FIA F2

Monaco: ART Grand Prix weekend summary

Monaco honoured its reputation of a street circuit that does not forgives a single mistake or mishap during a race weekend as ART Grand Prix left Monaco empty handed after a double retirement in race one and tenth (Romain Grosjean) and twelfth ...

Published: May 28, 2008, 8:27 PM

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Monaco honoured its reputation of a street circuit that does not forgives a single mistake or mishap during a race weekend as ART Grand Prix left Monaco empty handed after a double retirement in race one and tenth (Romain Grosjean) and twelfth (Filippi) placed finish in race two.

The two drivers were facing an uphill battle from the start after qualifying seventh and twelfth on a circuit that is well known for its lack of overtaking opportunities after they were unable to exploit the potential of their respective contenders. Late in race one Grosjean had a coming together with Ho-Pin Tung, the Frenchman breaking the suspension on his ART GP contender in the process while Filippi retired due to being involved in the pile up on lap 26 at Mirabeau.

As the braking system was damaged in the accident, the Dallara of Luca could not brake properly only a few laps later and crashed into the guardrails at Ste Devote. In race two the weather looked decidedly gloomy and so was the result with neither driver making it into the points, despite a strong drive through the field. Being five points the leader, Romain Grosjean remains well placed in the championship while ART Grand Prix sits fourth in the team classification.

Luca Filippi "In the GP2 Series your weekend is virtually over when you have a problem in qualifying. It is especially true in Monaco where I could not use my second set of tyres because the session was red flagged after I had just put them on. The team gave me a very good car for the race but I got tangled in the Mirabeau pile up. It is a shame because I think we could have score points and have the opportunity to be in great shape and well placed on the starting grid of the second race. I really need to try and find a good spot on the starting grid and finish race 1!"

Race 1 Position on grid: 12th Result: DNF
Race 2 Position on grid: 18th Result: 12th
Position in the championship: 0 point

Romain Grosjean "A bad result in race 1 can ruin the whole weekend in this series, especially in Monaco where overtaking is impossible. I've been caught like the rookie I am by Tung, who scared himself and braked very hard. I hit him at 40km/h and it's very frustrating to end a race in this way. It's easier to accept when you're off track after taking a risk at 250km/h. The positive aspect is that I now have knowledge of Monaco and of a race scenario where you have to stay calm and be vigilant at all times. The consolation is that I leave Monaco still in the same championship position, 3rd and 5 points behind the leaders. I'll have to do better in Magny-Cours."

Race 1 Position on grid: 7th Result: DNF
Race 2 Position on grid: 19th Result: 10th
Position in championship: 3rd , 19 points

Frederic Vasseur "It is one of the worst weekends ever for ART Grand Prix in terms of results and we'll have to recover as soon as at the next round. Our level of performance was rather good in the race and Romain was climbing up the field on a track he did not know when he arrived, but the final result of the weekend is due to qualifying and we were not able to put our cars up there with the leaders. We used our joker in Monaco, we'll have to use an ace in Magny-Cours!"

-credit: artgp

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