Free Practice 1.1 and 1.2, Monaco.

[Kicking-back]

In session 1.1 Montoya was quickest ahead of Alonso and Klien.

[Dani Filth]

and Schu quite high ..

[KE30MAN]

..and there is a Minardi in front of the Jordans

19. 20 FRIESACHER Minardi Cosworth B 1'21"968 + 0'04"816
20. 18 MONTEIRO Jordan Toyota B 1'23"271 + 0'06"119
21. 19 KARTHIKEYAN Jordan Toyota B 1'23"521 + 0'06"369
22. 21 ALBERS Minardi Cosworth B 1'25"664 + 0'08"512

[Dani Filth]

yep . i saw that too .. and it's friesacher .. i seem to remember he did quite good at Monaco in F3000 .

[GTRMagic]

Mr Klien is very quick... hope it makes RBR see sense soon....

[Adam43]

Whoever is the third driver always sets a decent lap on Friday. I doubt it'll make much difference.

[Steevp]

Klien just broke the nose off the RBR in what looked like a driver error type incident.. Ditto Albers.

Lots of people failing to slow down into the chicane after the tunnel too..

[Steevp]

Massa losses it and slams the Sauber into the tyre wall after a long sideways slide.. looked like he out braked himself.

Alonso 1st, Wurz 2nd, Coulthard 3rd as the session ends..

[f1_carzy]

What happened to Michael????He has not run for a long time???

[Kicking-back]

Alonso ends up quickest from Wurz and Coulthard

[Glen]

Alonso 1st and Fisi didn't even run in the last session! what is going on at that team?

Red Bull are a mystery - I have to presume that a number of teams are being very cautious about using their engine. Or maybe they can come good again - surely not?

I'd make McLaren favourites - Kimi probably.

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by Glen

Alonso 1st and Fisi didn't even run in the last session! what is going on at that team?
.

Fisi did run - 32 laps! 4th quickest.

[Sodemo]

Hmm, interesting results.

I doubt Ferrari are more than a second off the pace, im sure they will improve and close that gap come Saturday.

I predict that Michael will be challenging for pole on Sunday morning...

Good showing from McLaren and Renault, lets have another Kimi, Alonso 1-2 please!

[Glen]

Oh sorry - the chart that I saw showed Fisi with no laps. 4th seems about right. He's 6-1 for the win, whcih seems a good bet. Not as good as 9-1 for Montoya though - in what is probably a quicker car.

[Dani Filth]

no alonso on the podium . please

[gttouring]

wow RedBull and Coulthard....he has won it once so why not podium with redbull-
and really i am a ferrari fan, red is right...but the bridgestone nonsense has really damaged the team to no end- gearbox failure? humph...That would be ok but these poopy tyres...

[Glen]

No way for a Red Bull podium - there are two Renaults, two McLarens, two Williams (probably), Ferraris etc that will be faster come the qualifying seesions.

[chunterer]

We've covered the Ferrari thing already...until Bridgestone make significant gaines with the rubber on hoitter surfaces (Monaco looks like it's gonna be inclided in this) then Ferrari can't unlock potential of the car..so un;less there's massive attirtion and Schu can get heat into his tyres over the one lap, he will qualify low down and finish low down.

Overall i think it's payback for Bridgestone after getting Michelin's ace dry tyre thrown out at Monza 2003. It's taken Michelin a year to recover... but that's another story!

good to see Montoya reasonably on it...if he qualifies 4th or higher (a la 2003) he'll win it.

Otherwise Renault look strong with both pedallers doesn't it......?

[Dani Filth]

toyota seems rather slow ..
not even Zonta near the front .

[Dixie Flatline]

Times from the first practice session:

Practice 1

1.   J. Montoya     1:17.152
2.   F. Alonso      1:17.301
3.   C. Klien       1:17.511
4.   M. Schumacher  1:17.640
5.   G. Fisichella  1:17.869
6.   A. Wurz        1:18.059
7.   M. Webber      1:18.244
8.   R. Schumacher  1:18.482
9.   D. Coulthard   1:18.669
10.  R. Barrichello 1:18.838
11.  N. Heidfeld    1:18.859
12.  K. Raikkonen   1:19.055
13.  J. Trulli      1:19.255
14.  J. Villeneuve  1:19.755
15.  V. Liuzzi      1:19.844
16.  F. Massa       1:20.180
17.  R. Zonta       1:20.979
18.  R. Doornbos    1:21.511
19.  P. Friesacher  1:21.968
20.  T. Monteiro    1:22.388
21.  N. Karthikeyan 1:23.521
22.  C. Albers      1:25.664

[Dixie Flatline]

Times from the second session:

1.   F. Alonso       1:15.835        27
2.   A. Wurz         1:15.912 0.077  24
3.   D. Coulthard    1:16.184 0.349  21
4.   G. Fisichella   1:16.519 0.684  32
5.   J. Montoya      1:16.534 0.699  21
6.   K. Raikkonen    1:16.558 0.723  26
7.   V. Liuzzi       1:16.640 0.805  27
8.   F. Massa        1:16.914 1.079  19
9.   R. Schumacher   1:16.917 1.082  24
10.  R. Zonta        1:17.046 1.211  35
11.  M. Schumacher   1:17.170 1.335  11
12.  M. Webber       1:17.422 1.587  30
13.  J. Trulli       1:17.487 1.652  28
14.  J. Villeneuve   1:17.506 1.671  27
15.  R. Barrichello  1:17.663 1.828  25
16.  N. Heidfeld     1:17.667 1.832  29
17.  C. Klien        1:18.815 2.980  23
18.  R. Doornbos     1:19.526 3.691  26
19.  P. Friesacher   1:19.587 3.752  26
20.  T. Monteiro     1:20.284 4.449  31
21.  N. Karthikeyan  1:21.879 6.044  12
22.  C. Albers       1:22.162 6.327  15

[Marbot]

Friesacher only two and a half seconds off TGF,and on the same tyres too.

Ferrari seem to be in a bit of trouble again.And only some spirited driving by Michael will get them out of it.RB is having a torrid time......no change there then.

[mabs_nsx]

19. P. Friesacher 1:19.587 3.752 26
20. T. Monteiro 1:20.284 4.449 31
21. N. Karthikeyan 1:21.879 6.044 12
22. C. Albers 1:22.162 6.327 15

A Minardi in front of a Jordan. Thats a first. Good stuff Friesacher.
But what has happened to Jordan?

1991=5th
1992=11th
1993=11th
1994=5th
1995=6th
1996=5th
1997=5th
1998=4th
1999=3rd
2000=6th
2001=5th
2002=6th
2003=9th
2004=9th
and in 2005 I don't think they will score a single point.

[D.R.T.]

The economy, not having major manufacturer behind them. Having done supremely well with the Mugen Honda in 1998 and 1999, the wheels just fell off in 2000, they had speed and a beautiful looking car that year, they just didnt finish enough races and get results.
From then on they got screwed by Honda and were left with Customer Ford Cosworths, at which time Benson & Hedges reduced their contribution as other a sponsors left Eg Mastercard, Deutche Post etc. It was kinda a snowball effect which left Eddie going from fighting for the championship in 99 to battling to keep his head above water 4 years later.

The biggest loss to Formula 1 in a owner,management sense.

[Redlake27]

True, but only EJ can take responsibility for this. The Vodafone farce and the way he handled his Ford announcement left the blue-chips questioning whether it was the sort of team they should partner.

BACK ON THREAD, I'm not the greatest DC fan in the world, but it would be wonderful if he could maintain this form to get a podium and take away the pressure of having two hotshots potentially squeezing him out of a drive