Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel

Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel

lauantai 28. toukokuuta 2011

Monaco GP / Qualifying: Frightening crash by Sergio Perez!

I guess after what we´ve seen during this season so far everybody expected to see Sebastian Vettel on pole again. And the dominant Red Bull driver didn´t let us down this time, either! After the practices I was convinced that Red Bull wouldn´t have such an advantage at the qualifying because Ferrari, especially Alonso, seemed to be very competitive this weekend... Before the qualifying I would have bet Alonso was going to qualify among the top three! But so was not the case.

There were a couple of pleasant surprises in Q2. I was so happy to see both Perez in his Sauber and Maldonado in his Williams making their way through to Q3 :) Both rookies managed to beat their team-mates! I´ve always considered Kobayashi a hugely talented and promising driver so Perez impressed me greatly by beating his team-mate!

However, as far as Perez is concerned, my joy was very short-term! In Q3 Sergio Perez lost the control of his car at the tunnel exit and crashed into the barrier in high speed! The crash looked very frightening indeed. I sort of got a flashback of Karl Wendlinger crashing at the very same place in 1994... That crash had severe consequences leading to Wendlinger lying in a coma for several weeks. Perez was very fortunate to suffer "only" a concussion after the scary looking accident! Although safety issues have improved a lot since 1994 a crash like this reminds of the fact that at the end of the day Formula 1 racing is still dangerous! Bad things can still happen. I still can´t avoid thinking that maybe Formula 1 races shouldn´t be driven at Monaco. Of course we´re talking about the most legendary grand prix of all times but still... Safety should come first. All the glory will lose its meaning if (or maybe it´s only a matter of time when...) something truly tragic happens. Just my thoughts but Perez´s crash made me forget the glory of Monaco and shifted my attention to serious matters...

Perez´s crash caused red flags to come out when there were only about two and a half minutes left on the clock. Vettel had made his flying lap on the super softs just before the incident. And what a perfect lap it was!! I was also happy to see Button on the 2nd place ahead of Vettel´s team-mate Webber. And Hamilton had no lap time at that point... When the Q3 was restarted the top drivers couldn´t improve their lap times leaving Hamilton 7th on the grid. So Vettel snatched his first ever pole at Monaco! The most perfect place to start the race tomorrow...

There has been a lot of talk about favouritism inside the Red Bull team lately. I´m no expert on this but I want to share my thoughts. If I´m asked I believe that both drivers get the same car and the same technology. Last year Webber was very capable of challenging his young team-mate more or less in every grand prix so the change has happened when the new season started. I´ve read articles saying that the reason for the difference between the team-mates´performance is related to the new Pirelli tyres. Vettel has adapted to the new tyres more quickly than Webber. It certainly sounds reasonable. Maybe I´m seeing the F1 world through "pink Vettel glasses" but honestly speaking, I want to believe in the equal treatment of both drivers. I mean fair play and equal opportunities for both drivers to fight for the championship have been key factors in the Red Bull team! And if I´m asked, a part of the difference could be explained with self-confidence... I mean Vettel has been very dominant, actually on a whole new level as far as his performance is concerned if compared to the beginning of last season... It´s amazing, truly unbelievable how much it may mean that you know you´re the world champion! But like I said, this is just my opinion... And I´m a kindergarten teacher, not a Formula 1 expert ;D And like I said earlier... Being a passionate Sebastian Vettel fan I "may" have the "Vettel glasses" on when I´m commenting on the events... ;)

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