Team Mate Battles - Monaco GP

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Marussia

Max Chilton started ahead of Bianchi, but, based on what we’ve seen this season, only because Bianchi’s Marussia didn’t like being operational for long. In the race, it was more of the same, with Jules behind Max until Chilton brought out the red flags by launching Maldonado into the barriers. While Jules continued for a short while after the red flag, it wasn’t long until the Marussia cried enough again. An inconclusive race between them, but the nod goes to Bianchi for not being the instigator of chaos. Chilton scored his first Team Mate point of the year for the fastest lap of the team, and broke Bianchi’s whitewash on the scoreboard. Well done Max.

Fastest lap: 1-0 to Max Chilton
Qualifying: 1-0 to Max Chilton
Race: 1-0 to Jules Bianchi

Caterham
Giedo Van Der Garde was one of the heroes of Saturday qualifying, by getting his Caterham into Q2, even if it was made slightly easier by the non appearance of Felipe Massa and Jules Bianchi. Still, Van Der Garde toppled drivers in quicker cars, such as Gutierrez & Maldonado. However, being ahead of Pastor didn’t do Giedo any favours in the race, with the Dutchman blaming the Williams driver for the contact that resulted in Giedo pitting with damage early on. He was able to recover due to safety cars to finish on the lead lap, albeit as last of the finishers. Charles Pic looked out of sorts all weekend, and particularly so when his car spontaneously caught fire at La Rascasse.

Fastest lap: 1-0 to Giedo Van Der Garde
Qualifying: 1-0 to Giedo Van Der Garde
Race: 1-0 to Giedo Van Der Garde

Toro Rosso:
Jean Eric Vergne responded to the recent limelight hogging tendencies of his team-mate to outqualify Ricciardo and get into Q3 for the first time. Vergne continues to show exceptional feel for the car in tricky conditions, running almost a second quicker in both Q1 & Q2 than his team-mate. In the race, both drivers ran clean races in the train of cars that was the midfield, but it was Ricciardo who fell foul of the exuberant Romain Grosjean. Branding the Frenchman an ‘idiot’ post race may have been apt, but it will be little consolation to the Australian, who had been having a good run of strong appearances. Vergne put in a strong race to score decent points, and, more importantly, nips ahead of Ricciardo again in the Team-mate standings.

Fastest Lap: 1-0 to Jean-Eric Vergne
Qualifying: 1-0 to Jean-Eric Vergne
Race: 1-0 to Jean-Eric Vergne

Sauber:
Sauber really struggled in Monte Carlo, with Hulkenberg unable to get the car into the points positions in either qualifying or the race, and Gutierrez barely able to get the car ahead of the back row. Nico looked as though he was going to sneak a point in the final laps, but that was before he was mugged by the freshly shod Lotus of a recovering Raikkonen. Gutierrez kept his powder dry, but was completely nondescript while doing so. Kudos for finishing his debut Monaco GP, but a little more race speed and aggression is needed. He doesn’t lack single lap pace, so hopefully, over time, we’ll see the likeable Mexican become a more potent package.

Fastest Lap: 1-0 to Esteban Gutierrez
Qualifying: 1-0 to Nico Hulkenberg
Race: 1-0 to Nico Hulkenberg

Williams:
Another race dawdling around in the lower midfield for Williams, with Bottas again outqualifying Maldonado. It appears the Finn adjusts earlier in the weekend to how to get the best of the Williams chassis as he frequently appears to have the pace at an earlier point in the weekend. Pastor though, does adjust, and was on Bottas’s case when his path was blocked by a meandering Marussia. At this point in the season, Maldonado has not used his experience to put a distance between himself and Valterri, and there is a strong chance that Bottas could end the season as the stronger Williams driver. If Pastor can’t reverse this developing dynamic, then the long term deal with Mercedes will be of little consequence for the Venezuelan.

Fastest Lap: 1-0 to Valterri Bottas
Qualifying: 1-0 to Valterri Bottas
Race: 1-0 to Valterri Bottas

Force India:
It was very interesting at the end of qualifying to see the difference in attitude from Paul Di Resta compared to some of the other top drivers after his team left him out on worn intermediates in Q1. Logically, it was a stupid error, but hardly on purpose. However, Paul was quick to put the blame squarely at the door of his team. While Di Resta may be driving well this year, this behaviour will not endear him to his engineers. You never see Kimi Raikkonen or Fernando Alonso put the blame completely on their team. Winning and losing as a team is a concept that appears to be alien to the Scotsman at the moment. He put it behind him to score points on Sunday, which was good, but he was overshadowed by a superlative drive from Adrian Sutil. The German has had a run of bad luck in recent races, but overtook Button & Alonso on track in racing conditions, at Monaco, and has to be considered as one of the stars of the race. Adrian pops back ahead of Di Resta in the Team Mate standings.

Fastest Lap: 1-0 to Adrian Sutil
Qualifying: 1-0 to Adrian Sutil
Race: 1-0 to Adrian Sutil

McLaren:
Both cars made it into Q3, with Perez beginning to get used to being quicker than Button on Saturdays. If the weekend ended on Saturday night, Perez was a hero of the weekend. But the race revealed that Perez still thinks like a GP2 driver, not a top flight pilot driving for a top tier team. Diving up the inside of cars constantly to force them to use the escape road is not overtaking finesse, and with the exception of his move to get back past Button, his moves were clumsy and dangerous. Ironically, Alonso being passed by Perez in such a manner likely improved the Ferrari driver’s finishing position, as Fernando was out of harms way of the lunging McLaren in the closing stages. Jenson has his hands full if Sergio learns to calm down, but he himself pulled off one of the moves of the race when he dived up Alonso’s inside at La Rascasse.

Fastest Lap: 1-0 to Jenson Button
Qualifying: 1-0 to Sergio Perez
Race: 1-0 to Jenson Button

Lotus:
Romain crashed four times in one weekend. Kimi didn’t, and despite being walloped by a McLaren that had no hope of making the apex, continued his streak of points finished. Kimi got lucky (no thanks to Daft Punk) in that Bottas believed Kimi was the race leader lapping him and thus made his pass extremely simple, but Raikkonen’s wayward pass around the outside of Hulkenberg showed Kimi was driving like a man possessed. If he was offered the chance of his own post-race suggestion that Perez should be punched in the face, it’s likely the Finn would have taken it, in his own unusual version of incandescence.
Serious questions must be asked of Romain Grosjean again, as he gave his mechanics constant repair jobs, as well as the very real possibility of running out of front wings. Punting the Toro Rosso off at the chicane was exceptionally badly misjudged, and yet again, Lotus will be a one car team in Montreal, as Grosjean is likely to qualify much high than the lower midfield after his penalty.

Fastest Lap: 1-0 to Kimi Raikkonen
Qualifying: 1-0 to Kimi Raikkonen
Race: 1-0 to Kimi Raikkonen

Mercedes:
There was little to separate the Merc drivers in reality, but Nico was perfect all weekend, while Lewis was just slightly off. Not taking the pole position was always going to put Lewis at the risk of being shuffled backwards, and that’s exactly what happened when the predicted Monaco incidents started to unfold. Nico’s stock is rising immeasurably quickly, but it will be interesting to see whether Hamilton’s will fall as a result, or whether Rosberg will just be added to the list of the highest echelon drivers. An exceptionally well controlled weekend from Rosberg, with the necessary pace at the necessary moments.

Fastest Lap: 1-0 to Lewis Hamilton
Qualifying: 1-0 to Nico Rosberg
Race: 1-0 to Nico Rosberg

Ferrari:
It is now twelve years since the Scuderia last won F1’s most prestigious event, and Ferrari never looked likely to do so this year. Usually, the Ferrari’s ramp up the pace on Saturdays to be in the mix, but sixth place for Fernando was always going to put him on the back foot. Last for Felipe was disappointing for the Brazilian, and suspension failure on Sunday put an end to a miserable weekend for him. Fernando didn’t fight with his usual tenacity against Sutil, Button & Perez, and one wonders whether it was a deliberate tactic, seeing as fighting cost Kimi Raikkonen dearly. Far more likely, Alonso had an off day in an imperfect Ferrari, rather than some great masterplan. A poor display from Maranello, but Fernando put in the better performance.

Fastest Lap: 1-0 to Felipe Massa
Qualifying: 1-0 to Fernando Alonso
Race: 1-0 to Fernando Alonso

Red Bull:
Mark was on the pace this weekend, but Sebastian was two tenths quicker in Q3, and that was what kept him ahead for the rest of the weekend. No mistakes from either of the Red Bull drivers, and it’s likely that the result they got was the one they will be secretly delighted with. With both Fernando and Kimi finishing in lowly points places, a double podium finish (in the ‘correct’ order for RBR) and only losing points to a distant Rosberg, Red Bull will feel like the real winners of Monaco. It was curious as to why Mark never even attempted to put Sebastian under any pressure while always running closely on track, but both drivers were chipper after the race. An uncomfortable truce appears to have been reached, for now.

Fastest Lap: 1-0 to Sebastian Vettel
Qualifying: 1-0 to Sebastian Vettel
Race: 1-0 to Sebastian Vettel

Totals:
Marussia: 16-2 to Jules Bianchi
Caterham: 12-6 to Charles Pic
Toro Rosso: 10-8 to Jean-Eric Vergne
Sauber: 12-6 to Nico Hulkenberg
Williams: 13-5 to Valterri Bottas
Force India: 10-8 to Adrian Sutil
McLaren: 12-6 to Jenson Button
Lotus: 14-4 to Kimi Raikkonen
Mercedes: 9-9 each
Ferrari: 13-5 to Fernando Alonso
Red Bull: 17-1 to Sebastian Vettel