Once again Monaco proves itself as a great venue for F1 racing, admittedly with the assistance of a rainy day. So much incident, disaster, triumph and drama was packed into this year's race that it was easily the best of the year so far. And suddenly the detractors have melted away, those who say the Monaco GP is boring, that passing is impossible, that it is no more than a hugely expensive parade for the glitterati, all carping made ridiculous by such a race as Sunday's.
Adrian Sutil
Monaco is the GP that rewards the driver who can maintain concentration and, when it rains, that becomes doubly so. There are moments when a driver can be robbed of his rightful reward through another's clumsiness but that is true of any race. Adrian Sutil's unhappy departure was more cruel than most, though, and it is understandable, if silly, that his incident with Raikkonen should be examined so closely afterwards. We all wanted Adrian to keep that fourth place and our anger was directed more at fate than anything else.
Kimi's loss of control as the cars swooped down to the chicane was uncharacteristic, to say the least. Theories of braking too early or too late abound but it seems to me that it was much more a case of a little too much pressure on the pedal, rather than a matter of timing. The back of the car stepped out - and that means the rears locked, however briefly. And, once the car was out of shape like that, the over-corrections that sent Kimi helplessly into Sutil were inevitable. It was a racing incident, that's all.
I confess to being a little amused by the Ferrari fortunes in this race, however. As I have written previously, we see Raikkonen as the man who should revel in the absence of traction control and our suspicion is that Felipe Massa will not cope, especially in the wet. How ironic is it then that it should be Felipe who kept everything together (well, okay, he overcooked it once, slightly) while the master lost it so ignominiously? F1 makes fools of us all sometimes.
That one Massa error prevents his joining the elite band who truly mastered Monaco this time. In that category we have to place the previously-mentioned Sutil and the amazing Robert Kubica. Both were very quick in cars that were not the best and both rode that fine edge between success and disaster throughout. The points may have eluded Sutil in the end but his reputation must bounce back now from the depression of his season to date.
Kubica was brilliant, hounding Massa and taking his chances when offered. He does seem to like the BMW F1.08 as much as Nick Heidfeld hates it. And, having failed to get the car as he wanted, poor Nick had to suffer a series of thumps and bad luck as others tried to take him out. It was a race he will want to forget.
As for Lewis Hamilton, he had all the luck going, even his unscheduled pit stop somehow fitting into a strategy that turned out right in the long run. He was fast, yes, but it was just as much McLaren's flexibility in strategy that earned him the win. It helped, too, that Ferrari were tripping over themselves at the same time.
Others who deserve mention are Sebastian Vettel, who took the new Toro Rosso to fifth through consistent speed and allowing others to drop out, Mark Webber, who was excellent all day, and the unnoticed Kazuki Nakajima, who kept plugging away and stayed in the race while his fancied team mate crashed out.
The rest were entertaining at least, as they demonstrated the myriads of ways to break a F1 car around Monaco, the Toyota drivers in particular excelling at this game. But it was not the huge disaster that some had predicted for a TC-less wet race; only six retirements is not bad for Monaco and we should notice that most incidents led merely to the minor result of a new nose being required. Traction control may prevent large numbers of accidents but the big ones happen with or without it.
It was a great race though, wasn't it? All the action we could possibly ask for and a non-Ferrari winner at the end. The championship is revitalized and we go forward to Canada still undecided as to whether Kimi will easily pocket another championship or someone else unexpectedly steal it.