F1: Monaco GP Results

Is there any stopping Brawn Racing? Already the dominant force in not only Formula 1, but also the Unified Power Rankings (which is our attempt to compare all of the major series), Jenson Button has now won five of the first six races and he's going to pad his lead in those standings because the Monaco Grand Prix has a bonus attached to it as one of racing's marquee events.

Of course teammate Rubens Barrichello came in second, but that didn't catch anyone by surprise either.

Pretty much everyone held serve and finished close to where they started, with the exception of drivers like Heikki Kovalainen who crashed on lap 51 and slipped from seventh to 16th and Sebastian Vettel, whose stellar fourth-place qualification effort went for nothing when he wrecked on lap 15.

Monaco Grand Prix Results

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Jenson Button	78	Running	9.88
2	3	Rubens Barrichello	78	Running	8.41
3	2	Kimi Raikkonen	78	Running	9.44
4	5	Felipe Massa	78	Running	6.71
5	8	Mark Webber	78	Running	9.33
6	6	Nico Rosberg	78	Running	13.25
7	9	Fernando Alonso	78	Running	6.63
8	14	Sebastian Bourdais	78	Running	14.00
9	13	Giancarlo Fisichella	78	Running	9.64
10	19	Timo Glock	77	Running	11.00
11	16	Nick Heidfeld	77	Running	9.60
12	20	Lewis Hamilton	77	Running	5.00
13	18	Jarno Trulli	77	Running	11.38
14	15	Adrian Sutil	77	Running	16.33
15	10	Kazuki Nakajima	76	Running	11.00
16	7	Heikki Kovalainen	51	Accident	12.33
17	17	Robert Kubica	28	Brakes	8.00
18	4	Sebastian Vettel	15	Accident	11.50
19	12	Nelson Piquet Jr	10	Crash Damage	18.00
20	11	Sebastian Buemi	10	Accident	20.00

F1: Vettel has lightest car

Sebastian Vettel qualified fourth for the Monaco Grand Prix with the lightest car on the grid. With the driver weight and fuel load, his car is nearly 10.5ks lighter than anyone else. The complete list can be found at Crash.net.

Our View: If not for the fact that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were in front of him, Vettel might be able to scoot to the lead, but they are going to be hard to pass. Once in the lead, they have more fuel on board to give them a chance to employ alternate strategy.

F1: Monaco GP Lineup

Jenson button continues to be the hottest driver on the Formula 1 circuit. Despite an average starting position of nearly 12th in seven attempts, he put down a blistering fast lap of one minute, 14.902 seconds and will roll off from the pole. That is critical to success on the tight, twisty Monaco road course.

Kimi Raikkonen is in the second position in a Ferrari.

Button is not the only Brawn driver at the front of the field. This new organization has topped the Unified Power Rankings in recent weeks, and teammate Rubens Barrichello starts third.

Lewis Hamilton's struggles continue. He crashed barely four laps into qualification and will have to roll off the grid deep in the field in 16th. He will be lucky to earn a single championship point and should not be considered a good bet to win.

Lineup

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Jenson Button	11.14	11.71	7
2	Kimi Raikkonen	10.25	6.25	8
3	Rubens Barrichello	8.81	8.94	16
4	Sebastian Vettel	5.00	19.00	1
5	Felipe Massa	7.17	10.83	6
6	Nico Rosberg	15.67	6.33	3
7	Heikki Kovalainen	10.50	9.50	2
8	Mark Webber	10.20	10.20	5
9	Fernando Alonso	6.57	5.71	7
10	Kazuki Nakajima	7.00	13.00	1
11	Sebastian Buemi
12	Nelson Piquet Jr	17.00	17.00	1
13	Giancarlo Fisichella	9.69	9.38	13
14	Sebastian Bourdais	20.00	16.00	1
15	Adrian Sutil	17.50	18.50	2
16	Lewis Hamilton	1.50	2.50	2
17	Nick Heidfeld	9.44	13.56	9
18	Robert Kubica	3.50	6.50	2
19	Jarno Trulli	11.25	7.50	12
20	Timo Glock	12.00	10.00	1

F1: Rosberg tops P2

On Thursday, Nico Rosberg posted the fastest time in the second practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, according to PlanetF1.com.

Our View: Rosberg led Lewis Hamilton, Rubens Barichello, Jenson Button and Felipe Massa as the top five drivers. This is a good indication of who will finish up front in the race.

Practice Two Speeds

Rank	Driver	Best Time	Laps
1	Nico Rosberg	1:15.243	45
2	Lewis Hamilton	1:15.445	35
3	Rubens Barrichello	1:15.590	41
4	Jenson Button	1:15.774	36
5	Felipe Massa	1:15.832	42
6	Sebastian Vettel	1:15.847	33
7	Heikki Kovalainen	1:15.984	45
8	Kimi Räikkönen	1:15.985	43
9	Kazuki Nakajima	1:16.260	43
10	Nelson Piquet Jr.	1:16.286	43
11	Fernando Alonso	1:16.552	39
12	Mark Webber	1:16.579	27
13	Adrian Sutil	1:16.675	38
14	Jarno Trulli	1:16.915	43
15	Sebastian Buemi	1:16.983	48
16	Sebastian Bourdais	1:17.052	48
17	Nick Heidfeld	1:17.109	40
18	Timo Glock	1:17.207	45
19	Giancarlo Fisichella	1:17.504	45
20	Robert Kubica	No time	2

Practice One Speeds

F1: Kovalainen downplays speed

Heikki Kovalainen is downplaying his and teammate Lewis Hamilton's speed in the first practice session that placed them third and fourth on that grid, according to PlanetF1.com.

Our View: He says that while this is a step in the right direction, their speed was nearly a half second slower than leader Rubens Barrichello.

Practice One Speeds

F1: Barrichello draws first blood

Rubens Barrichello drew first blood in practice for the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix according to PlanetF1.com, posting a time of one minute, 17.189 seconds and narrowly beating Felipe Massa.

Our View: Third-best Lewis Hamilton is still hoping to turn his season around, while Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top five.

Practice One Speeds

Rank	Driver	Best Time	Laps
1	Rubens Barrichello	1:17.189	25
2	Felipe Massa	1:17.499	30
3	Lewis Hamilton	1:17.578	25
4	Heikki Kovalainen	1:17.686	29
5	Kimi Räikkönen	1:17.839	29
6	Kazuki Nakajima	1:18.000	29
7	Nico Rosberg	1:18.024	27
8	Jenson Button	1:18.080	27
9	Fernando Alonso	1:18.283	30
10	Mark Webber	1:18.348	22
11	Sebastian Buemi	1:18.695	36
12	Nelson Piquet Jr.	1:19.204	36
13	Sebastian Vettel	1:19.233	16
14	Sebastian Bourdais	1:19.255	31
15	Giancarlo Fisichella	1:19.534	28
16	Robert Kubica	1:19.555	31
17	Nick Heidfeld	1:19.579	23
18	Adrian Sutil	1:19.600	24
19	Timo Glock	1:19.698	24
20	Jarno Trulli	1:19.831	28

F1: Last five Monaco races

The Monaco Grand Prix could very well be the biggest test of the new found strength of Jenson Button and the Brawn Racing team, because he's been miserable at Monaco during the last three years, posting consecutive 11th-place results. Rubens Barrichello also needs to bring his "A" game to earn his first top-five since 2006. And these two drivers highlight how unpredictable the start of this season has been.

Conversely, we will see if Lewis Hamilton can reverse his fortunes after winning in 2008 and finishing second in his first attempt in 2007.

Monaco Grand Prix, last five years

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Lewis Hamilton	1.50	1	2
Robert Kubica	3.50	2	5
Juan Montoya	3.67			2	5	4
Sebastian Vettel	5.00	5
Fernando Alonso	5.60	10	1	1	4	12
Felipe Massa	5.80	3	3	9	9	5
Cristiano da Matta	6.00					6
Rubens Barrichello	6.20	6	10	4	8	3
Alexander Wurz	7.00		7
Kazuki Nakajima	7.00	7
Nick Heidfeld	7.20	14	6	7	2	7
Michael Schumacher	7.67			5	7	11
Mark Webber	7.67	4			3	16
Olivier Panis	8.00					8
Jenson Button	8.75	11	11	11		2
Zsolt Baumgartner	9.00					9
Ralf Schumacher	10.00		16	8	6	10
Kimi Raikkonen	10.20	9	8	20	1	13
Heikki Kovalainen	10.50	8	13
Scott Speed	11.00		9	13
Jarno Trulli	11.20	13	15	17	10	1
Giancarlo Fisichella	11.80	18	4	6	12	19
Timo Glock	12.00	12
Jacques Villeneuve	12.50			14	11
Jacques Villeneuve Jr	12.50			14	11
Tiago Monteiro	14.00			15	13
Gianmaria Bruni	14.00					14
David Coulthard	14.20	19	14	3	17	18
Christijan Albers	15.00		19	12	14
Giorgio Pantano	15.00					15
Vitantonio Liuzzi	15.67		22	10	15
Nico Rosberg	15.67	16	12	19
Franck Montagny	16.00			16
Patrick Friesacher	16.00				16
Nelson Piquet Jr	17.00	17
Adrian Sutil	17.50	15	20
Narain Karthikeyan	18.00				18
Anthony Davidson	18.00		18
Takuma Sato	18.67		17	22		17
Christian Klien	19.00			18		20
Sebastian Bourdais	20.00	20
Mark Weber	21.00		21	21

F1: Monaco Quotes

Formula1.com has posted team and driver quotes for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Our View: “Monaco is my favorite circuit," said Lewis Hamilton. "The sensation you get from racing up the hill at 175mph, trying to make as straight a line as possible between the barriers while just shaving them with the walls of the tires is unbelievable." Along with the Indy 500 and Coke 600, this is one of the biggest days in auto racing.