Monaco, 15 May

Traffic was once again a major player in the complicated qualifying session just ended in the Principality of Monaco for the sixth round of the Formula 1 World Championship. Mark Webber in the Red Bull starts from pole (1.13.826) ahead of Robert Kubica in the Renault (1.14.120.) The second row sees the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel in third spot (1.14.227) with Felipe Massa’s F10 alongside him in fourth. The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver was immediately on the pace, but he was held up by traffic on his final lap on the extremely congested track. He completed a total of 23 laps with a best time of 1.14.283. Fernando Alonso in the other Ferrari will face an uphill battle in the race, because of the accident he had in this morning’s final free practice, when he hit the barriers at Massenet corner. His car needed a new chassis which meant the Ferrari man was simply a spectator for qualifying, watching from the garage where the team had been working non-stop on his car.