Whose turn is it next? Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean, perhaps even Michael Schumacher?
In this topsy-turvy season which has delivered five different race winners – all from different teams – in the first five races, unpredictablity is becoming the norm and none more so than Pastor Maldonado’s victory for Williams in Spain a fortnight ago. And this weekend at the sixth round of this year’s F1 circus in Monaco, perhaps the most unpredictable circuit of them all, a sixth different victor would come as no surprise.
Lotus, particularly in the hands of returning 2007 World champion Kimi Raikkonen, has been on a strong streak lately and the imminent-looking first victory could come in Monaco’s streets if the team can find its groove. The car’s been quick in qualifying and race pace, but the team has so far been unable to hit the sweet spot in terms of tyre management.
Raikkonen, who won here in 2005 with Ferrari, heads to Monte Carlo with two consecutive podium finishes behind him, having claimed second in Bahrain and third in Spain. In both cases a victory that seemed within reach was undone by pit-stop strategy, particularly in Spain where Kimi was the quickest driver in the closing stages and might have won had he made his final tyre stop a couple of laps earlier.
LOOKING OVER HIS SHOULDER
The Finn will need to look over his shoulder for his team mate Grosjean, however, as the young Frenchman has been almost evenly matched with his more experienced team mate on Sunday afternoons. In Bahrain and Spain, Grosjean finished just behind Raikkonen in both events. The closely-fought tussle between the team mates has pushed Lotus up to third in the Constructors’ standings, only 25 points behind leaders Red Bull.
The rubber degradation lottery that has characterised the opening five races isn’t expected in Monaco where there’s much less tyre wear than at faster circuits. Qualifying high up will be the crucial factor on this tight street track where overtaking’s so difficult, and this will hopefully see all ten protagonists taking part in Saturday’s final qualifying session, rather than some of them sitting it out to save rubber for the race as they did in Barcelona.
Maldonado, who won in Barcelona, believes his victory wasn’t a flash-in-the-pan and declared his intention of challenging for the title. The 27-year-old Venezuelan, who delivered the Williams team’s first win for eight years on the weekend of founder Frank Williams 70th birthday, can see no reason why he can’t do the same again.
His confidence high, after a mature win and good strategy, he also said this week that Formula One was changing fast - and that the driver pays a much bigger role than in recent years.
“It has become like a GP2 championship.”
“The drivers can make the difference and the teams can still work on the strategy and the car,” he said. “It’s a bit boring when you see one car winning. The season is more competitive.”
One notable name missing from this year’s winner’s rostrum is former multiple champion Michael Schumacher, who is yet to stand on the podium in the two-and-a-bit seasons since his comeback. His Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg winning this year’s Chinese Grand Prix must surely grate the German veteran, but if there’s anywhere he has a chance to make amends it’s at Monaco, where he won no less than five times in his heyday and still holds the lap record of 1min.14.439 set in a Ferrari in 2004.
Schumacher, who is just 18th in the driver standings with two points, needs to raise his game as the first cracks in his relationship with Mercedes are starting to show, with the team admitting that Force India’s Paul di Resta is in line for his race seat next year.
Although the German team insists contract talks for 2013 will only take place in the distant future, CEO Nick Fry has revealed they are keeping an eye on Di Resta’s progress. - Star Motoring