Hamilton still beaten by Russell; Alonso who finally wants to beat Ocon; Lost Ricciardo; Bottas far; Vettel given at sunset; Gasly unrecognizable: some alternative themes to the Ferrari-Red Bull fight in the Principality race
Lewis Hamilton still suffers. The exciting ascent of Montmelò must have given him some morale, but the track that is at home for him, almost like for Leclerc, did not give him much satisfaction. And as usual it is not even a question of the eighth place that relegates him to the fourth row, but the fact that George Russell was once again faster (in qualifying we are 4-3 for him), and not even slightly, by 4 tenths and a half (0.448). Lewis complained a lot about the state of the track. “It’s the bumpiest he has ever driven on,” he said. “Our car jumps a lot, but it’s a different rebound than we had in previous races, we suffer from it even at low speed, so it’s not just a question of aerodynamics. It’s worse than riding a roller coaster. I think the roughness of the track worsens the situation. I don’t remember ever having experienced such an experience before ”.
Ricciardo dispersed
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Daniel Ricciardo in Montecarlo once won, starting from pole, in 2018. And another pole he had conquered in 2016. In the last outing of this year in Montmelò for the first time this season he had done better than Lando Norris in qualification (Norris who was beginning to be tormented by tonsillitis). Which therefore authorized us to hope that Ricciardo was able to finally get involved in the fight if not for the best places, at least for those immediately backed up. And instead he stopped, while the Englishman went all the way, more: he was the best of the others, that is of the non-Ferraris and the non-Red Bulls: fifth. He, Daniel, flew out in Q2, disappointing once again.
Alonso chasing Ocon
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Small recovery by Fernando Alonso, in absolute terms, not only in comparison with Esteban Ocon for the supremacy in the Alpine garage. Nando, who won in the Principality in 2006 and 2007, hit the 7th fastest time, therefore the third in the second bracket. Better than him only Russell and Norris. But, he knows it better than anyone else: the points are scored on Sunday. And since so far Ocon has put together 30 and he just 4, starting a row in front of him could be a good opportunity to reverse the trend. Also because so far in the race we are 6-0 for Esteban.
Bottas unusually back
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Valtteri Bottas far away. He and Alfa had come to give the idea of being able to even fight to win the championship of the others. Or rather, he had given the idea, since Zhou Guanyu has often not been sufficiently useful to the cause. This time Valtteri also remained out of Q1, as he had already happened to him in Australia, where however four nice points (with 8th place) had brought them home. And so far it had been the most difficult race of this 2022 of the new life in Alfa-Romeo, on the whole certainly much more cheerful than it had been envisaged. Apart from Jeddah, where he left the scene when he was fighting for 5th place, every time he gets to the bottom he scores points. Today it will be harder, but for this very reason it will be interesting to see him at work. As for the challenge with his teammate, nothing: yesterday in qualifying he scored 7-0.
Vettel never so far ahead of 16 GPs
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Sebastian Vettel is rumored to be out, that this could be his last Formula 1 championship. Meanwhile he has once again placed behind his teammate, Lance Stroll, this year more anonymous than ever. And now in qualifying we are 5-2 for Seb. But above all Vettel in Montecarlo will start ahead as he had not done in 16 races, since last year at Spa. Ninth place in qualifying, his best result of the season, he had already obtained in Imola, but then in the Sprint Qualifying he was relegated by four positions: 13 °.
Is Gasly a coincidence?
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Pierre Gasly is becoming a coincidence. Last year he scored points in 15 out of 22 races. And only once did he fail to do it for two races in a row, in Monza and Sochi. So as to close in 9th place, with a nice tally of 110 points. Now he has returned from three zeros in a row (which become four with the sprint at Imola, which closed in 17th place), with 12th place (doubled) at the Emilia-Romagna GP, retirement in Miami, 13th (doubled ) at Montmelò. And today he stayed out in Q1, he will start 17th, beaten by Yuki Tsunoda. With a lot of bad luck too, and it’s not the first time: he didn’t have the right timing to make the last attempt of the first session. It will be tough that tomorrow, starting from the ninth row, he can have a great race.
Zhou lost in the back
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Sad lonely and final, twentieth Zhou Guanyu, who had the same fate as Gasly. That is, something went wrong with the remaining time calculation and he didn’t have a chance to make the last attempt in Q1. But he remained 3 “from the time in Leclerc’s Q1 and 4” 230 (!) From pole. “I don’t know what to say”, he sighed on the radio. We do: we would like to see Antonio Giovinazzi again.
May 29, 2022 (change May 29, 2022 | 09:49)
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