Mark Webber came out on top of a frenetic qualifying battle ahead of Sunday’s Monaco GP, just pipping Renault’s Robert Kubica to pole position.
The Pole had set the pace from the start of the ten-minute shootout, and appeared on course for his first P1 of the season as he consistently lowered his time. But Webber pulled the fastest lap of the weekend out of nowhere to duck below 1min 14secs and deny Kubica with the chequered flag being unfurled.
Kubica held on for second as the Australian’s Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel proved unable to match the pace, leaving the German to share row two with Felipe Massa, who will attempt to use Ferrari colleague Fernando Alonso’s absence to rebuild his own morale from fourth spot. The Brazilian, however, may yet face sanction for appearing to block a Jenson Button flier.
Lewis Hamilton shares row three with former karting team-mate Nico Rosberg, while the German’s Mercedes team-mate, multiple world champion Michael Schumacher, lines up seventh fastest, just ahead of Button.
The final two places in the shootout were filled, as expected, by Rubens Barrichello and Tonio Liuzzi, although both appeared higher up the order as the battle raged. Liuzzi, supposedly fighting for his place at Force India, popped up in fourth early on, while Barrichello pushed his Williams into fifth just as Webber claimed top spot for the first time.
1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 13.826s
2. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault 1m 14.120s
3. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 14.227s
4. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 14.283s
5. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 14.432s
6. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 14.544s
7. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 14.590s
8. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 14.637s
9. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1m 14.901s
10. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes 1m 15.170s
11. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1m 15.317s
12. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 15.318s
13. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 15.413s
14. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault 1m 15.576s
15. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 15.692s
16. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 15.992s
17. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 16.176s
18. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 1m 17.094s
19. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth 1m 17.134s
20. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 1m 17.377s
21. Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 1m 17.864s
22. Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth 1m 18.509s
23. Karun Chandhok India HRT-Cosworth 1m 19.559s
Dnq Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari
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What do you think?
zondarulez commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 2:36 pm
1st comment
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zondarulez commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 2:37 pm
And also well done to Webber although Kubica did deserve to be pole… unlucky
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123 commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 3:15 pm
where is hamilton? ha ha haa
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321 commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 3:24 pm
where is alonso? even more hahahahahaha
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Reduce Aero commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Webber… respect
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yeah commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 4:02 pm
hamilton and his st.pid diamond helmet are empty sound in space.
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chris commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 4:59 pm
tell you what, all those who are laughing at hamiltons 5th position, you try and beat that lap time. whats that? you havent got a hope in hell??? thought so.
all the drivers say its pot luck if you get a decent lap or not. everyone already knew the red bulls were gonna be up front and massas always been there or thereabouts. hamilton was happy with his drive and knew that his car was about 0.5sec down in the middle sector.
anyhoo, in answer to 123′s question, he’s 5th. cant you read?
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ioio commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Yeah it’s potluck when any other driver gets pole but pure skill when Hamilton gets pole! There must have been some kind of invisible force stopping his car from going any faster!! STOP MAKING EXCUSES – Most drivers did get traffic but also managed to get decent laps in. Also Hamilton said in an interview afterwards that this was as fast as his car was capable of going. Face it Hamilton is not the fasted man on the track this year…
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321 commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 5:49 pm
#8 no maybe not, that would be kubica who is in a far worst car but still got second fastest lap this weekend and at least hamilton didnt stuff it into barriers like a rookie.
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motoriety commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 8:00 pm
zondarulez, Kubica is a Pole! haha
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mike commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 8:45 pm
to be first in Red Bull is not a big deal, but to be second in Renault that is something. well done Kubica
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CENSORED commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 8:58 pm
@mike: too true, the kid’s got some skill. Who thinks he should replace Massa in Ferrari next year? I do!
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Fluid Mechanics commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Kubica was epic today. But Webber has found some consistancy to go with his speed now. I hope he runs away with it tommorow and the championship to.
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mohammed commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 10:22 pm
let ‘s hope for rain tomorrow it will make the race superb .
http://shrayyefformula1.b logspot.com/
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doni commented on this article
Saturday May 15, 2010 at 10:46 pm
good luck Kubica!
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Showie commented on this article
Sunday May 16, 2010 at 3:54 am
Alonso admitted to a driver mistake. if Ferrari still had Kimi, that wouldn’t have happened.
i do hope Vettel wins, Massa second!
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Gabba commented on this article
Sunday May 16, 2010 at 4:20 am
How did Kubica deserve it if he wasn’t the fastest? zondarulez that doesn’t make any sense.
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timitee commented on this article
Sunday May 16, 2010 at 5:20 am
@gabba
He deserves it because Renault doesn’t have the fastest car. It’s easy to see that RBR has a pretty big advantage over the other teams. How? I don’t know, but they are clearly faster. Renault is really an underdog in the championship, and they have a decent car. For Kubica to beat Vettel is a huge accomplishment, and for the work he did, you can tell he is a great driver. Anyways, I think Webber has got this one. I want Renault to beat Mercedes GP. I think it is possible if Petrov steps it up a bit at starts scoring some points.
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Andy commented on this article
Sunday May 16, 2010 at 5:47 am
How can you deserve Pole if you don’t have the fastest car? By definition Pole Position goes to the fastest car. It makes no sense.
You’re either the quickest or you’re not. Simple.
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massa commented on this article
Sunday May 16, 2010 at 10:44 am
red bull wont win vettel and webber will ether break down or shred the tires
i hope massa wins and i hope alonzo gets a point or two although it is very hard for him to do that now
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Pcookie commented on this article
Sunday May 16, 2010 at 12:46 pm
for all the arguers about r.k deserving pole it’s not about getting pole it’s about winning the race
idiots
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Kuban commented on this article
Tuesday May 18, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Kubica rulez!
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jake commented on this article
Friday May 21, 2010 at 11:07 am
wow
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