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As it happened: Raceday in Monte Carlo
By Geoff Creighton and Emlyn Hughes
The live commentary has ended. No further updates will be posted.
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| OVERVIEW |
GRAND PRIX |
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| CURRENT WEATHER |
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Overcast |
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19°C / 66°F |
| Track: |
Wet and drying |
| ABOUT |
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Emlyn Hughes and Geoff Creighton are autosport.com's live commentary team. The dynamic duo have developed an inimitable style and a reputation for fast, accurate and insightful commentary. With unrivaled access to events unfolding at the circuit, they bring you the very latest, as it happens.
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SHOW LIVE FORUM
I went in 05 and loved it. Would love 2 go again 
And he made 7th yesterday? 
Later today we will bring you live commentary from the 92nd Indianapolis 500, as 33 drivers fight for a place in motor racing history, and their likeness etched onto the famous Borg-Warner trophy. But before we switch attention to Indy, all eyes are on glamourous Monte Carlo, and the 66th Monaco Grand Prix - round six of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship.
We will bring you news updates on the weather situation ahead of the race, as well as a round-up of yesterday's qualifying session, a detailed look at some of the drivers competing today, and of course full live text commentary of the race itself.
The rainfall radar suggests that there could be a break in the rainfall later this morning. But, for now, moderate rainfall is keeping the track very wet indeed.
Click the SHOW LIVE FORUM link in the red bar at the bottom of your browser window if you'd like to join the debate.
With rain currently falling on the circuit and very wet conditions, let's hear your views on the potential for a dramatic event in Monte Carlo.
Following a safety car start, and a couple of laps behind the Mercedes, the brutish tin-tops have been let loose for a splash around the circuit.
The race has now become a timed event with around eight minutes remaining.
Ireland's Damien Faulkner started, and finished, second but Briton Sean Edwards did make up a place to finish third, despite the advances of Uwe Alzen to restore his place on the podium.
Patrick Huisman, David Saelens, Rene Rast, Jan Seyffarth, Christian Mamerow and Stefan Rosina made up the top ten, closing down the lead quartet at the finish.
Despite full wet conditions, with some standing water, it was a largely uneventful race.
Causalities at the end of the first 20 minutes were predictable: The Force India and new Toro Rosso cars didn't make the cut. Renault driver Nelson Piquet - who has struggled to get to grips with the winding streets this weekend - wound up 17th and was also eliminated.
The second period produced excitement and drama until the very last moment. The McLarens and Ferraris strolled through the session as expected, but behind them it was a free-for-all. Fernando Alonso and Nick Heidfeld both left it very late for a final attempt, when they were still placed in the dropzone with just two minutes of the session remaining. Alonso made it through, but Heidfeld didn't manage to secure a place in the top ten after a poor performance. Along with Heidfeld, Glock, Button, Nakajima and Rubens Barrichello found themselves on the sidelines.
One driver who did make it through to the final stage of qualifying was David Coulthard, with a very positive tenth position. However, on his final attempt to make sure his time wouldn't be beaten, the Scot lost control of his Red Bull machine at the quickest part of this 2.075 mile circuit. Exiting the tunnel and braking down the hill for the chicane, the rear wheels locked, pitching him sharp right into the barriers. The car then speared down the escape road at high speed, and Coulthard was fortunate to escape injury. He had made it through to the final 10-minute shootout session, but with his car heavily damaged, there would be no way Coulthard would be taking any further part in the session.
In the final phase of the qualifying, it was predictably a battle between McLaren and Ferrari. Ferrari won the day and have locked out the front row for this afternoon's race, with Felipe Massa on the pole ahead of his world champion teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Lewis Hamilton was third, and Heikki Kovalainen will start fourth in today's 78-lap event.
The track surface is still wet.
Kubica looked on top form in the wet third practice, lapping quicker than the Ferraris in equal conditions. He followed this up with a strong fifth place on the grid, and is ideally placed to score an upset if the top four run in to trouble on a rainy day in Monaco - particularly if he has more fuel aboard his BMW than the leading quartet.
Back in 1983, Keke Rosberg triumphed for Williams in a rain-affected race by gambling on slicks for a drying track at the start. 25 years on, his son Nico - driving for the same team - is well placed to pick up the pieces on a day filled with potential for chaos. After clocking an outstanding Q2 time of 1:15.287, the second quickest of the segment, Rosberg took sixth on the grid with a 1:16.548 in Q3. This time difference hints at a hefty fuel load in the Williams for his first stint, something that could play into his favour if tyre changes or safety cars fall at the right time.
A buoyant Nico spoke with the media scrum after qualifying: "It was a really good qualifying. Everything went well, I got the best out of it all the way through, so I think looking at Q3, I probably had more fuel than the other guys around me. My competition is probably Kubica, in front of me, I need to try and beat him because Ferrari and McLaren are not going to be beatable, I think, for me, but Kubica - it's possible.
"To win, first of all [you need] reliability, it's always a track where that can be a problem so we need to be reliable. We have a good strategy, I think, so I think we are lined up for a good result.
"In the wet it is definitely quite difficult, especially because the tyres take some time to start to work properly, so it's quite a challenge. We had the problem this [Saturday] morning that the rubber doesn't attach properly to the ground and it takes some laps to get them to work. Once they work properly then it's OK, it's not much of a problem, because we are really starting to get used to it."
Charles Pic was leading the race, but soon the red flags were displayed, bringing the 25-lap event to a premature halt. Giedo Van der Garde finished second, with Fairuz Fauzy in third place.
The rain holds off for now as the track continues to dry. Some parts of the racing line are drying quickly, but the rest of the circuit is damp still, with the occasional wetter patch offline.
The main line of rain has slowly shifted north throughout the morning, lending weight briefly to a drier race than anticipated.
However, the recent radar images are showing another cluster of showers approaching Monaco, on a track further south than the main area of rain, which you can see slowly moving northwards through France.
The Meteogroup radar picks this cluster out in the sea very well.
Moving closer to home, the local radar is just beginning to show the leading edge of this feature at the bottom of the radar screen.
If the showers make it as far as the circuit, then the latest prediction is that rain could be falling again very close to the start of the race.
Meanwhile, the track continues to dry all the time. The surface is still damp, but the racing line is almost dry most of the way round the circuit.
His achievement is all the more incredible against the backdrop of comments the Brazilian made in the lead-up to the weekend, where he explained that he didn't particularly like the circuit, because to be fast here you have to drive "like an old woman."
After qualifying, one very happy driver greeted the world's media.
"I'm very satisfied. It's a great time to come here and be first, and without expecting it," said Massa. "I didn't expect to be first, and suddenly I just did a perfect lap. I came to the first corner, and everyone was quiet, and then suddenly my engineer came to say 'I can't believe you are first! What's happened?' Then I was laughing like crazy, I couldn't stop laughing. It was a great time, a great moment. When you don't expect it you enjoy even more. You need to do every corner perfectly to be on pole, and that's what I did."
Felipe, by his own admission, has always struggled with this circuit, with his best result in five attempts being a third place finish in last year's event. High levels of concentration, working hard to extract every last tenth of a second, and a well-balanced racecar are keys to performing well, as he explained.
"Monaco is a track where I was always struggling, compared to my teammates, comparing the previous years. I finished on the podium last year, but even like that I knew I wasn't 100 percent. This year it looks like things change a little bit, and I can say I got the best of the car and the best of myself as well."
"On Thursday the car was much better, but I was not on the top, and I was not 100 percent in every corner. Here to be on pole you have to do every corner right, and then suddenly I was studying with my engineers to understand what I have to do to improve every corner. Turn one was one of those, also turn 12, the Tabac, and the quick chicane – I was always having understeer there. Everything was missing, but I was very quick in some other corners. The on Thursday I had a very good second sector once. I said that if I can do it once then I can do maybe twice or three times, then I managed to improve that and to learn how it works."
Although extremely pleased with his day's work, Massa remained focused on the job that he still has to do in the race.
"We know the rain can come anytime, we just need to be prepared for whatever conditions we approach. Monaco is about being quick, consistent, keeping your head in the right direction and your concentration because here anything can happen, but I'm looking forward to having everything in the right direction tomorrow as well, and trying to win."
From the local radar you can see the finger of rain making its way north-east, passing Toulon, and heading towards Nice.
If that small area of rain continues its current track and speed, there is likely to be a shower around the time the race starts. However, it will not last long.
Showers continue to move up the coastline and the threat of rain as the race starts remains high.
Nico Rosberg sits in his Williams, with no tyres on the car as the team ponder the forecasts.
Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren
Patrick Head, Williams
The teams are currently pondering their choice of tyres for the start with light rain still falling.
We are scheduled for 78 laps of one of the tightest racetracks on the planet.
If further rain does not appear, those starting on intermediates would quickly be forced to pit as their tyres overheat.
Replays show that the German spun at the final corner of the lap, and damaged the wing against the guardrail.
Glock rejoins with extreme wet tyres bolted onto the Toyota.
Fernando Alonso is on the radio asking his team if anyone else is out there on full wet (extreme wet) tyres.
Raikkonen appears to be struggling and is now 11.5 seconds behind leader Massa.
Fernando Alonso crashed in the Massenet by glancing the outside barrier after understeering. He crawls back to the pits with a damaged Renault.
David Coulthard slammed the barrier moments after Alonso - whio had already left the scene. Sebastien Bourdais then followed Coulthard into the same barrier and crashed into the back of the Scotsman.
Both drivers continue in the race.
The rain has now eased.
Heidfeld rejoins way down the order.
Nick Heidfeld also had a puncture and while the BMW changed the tyres, they changed the front wing as well. Heidfeld is now 18th and last of the remaining runners on the racetrack.
Adrian Sutil is holding onto his sixth place very well, albeit 5.9 seconds behind Webber. Jarno Trulli is now seventh, with Rubens Barrichello in eighth place.
Sutil is likely to be stopping once in this race. If so, then the Force India team are looking good to be in the fight for the lower points-paying positions come the end of the race.
Raikkonen is behind Sutil who is now in fifth place. Sutil is able to pull away from the Ferrari and on the last lap was 1.5 seconds faster than Raikkonen!
Massa's rapid recent laps put him back out ahead of Kubica's BMW.
Nico Rosberg finally overtakes Fernando Alonso after spending many laps behind the Renault. Rosberg moves up to 15th position, as Adrian Sutil sets the fastest lap of the race thus far in the Force India - yes, a Force India. 1:29.292 and the German is flying out there.
His next headache is what tyres to take at the stop, with the track drying but further rain a threat.
It would be a very brave decision to switch to dry tyres at this time.
Sutil is now promoted to fourth place in the Force India.
Hamilton has a 36 second lead and is sprinting away from the battle between Massa and Kubica over second.
Kimi Raikkonen is the only driver to pass him, and for Force India a solid fifth place is there for the taking provided the German can keep his pace up in the remaining laps of the race.
Sutil is where the action is going to be in this race as we move into the last 20 laps. Raikkonen and Webber will catch the Force India car. They are around 12 seconds behind Sutil and catching up quickly.
Vettel has endured a nightmare start to the 2008 season, and the party after the race is going to be down with the Red Bull family. Mark Webber runs fourth is the sister car to Vettel.
Hamilton now leads the world championship standings by three points from Kimi Raikkonen.
I think it is our track, 15 wins, that's great!
We thought we had the right strategy and I think we had."
Ron Dennis, McLaren
Robert put the dry tyres on a lap before us and he just managed to get it right, we weren't sure whether it was correct or not from our lap times, because we had graining on the intermediate tyre. So we decided to stay out another lap, which seemed to work OK relative to us, but it didn't work OK relative to Robert."
Rob Smedley, Massa's Ferrari engineer
Highlights include Massa getting to grips with what it takes to be fast round Monaco, Rosberg and his stunning weekend pace, and the week-long talk of rain.
At the end of the story, the race didn't even go the full 78-lap distance - but it didn't need to. The race was stunning anyway. The standard of driving over the first couple of laps on a damp track was exemplary, before the heaviest of the rain came down.
So many drivers had incidents today but got away with it - a rarity on the streets of Monte Carlo. Hamilton, Alonso, Massa and Raikkonen, to name but a few, all found trouble at one time or another during the race but were still circulating at the flag.
Meanwhile, young drivers like Adrian Sutil and Sebastian Vettel picked their way through the old hands and to end up in strong positions as the complex strategies played out.
In the end one of those fairytales didn't come true, and this evening must be hard to accept if your name is Adrian Sutil, after late contact from Kimi Raikkonen put the Force India out of a stunning fourth place. But at Toro Rosso, the party is just beginning. Vettel finished fifth and scores four vital points for the team.
Through the madness of the 76 laps, Lewis Hamilton survived everything - even a prang with the barriers - and won the race in dominant style. He leads the points table as we go to Canada.
This was the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix weekend, but we are only halfway through the biggest day of the season.
Live text coverage of the 92nd Indianapolis 500 will begin at 16:00 GMT, and after 500 miles we will find out which of the 33 fastest drivers on Earth drinks the milk.