Monaco: pre-race

Well, it was very tight, but only between the two Mercedes. If Vettel's kinetic energy supply had been stable it might have been a shade tighter, as it was, he was outshone again by his Aussie team mate. Ricciardo's having a great season, to date.

Q1 was as expected, with the four pointless teams being joined by both Saubers, who, alas, really haven't got their act together. It was also notably for Ericsson knocking out Massa after the Brazilian helpfully let him through, meaning Massa starts 16^th as he couldn't participate in Q2.

Q2 saw the two Lotuses (Loti?) last (but still ahead of Massa), and joined by Hulkenberg, Button and Bottas. Mercedes power did not seem as helpful here as at other circuits, and Hulkenberg and Button were left behind by team mates who got into Q3.

Q3 was all about one incident, really. On the first runs Rosberg was half a tenth ahead of Hamilton. On the second, the German failed to make a corner after locking a brake, caused a yellow flag and Hamilton (behind him on the road) had to slow down and couldn't improve. Now, there is fierce debate as to whether this was intentional or accidental, and opinion seems fairly evenly split. My inclination at first glance is that it was accidental. I don't think it's definitive either way.

What is certain is that Hamilton clearly thinks Rosberg effectively cheated, and the Briton's coldly furious. Whether Rosberg did cheat or not almost doesn't matter because the impact on the intra-team relationship has already occurred.

However, there were eight other cars in Q3. Ricciardo was 3^rd and Vettel 4^th, a great performance by the German who was suffering intermittent problems with his kinetic energy supply (a running theme, this year). Alonso and Raikkonen came next, the Spaniard almost a second faster than his team mate.

Then we had Vergne and Magnussen, Kvyat and Perez. It was especially impressive from the Russian newcomer who got 9^th, as he has never before driven around Monaco. He's very young, but has really hit the ground running.

It's worth mentioning there are about half a dozen incidents under investigation by the stewards. These include (but are not limited to), Perez and Kvyat for blocking (about two others have the same), Ericsson for losing control and knocking out Massa, and Rosberg for being unlucky/lucky/having flashbacks to 2006.

Ericsson unsurprisingly got a penalty and starts from the pit lane. Without being cruel, I'm not sure this is necessarily going to disadvantage his race prospects very much (he qualified 22^nd).

I was surprised how quickly a Rosberg decision was reached, and mildly surprised he didn't get a penalty. He retains pole, which I must think will infuriate Hamilton.

I'm not a Monaco fan, and when I was trying to think of bets to make the difficulty just reinforced my assessment of the circuit. It's too damned processional. The race will also be dry, so we won't have any wet weather shenanigans. Just looking at the grid, nothing came to mind.

However, Alonso be winner without Hamilton or Rosberg at 10 (backed each way, for 1/3 odds top 2) with Ladbrokes seemed of some value. The Spaniard typically starts well, and if he could mug Vettel at the start would stand a decent chance of staying ahead of the German throughout (especially if Vettel suffered yet more kinetic energy woe).

Perez top 6 was tempting but the odds were too damned short (3.5).

So, just the one tip: Alonso to be winner without Hamilton/Rosberg (each way) at 10, with Ladbrokes.

I've got to say, though, that my focus tomorrow won't be on that result but how the Silver Arrows battle goes. For the sake of the title race and my wallet I hope Rosberg has a cracking race.

Morris Dancer