Webber Hits The Jackpot In Brilliant Monaco Qualifying

- Published on May 15th, 2010 by Jack Lamure

The Monaco Q1 session had become the most talked about of the year before it even got underway. With concerns that the combination of a short track, 24 cars and some very slow backmarkers could turn the session in to a lottery, and drop a big name driver out in the first session, all eyes were on the opening 20 minutes of qualifying.

But there was huge news before the session even began. There were 23 cars in Q1, with double Monaco winner Fernando Alonso being forced to sit out the session after slamming in to the barriers during third practice. Alonso will start tomorrow's race from the pitlane with a new chassis, but his hopes of points already look remote.

With Alonso already gone six drivers dropped out in Q1, and despite all the talk of ruined laps and big guns being knocked out, it was the same old story, as the new team's drivers were eliminated. The two Lotus cars came out best and will line up 18th and 19th, with the Virgins of Glock and di Grassi 20th and 21st respectively. Bruno Senna will start 22nd, with fellow Hispania driver Karun Chandhok 23rd. Felipe Massa was quickest in Q1, ahead of Mark Webber and Robert Kubica, but that's all forgotten as the drivers head in to Q2.

Eliminated in Q1

18 Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus-Cosworth (1:17.094)

19 Jarno Trulli - Lotus-Cosworth (1:17.134)

20 Timo Glock - Virgin-Cosworth (1:17.377)

21 Lucas di Grassi - Virgin-Cosworth (1:17.864)

22 Bruno Senna - HRT-Cosworth (1:18:509)

23 Karun Chandhok - HRT-Cosworth (1:19.559)

24 Fernando Alonso - Ferrari (no time- starts from pitlane)

Q2 promised to be less hectic than the first session- which wasn't all that mad itself- with drivers having a bit more space to ensure a quick  lap. However it also promised to be fiercely competitive, with almost all of the drivers capable of making it in to the top 10 shootout.

Again there were no real surprises in terms of drivers dropping out, with the four big teams all getting their guys through- though Ferrari were down to one.

Something of a shock was the elimination of Monaco pro Adrian Sutil. He'll start 12th, whilst under-pressure teammate Tonio Liuzzi delivered a gem of a lap to get himself in to the top 10. Monaco veteran Rubens Barichello also got himslef through, with teammate Nico Hulkenberg just missing out. Sebastien Buemi starts a strong 13th for Toro Rosso.

Vitaly Petrov stuck it in the wall at Saint Devote- he'll start 14th- followed by the Saubers of de la Rosa and Kobayashi and Jaime Alguersuari, who'll start 17th.

Eliminated in Q2

11 Nico Hulkenberg - Williams-Cosworth (1:15.317)

12 Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes (1:15.318)

13 Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso-Ferrari (1:15.413)

14 Vitaly Petrov - Renault (1:15.576)

15 Pedro de la Rosa - Sauber-Ferrari (1:15.692)

16 Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari (1:15.992)

17 Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso-Ferrari (1:16.176)