Sutil pits and retires! Hard luck as it wasn't his fault.
Raikkonen basically lost control and hit him
The 2008 Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix Thread
Moderators: cmlean, Ed, The Qualiflyer, The Heretic
Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on winning the Monaco Grand Prix, he recovered from hitting the barrier early in the race but didn't put a foot wrong after that. Kubica finishing a well deserved second with Massa in 3rd after going wide at one stage and staying out on the intermediates longer than Hamilton and Kubica.
Webber, Vettel, Barrichello and Nakajima managed a great result finishing 4th to 7th. Kovalainen managed to score a point despite starting from the pitlane. Well done.
Raikkonen appeared to struggle under wet or dry conditions here and towards the end of the race lost the car and ran into the impressive Sutil who was 4th at the time forcing him into retirement.
Alonso only managed 10th and his incident with Heidfeld early in the race damaged his chances.
Your thoughts and the driver of the race ?
Here is the team by team review following the race (GMM)
MCLAREN-MERCEDES
With P.Diddy and Miss Grenada among his cheerleaders on Sunday, Lewis Hamilton's early scrape with the Tabac barrier and pitstop paved the way for a fortuitous strategy change and timely first safety car. The Briton's subsequent huge lead disappeared with the second safety car, but Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa trailed him home as the two hour race limit ticked down, and he snatches the championship lead by three points from Kimi Raikkonen. Unlucky Heikki Kovalainen's hopes vanished when his steering wheel electronics let him down on the grid, but he grappled through the traffic and netted the last point.
BMW-SAUBER
The ever impressive and inch-perfect Robert Kubica finished second, beating pole sitter Felipe Massa to the flag and even tasting the race lead at one point following the Ferrari's slip into the escape road. Nick Heidfeld's black Monaco weekend got blacker on Sunday, made worse by the damage he had to carry after Fernando Alonso's failed overtaking move at the hairpin. He finished four laps down and dead last.
FERRARI
A race of mistakes by the Italian team means Kimi Raikkonen, just out of the points, loses his title lead. The mistakes began even before the race, as the Finn's mechanics condemned him to a drive-through penalty for missing the tyre-selection deadline on the grid, but Raikkonen was also guilty, smashing his front wing at the first corner, and also late in the race when he took out poor Adrian Sutil. "A very poor race for me. I'm sorry for Sutil," he said. Pole sitter Felipe Massa, who lost his place to Kubica by sliding at the first corner, finished third and admitted his team made some strategy errors too. "The reality is that, at every level, we did not meet our usual high standards," said team boss Stefano Domenicali.
RED BULL-RENAULT
Mark Webber kept up his pace and out of trouble, finishing less than 15 seconds behind Massa's final podium spot, but he was also lucky to avoid the hairpin pileup, and when he inherited fourth place from the devastated Adrian Sutil. Following his big qualifying crash, David Coulthard slid into the barriers on the puddles at the entry to Casino.
TORO ROSSO-FERRARI
At the end of a difficult first weekend with the new STR3 car, Sebastian Vettel's low-profile race - albeit with good pace as he switched to dry tyres - netted him fifth at the flag and the team's first points of the season. Sebastien Bourdais completed a Red Bull-sponsored scrap-heap when he smashed into the rear of David Coulthard's already crashed RB4 in the Massenet left-hander.
HONDA
Rubens Barrichello ended his long points drought with an unspectacular run to sixth place, a result made even better by the late Sutil-Raikkonen crash. Jenson Button's hopes of a good finish were dashed when he ran into the back of Heidfeld on the opening lap, and he was punted from behind by Kovalainen later on and finished a lap down.
WILLIAMS-TOYOTA
Nico Rosberg's promising Monaco grand prix weekend turned into a precautionary trip to hospital on Sunday afternoon, following a big crash in the high speed Swimming Pool section. It was actually his third crunched front wing of the race, including an early tag with Fernando Alonso, and another contact at the hairpin pileup. A low-profile Kazuki Nakajima kept out of trouble and finished seventh.
RENAULT
Fernando Alonso had an eventful run to tenth place, a lap down, including striking the barriers and later tangling with Nick Heidfeld at the hairpin. "I made some mistakes," he admitted. Nelson Piquet suitably ended his miserable weekend with a nudge into the Ste. Devote wall, having switched to dry tyres on a damp track.
TOYOTA
An awful race for both occupants of the TF108s, with Timo Glock crunching both the front of the car and the rear in separate incidents, leading home Jarno Trulli a lap down. "I just made too many mistakes and I am sorry for the team," he said. Trulli's main problem was the leagues of time he lost wearing extreme wet tyres on a drying track.
FORCE INDIA-FERRARI
Adrian Sutil, close friends with winner Lewis Hamilton, was the hero of the race, delivering prodigious pace with a good strategy that would have netted him a superb fourth place and his team's first points as Force India. The young German broke down in tears in the garage after Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his car at the end of the tunnel and broke Sutil's suspension. "It feels like a pain in my heart," he said. Teammate Giancarlo Fisichella, plagued by gearbox trouble earlier in the weekend, lost first and second gear during the race, and stopped when fourth also failed.
Webber, Vettel, Barrichello and Nakajima managed a great result finishing 4th to 7th. Kovalainen managed to score a point despite starting from the pitlane. Well done.
Raikkonen appeared to struggle under wet or dry conditions here and towards the end of the race lost the car and ran into the impressive Sutil who was 4th at the time forcing him into retirement.
Alonso only managed 10th and his incident with Heidfeld early in the race damaged his chances.
Your thoughts and the driver of the race ?
Here is the team by team review following the race (GMM)
MCLAREN-MERCEDES
With P.Diddy and Miss Grenada among his cheerleaders on Sunday, Lewis Hamilton's early scrape with the Tabac barrier and pitstop paved the way for a fortuitous strategy change and timely first safety car. The Briton's subsequent huge lead disappeared with the second safety car, but Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa trailed him home as the two hour race limit ticked down, and he snatches the championship lead by three points from Kimi Raikkonen. Unlucky Heikki Kovalainen's hopes vanished when his steering wheel electronics let him down on the grid, but he grappled through the traffic and netted the last point.
BMW-SAUBER
The ever impressive and inch-perfect Robert Kubica finished second, beating pole sitter Felipe Massa to the flag and even tasting the race lead at one point following the Ferrari's slip into the escape road. Nick Heidfeld's black Monaco weekend got blacker on Sunday, made worse by the damage he had to carry after Fernando Alonso's failed overtaking move at the hairpin. He finished four laps down and dead last.
FERRARI
A race of mistakes by the Italian team means Kimi Raikkonen, just out of the points, loses his title lead. The mistakes began even before the race, as the Finn's mechanics condemned him to a drive-through penalty for missing the tyre-selection deadline on the grid, but Raikkonen was also guilty, smashing his front wing at the first corner, and also late in the race when he took out poor Adrian Sutil. "A very poor race for me. I'm sorry for Sutil," he said. Pole sitter Felipe Massa, who lost his place to Kubica by sliding at the first corner, finished third and admitted his team made some strategy errors too. "The reality is that, at every level, we did not meet our usual high standards," said team boss Stefano Domenicali.
RED BULL-RENAULT
Mark Webber kept up his pace and out of trouble, finishing less than 15 seconds behind Massa's final podium spot, but he was also lucky to avoid the hairpin pileup, and when he inherited fourth place from the devastated Adrian Sutil. Following his big qualifying crash, David Coulthard slid into the barriers on the puddles at the entry to Casino.
TORO ROSSO-FERRARI
At the end of a difficult first weekend with the new STR3 car, Sebastian Vettel's low-profile race - albeit with good pace as he switched to dry tyres - netted him fifth at the flag and the team's first points of the season. Sebastien Bourdais completed a Red Bull-sponsored scrap-heap when he smashed into the rear of David Coulthard's already crashed RB4 in the Massenet left-hander.
HONDA
Rubens Barrichello ended his long points drought with an unspectacular run to sixth place, a result made even better by the late Sutil-Raikkonen crash. Jenson Button's hopes of a good finish were dashed when he ran into the back of Heidfeld on the opening lap, and he was punted from behind by Kovalainen later on and finished a lap down.
WILLIAMS-TOYOTA
Nico Rosberg's promising Monaco grand prix weekend turned into a precautionary trip to hospital on Sunday afternoon, following a big crash in the high speed Swimming Pool section. It was actually his third crunched front wing of the race, including an early tag with Fernando Alonso, and another contact at the hairpin pileup. A low-profile Kazuki Nakajima kept out of trouble and finished seventh.
RENAULT
Fernando Alonso had an eventful run to tenth place, a lap down, including striking the barriers and later tangling with Nick Heidfeld at the hairpin. "I made some mistakes," he admitted. Nelson Piquet suitably ended his miserable weekend with a nudge into the Ste. Devote wall, having switched to dry tyres on a damp track.
TOYOTA
An awful race for both occupants of the TF108s, with Timo Glock crunching both the front of the car and the rear in separate incidents, leading home Jarno Trulli a lap down. "I just made too many mistakes and I am sorry for the team," he said. Trulli's main problem was the leagues of time he lost wearing extreme wet tyres on a drying track.
FORCE INDIA-FERRARI
Adrian Sutil, close friends with winner Lewis Hamilton, was the hero of the race, delivering prodigious pace with a good strategy that would have netted him a superb fourth place and his team's first points as Force India. The young German broke down in tears in the garage after Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his car at the end of the tunnel and broke Sutil's suspension. "It feels like a pain in my heart," he said. Teammate Giancarlo Fisichella, plagued by gearbox trouble earlier in the weekend, lost first and second gear during the race, and stopped when fourth also failed.
Last edited by Ed on Mon May 26, 2008 9:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
It is rather strange and remarkable that you can after just 5 laps, be off the pace, be in 2nd place, hit the wall, limp to the pits with a flat, rejoin in 5th, take the lead, build up a lead of 35 seconds and win the race all in one day! 
What a star Sutil was
What a drive from Kubica, how he didn't win that race is one of the deepest mysteries of the 21st century.
Felipe's first stint was as great as his second was bad!
Kimi has a habit of compounding misfortune with misjugement had having his misjudgements compounded by misfortune.
I still can't quite believe that long middle stint where Lewis was a second a lap faster than Robert and Felipe.
I kept on expecting him to stop for fuel but he just kept on trading fastest laps with Rubens! 
Who drove a great race, reminicient of his fish-like drives for Jordan and Stewart.
Heikki got a point but we still have no idea what happened to him on the grid. How come they didn't fill him brim full with fuel? And why didn't the team tell him to get past the pace car two laps earlier ready for the last restart?
What a star Sutil was
What a drive from Kubica, how he didn't win that race is one of the deepest mysteries of the 21st century.
Felipe's first stint was as great as his second was bad!
Kimi has a habit of compounding misfortune with misjugement had having his misjudgements compounded by misfortune.
I still can't quite believe that long middle stint where Lewis was a second a lap faster than Robert and Felipe.
I kept on expecting him to stop for fuel but he just kept on trading fastest laps with Rubens! Who drove a great race, reminicient of his fish-like drives for Jordan and Stewart. Heikki got a point but we still have no idea what happened to him on the grid. How come they didn't fill him brim full with fuel? And why didn't the team tell him to get past the pace car two laps earlier ready for the last restart?
Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button World Champions 
Hello to everyone from Sin City USA!!!
Congrats to Lewis Hamilton on a fine win. All the greats win at Monaco eventually.
Hats off to Robert Kubica for another fine race.
I still don't know about Felippe Massa. It seems like if he does not lead the first lap, he does not win. Therefore, pole position and a good start are critical to his success. Until he gets that together, I cannot think of him in the same league as Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen, or even Kubica. I haven't seen any races this year except Bahrain, so my comment may be totally out of the box.
Congrats to Lewis Hamilton on a fine win. All the greats win at Monaco eventually.
Hats off to Robert Kubica for another fine race.
I still don't know about Felippe Massa. It seems like if he does not lead the first lap, he does not win. Therefore, pole position and a good start are critical to his success. Until he gets that together, I cannot think of him in the same league as Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen, or even Kubica. I haven't seen any races this year except Bahrain, so my comment may be totally out of the box.
Christoforo
You're not getting old, the music just sucks!!
Fernando Alonso is currently the best... Period!!!
-)_ (-
(_!_) Inclined to get behind!!!
You're not getting old, the music just sucks!!
Fernando Alonso is currently the best... Period!!!
-)_ (-
(_!_) Inclined to get behind!!!
-
JayVee
- F1 Race Winner
- Posts: 3394
- Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 12:17 am
- Location: Somewhere left of the middle
A crazy race and very hard to follow but well done to Hamilton, he recovered well from his touch with the barrier. But I certainly object to that comment by his team that this win was a year overdue!!! That was a cheap shot.
Kubica did well so did Webber and Kovalainen but the driver of the day was Sutil. He could have finished 4th on merit and without having to count on the retirements of others.
Raikkonen doesn't seem to be the iceman he used to be. In Australia and now in Monaco, he's done too many mistakes.
Alonso was lucky not to retire after his brush with the wall but then he was too ambitious in trying to pass Heidfeld then his wet tyres hurt him badly. He was stunning on the dry tyres though as he clearly set the pace in those tricky conditions and when he set fastest lap everyone just followed.
I feel sorry for Piquet!!
Overall an exciting race but that is Monaco, either very dull or full of action
Kubica did well so did Webber and Kovalainen but the driver of the day was Sutil. He could have finished 4th on merit and without having to count on the retirements of others.
Raikkonen doesn't seem to be the iceman he used to be. In Australia and now in Monaco, he's done too many mistakes.
Alonso was lucky not to retire after his brush with the wall but then he was too ambitious in trying to pass Heidfeld then his wet tyres hurt him badly. He was stunning on the dry tyres though as he clearly set the pace in those tricky conditions and when he set fastest lap everyone just followed.
I feel sorry for Piquet!!
Overall an exciting race but that is Monaco, either very dull or full of action
I'm back and yes supporting Alonso "The Cute" in the Ferrari!