find a solution for qualifying though - the extra day we have will help."
21. Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India): "Not a bad start to the weekend. We used the morning session to check the set-up and the balance and then completed some longer runs in the afternoon when the track had a bit more rubber laid down. Like Adrian I had some issues with tyre graining, particularly in the last five laps of my longer runs, and the car even felt like it was moving around even when going in a straight line. I didn't feel I got the best lap time today and there is certainly more to come."
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Comment 2 - 21 of 21
I'd rather watch Monaco than watch cars going in circles at Indy for hours on end. It is difficult to overtake at Monaco, but by no means impossible. It's a race like no other and calls for dedication from the entire team, not just the drivers.
hanibal stop talking out your a*se he is in the same car a barrichello, who is the most experinced driver on the grid and constantly beats him, and as for joey p, monaco is a classic street race, very tight and yes little overtaking chances, but the one time you can overtake is when the driver of the car ahead stuffs it into the wall which is very possible (remember schumacher a few years ago) as the margin for error is virually nil and so doesnt test the drivers overtaking ability just there concentration and ability to drive very fast round a very hard track
hannibal he is in amongst a pack of good drivers, & he's beating them.
Is Hannibal Talking nonsense?.
Ask any of the drivers or team managers in the pit lane what they think (except Flabbiottore of Team Whinge).
If Jenson wasn't one of the best drivers on the track then Ross would not have persisted in his efforts to keep him for 2009.
Pretty Boy is always fast in practice. Lets see what he can do in Q2.
I dont rate Buttons he's just in a fast Car Put him in amonst the pack of good driver and he's stuffed?
Dont talk yourself out of a win Jenson. Keep the faith and WIN!
Ihave to agree with Joey P. Without a passing opportunity Monaco is a not so funny joke. The real race will be Q1
good luck for BRAWN/Button podium finish Sunday
FERRARI can fill the vacant podium spot
This track is a joke they may as well forget the race and just give it to the top qualifier..
A pointless procession
tiptoptoe77 and f_mac_f AKA Nick Lees, why not go away and play girly dressing up games? Commenting on F1 matters is clearly beyond your capability. Spend more time on your make-up.
Do you know. I'm past caring. F1 sucks now.
rosie first practise then
out of the race points
good luck best wishes to BRAWN/Button for podium finish sunday
Historic FERRARI can join them for the vacant spot
its pretty typical rosie doing well in practise some thing to do with fuel no doubt lets see what he does in quali same as lulu no doubt
Yeah but who has more points!
McLarren strugling in the high speed corners still? What high speed corners?...what on earth have they been doing these last few months? C'mon more downforce guys...Ferrari have done it quickly...why havent you?
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