Monaco GP Saturday qualifying report

F1 is kicking!

I just saw the best qualifying session in years. It rained overnight and and the rubber was washed off, so the session got off to a slow start. Yet one after the other the top drivers came out and beat each others times, although the first position (not the pole this time) never changed from Schumacher. It was great to see the drivers sliding the rears out coming out of corners again and locking up fronts on the way into sharp turns. Quite fantastic!

Schumacher and (I think also) Hakkinen beat Mansell's lap record (1:19.4xx) and both those plus Berger beat Prost's pole of last year (1:20.5yy). Though it may not immediately look like it, Schumacher was pushed since himself and at least the next two drivers beat his provisional pole of Friday. At one point Hakkinen came within 0.008 of Schumacher.

[Qualifying results to be posted in a separate article]

Notes:

The Grand Prix Driver's Association is to be headed by Berger and to include Lauda, Schumacher, Fittipaldi (and one other?). They will visit each track, working a few races in advance to approve tracks and suggest safety modifications where necessary.

New rules re: smaller tips on front wings and less power (but I'm not sure how) should be in effect by Spain.

[FIA press release on rule changes to be posted in a separate article.]

-J