Another Monaco podium for Mark
After driving a typically determined race, Mark finished Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix in third place. He qualified fourth and lined up on the dirty side of the grid, but he still managed to make a brilliant start.
“It was nice to get away so well” says Mark. “But it was sod’s law that I couldn’t really benefit from it because the run to the first corner in Monaco is the shortest of the year! I had to lift off before the braking area because Rosberg and Hamilton in front didn’t seem to get away well, but there was no way to pass them because the track’s so narrow.
“Thereafter, the race was all about tyre conservation. The pace set by Rosberg was very slow, so it was clear pretty early on that everyone would have to one-stop and that made it a bit processional and took away any element of strategy.”
The first Safety Car of the entire 2013 season was deployed on lap 31 when Felipe Massa crashed heavily at turn one. The Safety Car stayed out for seven laps while Massa (who was bruised but otherwise unhurt) was extricated from his Ferrari and this bunched up the field once more. Crucially for Mark, it allowed him to jump ahead of Hamilton when the Mercedes driver pitted.
“Lewis was very slow to get back to the pitlane,” says Mark. “That allowed Seb [Vettel] and I to jump ahead of him – and I almost got Seb too. It was an important phase of the race and overall I’m satisfied with this result. So much can go wrong at Monaco, but I had a clean race and came away with a podium.”
Once Mark was ahead of Hamilton, the Briton was very determined in his effort to gain the place back. During one heart-in-mouth moment, he tried to pass Mark at Rascasse, the penultimate corner.
“I’ve enjoyed quite a lot of close racing with Lewis this year,” says Mark. “It was good that we got through Rascasse safely and I’m not quite sure how we did that because it’s very narrow and there’s usually only one line. I was able to use KERS at the exit to ensure I stayed ahead.”
The second Safety Car period came about when Romain Grosjean and Daniel Ricciardo collided at the exit of the Tunnel and the race was then stopped a few laps later when Max Chilton crashed into Pastor Maldonado and the latter suffered a 9g impact at Tabac. The drivers were permitted to change tyres during the red flag period, which meant the leaders got to the end of the race without a further pitstop.
“Pretty much the same thing happened in 2011,” says Mark. “But I want to congratulate Nico [Rosberg]. It’s very special to win here and he had a seamless weekend. He started at the front, but you still have to pull it off and he did that.”
Following the Monaco Grand Prix, which has the slowest average speed of the year, comes one of the fastest races on the calendar: the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Mark heads there hoping to finish on an even higher step of the podium.
Footnote: Mark wasn’t the only Antipodean to stand on the Monaco podium – his young Kiwi charge, Mitch Evans, finished an impressive third in both the weekend’s GP2 races.
// ends
21 Comments
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Susan
on May 27, 2013Well done on getting on the podium Mark. It was an exciting race from a spectator point of view. You had a great start and raced well in particular fending of Hamilton. Let’s hope your season has turned around and it’s podiums galore here on in:)
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Valerie
on May 27, 2013Brilliant Mark for yesterday race !
Congratulations !!! -
stu
on May 27, 2013congratulations Mark, enjoyed seeing you at the front. the slow pace at the front seems to be a tradition for the leader to ‘control the race pace’at Monaco. Look forward to more success in the next races.
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Petra
on May 27, 2013Hi Mark, congrats ! I loved it. You deserved it so much.Brilliant defending action on Lewis! An amazing pressure having Lewis sticking on your tail. To be honest I worried a bit about your early pit stop followed by SC sessions and restart.You showed us one more time what a smart driver you are.
This race definately was great entertainment . I bet you’ll be seen at Mugello.
Have fun!
Cheers from China -
Marcus S
on May 27, 2013Congrats! 🙂
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Andrew Fulton
on May 27, 2013Awesome drive Mark. I’m always in awe of you F1 drivers, and to think that any drive in an F1 around Monaco can be considered “slow” is even more amazing!!
Well done on the Hamilton attempt too! -
Frank
on May 27, 2013Good one wish you all the the best next race.
Cheers Frank. -
Agnieszka
on May 27, 2013Mark,
A fantastic start, good tyre strategy and an impressive way you kept Lewis away, thank you for another inspiring race! It was soooo wonderful to see you with the trophy! And thank God nothing bad happened to Felipe… Thanks a bunch and keeping fingers crossed we will see you on the podium in Canada! All the best from Poland 🙂 -
Vic aka Civy
on May 27, 2013Good drive Mark and nice to see you up there on the podium again. It may be the ‘slowest’ race but gee, looking at the cam in the car .. there is no room for error, just surviving at those speeds is a credit to all the drivers – well done !
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stuarth44
on May 28, 2013Wonderful to see the full bodied smile
Enjoy it Bud -
TRICKO
on May 28, 2013excellent start!! keep em coming reaally great to see you fighting off lewis classy driving.good points and good luck for canada.COME ON THE WEBBER!!!
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Wendy
on May 28, 2013Congratulations on the good start and the podium finish. You had a strong weekend and I hope it will be even better for you in Montreal!
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Maria
on May 28, 2013Excellent drive Mark!
Great start and precision driving to keep Lewis behind you….. Squeaky cheek moments…..
Can’t wait till see you up there again in Canada -
Jill and Brian
on May 29, 2013Well done Mark great to see you on the podium, hope things are beginning to turn your way. Good luck in Canada, Go Mark.
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Michael
on May 29, 2013Congratulations on the podium finish, hopefully the rest of the season will bring more success.
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Italyfan
on May 29, 20132005 3°
2008 4°
2009 5°
2010 1°
2011 4°
2012 1°
2013 3°Always in the top five!!!
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George
on May 29, 2013Great job Mark, catching up
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psycho budgie
on May 30, 2013Excellent Monaco result, enjoyed watching you race, onward and upward for Canada. 😀
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Dan
on May 30, 2013Glad to see the starts are know working for you! Well controlled race. 🙂 the fight is still on for the championship! Time to lift!!
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irish ann
on June 2, 2013Well done Mark, enjoyed the race, best of luck for Montreal
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wassa
on June 7, 2013Hope this week end is all yours mate. I also hope all the best of “British Luck” goes your way not seb’s for a change.Remember have fun!
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