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Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali has praised Felipe Massa for his solid performance in Monaco on the back of a disastrous start to the season.

While his team mate Fernando Alonso has been fighting for the lead of championship prior to last weekend Massa had scored only two points in five starts, and had failed to reach Q3.

In Monaco he qualified seventh and eventually finished sixth, right on the tail of the leading group.

“I think that he did a great weekend,” said Domenicali. “It was the weekend that he deserved after a lot of weeks of big pressure, and I think that he did a great qualifying. You can always say that he could have been a bit better in Q3, but you have to look from another angle.

“He did a great race today, he was a little bit unlucky because he could have been out in front of Lewis for a fraction, but he was there in the first six cars that were very close, so that’s for me the best thing. I’m sure that this will be a turning of his season, because he needs that. It was a great boost for him. It’s something that we need for the constructors’ championship and for the team. So I’m expecting a good Felipe up to the end.”

Alonso meanwhile regained the championship lead after taking third place. Domenicali says that the team is working hard to improve the qualifying pace of the F2012, to give the Spaniard a better chance of fighting for wins.

“It’s a fact that this championship is really difficult to understand in terms of the complexity of what is the situation. For sure in terms of the pure performance of the car we had a very difficult start. But on the other hand we had a situation where we are not happy because we want to improve the car, because we have seen other cars at the moment have done pole position – we have not, so that has to be a target for the team. Because if you are fighting for pole position or you’re already on pole position then the race is totally different.

“This is something that we need to keep focussed on our side to make sure that things are working in that direction. And in that respect I feel that at home everyone is working to make sure that every race we keep on putting performance on the car, but that’s the only thing we have to do.

“On the other side I’m happy that we’re leading, with such a championship we need to make sure that we don’t lose points, because if you lose points, they are very heavy. There are so many drivers and competitors that are fighting for the win you have to be always there, and then the counts will be done at the end.”

Christian Horner has indicated that Mark Webber’s expected departure from Red Bull Racing at the end of 2012 is not a foregone conclusion.

The consensus in the paddock has long been that Webber will either retire at the end of this year or take Felipe Massa’s place at Ferrari – and will be replaced by either Daniel Ricciardo or Jean-Eric Vergne.

However Horner insists that there are good reasons for Mark to stay.

“Mark’s had a great day today, he’d driving very well, he’s in great shape,” said Horner after the Monaco win. “And you can see on a day like today that he’s absolutely on the top of his game. We have a very open and straightforward relationship with Mark, and today certainly doesn’t change that, it’s been the same situation for the last couple of years.

“Why would he want to leave? He’s comfortable in the team. The team know Mark very well, Mark knows the team very well. We’re only at race six, obviously a lot depends on his desire and motivation going forward which at the moment looks very clear. He’s doing a great job, we’re really happy with him. He’s really deserved today’s result.

“Mark’s doing a good job. Let’s focus on today, and the future will take care of itself.”

Asked to compare the team’s three Monaco wins, Horner said: “I think they all are sweet. The third one was pretty special, the second one was special as well, and this one feels just as good to become triple winners in Monte Carlo.

“I don’t think you do that by luck, and Mark’s become a double winner. He joins an elite group of double winners or multiple winners in Monaco. He really deserved it today.”

Hamilton joins Vettel in parc ferme at the end of a long afternoon

Lewis Hamilton struggled to conceal his frustration after finishing only fifth in Monaco, thus losing ground to his main title rivals.

Hamilton lost places to Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel in the pit stop sequence as McLaren’s strategy failed to pay off.

“It wasn’t the best result, but this is motor racing,” said Hamilton. “I really dislike going backwards, but nonetheless we still came away with some points, and there’s many, many more races ahead of us. We just have to keep our heads up and keep pushing.”

Hamilton’s day was spoiled by a bad start, but he still managed to hang onto his third place initially – although he had obviously hoped to get up to second.

“My start was one of the worst starts I had in a long time. I just don’t understand why it happened when the two guys next to me and the guys behind me got perfect starts. I was very, very fortunate not to get caught up in a crash. It’s quite an easy thing we do thousands and thousands of starts throughout the year, so it should not be a problem.

“Then after that, I don’t know how long my pit stop was, but I lost a lot of time. I wasn’t able to keep up with Alonso and then Sebastian got me in his pit stop. And then it’s impossible to overtake.”

Not for the first time this year, Hamilton couldn’t get the best out of the tyres.

“We were struggling a lot today, particularly in the low-speed corners, looking after the rear tyres there was so tough, and to make them last as long as we did, whilst trying to keep the pace of the guys in front, was one of the trickiest races I’ve had. And at this place just staying focussed is always a great challenge.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, because we are falling behind, race by race we are getting further and further behind the others, who are picking up serious pace. If we’re not lucky it will fall away from us too quick.”

Protests against the controversial hole in the Red Bull floor failed to materialise after the Monaco GP, despite rival teams indicating that they are not happy with it.

However sources have told this writer that the matter will be discussed at a meeting of the FIA Technical Working Group in Monaco tomorrow morning.

That will give the FIA and the teams an opportunity to discuss new evidence – in other words the alternative interpretations presented by RBR’s rivals  – and there is a possibility that the conclusion could be that Red Bull’s interpretation is wrong after all, and the floor will have to be changed in time for the next race in Canada.

The FIA approved the item when it first appeared on the car at the Bahrain GP, and it was not questioned in post-race scrutineering in Monaco.

However it’s not unusual for the FIA to adjust its opinions and declare a car part no longer legal without affecting past results.

The hole caught the attention of rival teams during the Monaco weekend, and McLaren wrote to Red Bull at 1.32pm on Saturday, just prior to qualifying, expressing its opinion and giving the team a chance to change the car – something that clearly was not going to happen at such a late stage.

Red Bull could not then adjust the cars between qualifying and the race due to parc ferme conditions.

Although McLaren and Ferrari clearly considered a protest – technical directors Paddy Lowe and Pat Fry met in the Ferrari truck after the race – the teams appear to have decided that it was in the best interests of the sport to not question the Webber win in the most prestigious race of the year, and in effect risk being seen as bad losers.

Ross Brawn agreed that a post race protest was bad form. He told this writer: “We made our statements after people were querying our interpretations of the regulations, and I think there’s a time and place for it. But I can understand why people are agitated by it.

“I understand now that Red Bull were made aware of people’s concerns some time ago. As it’s explained to me it doesn’t sound correct, but I haven’t heard Red Bull’s explanation.”

Meanwhile McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh said: “I think it will be sorted out shortly.”

Sergio Perez is convinced that a problem with steering caused his Monaco Q1 crash, although the Sauber team has been unable to find any fault.

Accident damage made it hard to determine if something had gone wrong before the crash, and there were no clues in the data, according to chief designer Matt Morris – who added that Perez could well have qualified in the top five.

Morris also confirmed to this writer that the team had checked the car after the morning practice clash with Pastor Maldonado, and was satisfied that if anything did happen, it was not as a result of the earlier collision, and had occurred during qualifying itself.

Perez didn’t set a time, and will thus start from the back of the grid.

“We are analysing what it the problem, the car just went straight,” said Perez. “Already in the tunnel I had a lot of understeer, which was a big surprise, it normally doesn’t happen there I went into Turn 13 and in 14 I tried to turn and the car went completely straight.

“There was definitely a problem with the car, but we don’t know what’s the problem. It’s a big shame because we were so competitive, and it was a big opportunity for us today.”

Perez is resigned to a difficult race tomorrow: “It’s very difficult to pass here, but I will try my best here to bring some points home, which will be a big challenge tomorrow. If it’s a normal race, it will be over for us.”

Lewis Hamilton was in a good mood after qualifying in Monaco, despite finishing the session in only fourth place – the first time all year he has been outside the top two.

Normally that would not be very encouraging, but not only did he gain third from Michael Schumacher’s penalty, but traditionally the driver in that position gets away better than the guy in second. Hamilton thus could well find himself with only Mark Webber ahead of him by the end of the first lap.

Bidding to become the sixth winner of 2012, Hamilton said he enjoyed the qualifying session.

“It was very exciting, massively tough,” said the McLaren man. “It was one of the toughest qualifying sessions I’ve experienced for some time. But it was so much fun, I really, really enjoyed it. The guys did a great job preparing the car and I think we probably struggled a bit in the middle and the last sector, it was more the low speed corners where we were not so quick.

“I’m fortunate to have Michael having the penalty, so that puts us a little bit further ahead. I’m really happy.”

Lewis remains optimistic for Sunday: “I think it’s going to be a tough race. I don’t know what the weather’s going to be like – they said it was going to rain today, and obviously it hasn’t. All of sudden tomorrow’s weather forecast is even better. Tyres and strategy can play a big role here, if we get a good start then we’re in fighting position for the win. I’ll give everything tomorrow to move up.

“I’ve got a good feeling about the weekend, but I’ve got two great drivers in front of me who will make it as hard as possible for me to get by to beat them, but we’ll do everything we can.”

A bouyant Michael Schumacher says he’s ready to fight for a win in Monaco on Sunday despite being demoted to sixth after qualifying on pole.

The Mercedes ace stunned the pitlane by taking top spot for the first time since his comeback, but his Barcelona crash penalty has pushed him back five places. Despite the obvious frustration he was in a good mood after the session.

“I mentioned before the weekend that here and probably Canada are tracks that are probably going to suit us,” said Michael. “We shouldn’t look too bad. I said the plan is to be pole here, start the race from sixth and do whatever is possible – may even win – and here we are. It is not a complete surprise that we are able to fight for the front position.

“But after Thursday free practice and even this morning I wasn’t at all confident to be able to fight for pole position. Then everything seemed to work together. We just dialled the car in to perfection and it’s… yeah… it’s just a result. It’s a result of team effort and team work and getting everything sorted and being ready for it.”

Schumacher says it is possible to make progress: “I’ve finished fifth from being last; I won from I don’t know what positions. I will do as good as I can. It’s most likely to be a one-stop strategy here, that’s what you have to live with so in terms of strategy, there’s only a very small window to play with. Overtaking we know is tough, but we have DRS and KERS, so you might as well try – and be sure I will.”

He didn’t want to be drawn into making a comparison between this pole and any others he’s earned in the past.

“May I just say that you have to see two different chapters of life and this is the second one, which stands by itself, because in this Silver Arrow time, in terms of qualifying is the best position I have been in and luckily I’m able to give back, in that way, all the trust that has been shown in me over the last two and a half years.

“It’s just sweet and a good feeling after you have come back and have hoped for better results in all circumstances at the end of the day, after why and what has happened, but to finally get it together and being able to prove it – that’s much more important and therefore I’m certainly delighted.”

The ongoing battle between Tavo Hellmund and COTA is continuing to boost the coffers of Austin legal firms.

Yesterday COTA said that Hellmund had committed in writing to arbitration to settle any dispute, but Hellmund quickly struck back by insisting that a proper court process was required.

A statement from Eric Wetzel of law firm Shipley Associates said: “If Bobby Epstein truly desires an efficient resolution of his dispute with Tavo Hellmund, as he now claims, he can simply honour the $18 million buyout agreement that he signed in September of 2011. If not, Tavo is prepared to amend his pleadings to include charges of fraud and other misdeeds, based on newly discovered evidence.

“We believe this evidence demonstrates that Mr. Epstein intended to force Tavo out of the F1 project from the beginning. As required by the September agreement signed by Mr. Epstein, these new claims will be litigated in the Travis County, Texas courts—not in a secretive arbitration proceeding.”

It will be interesting to learn where Bernie Ecclestone stands on the matter – and whether his patience will eventually run out…

The battle between the Circuit of the Amercas and Tavo Hellmund – the original driving force behind the US GP in Austin – continues to rumble on.

COTA says that Hellmund committed himself and his companies to settling any disputes by arbitration. It quotes a partnership agreement as saying “any controversy, claim or dispute between or among the Company and any Member or among Members arising out of or relating to this Company Agreement or any other matters pertaining to the Company, shall be settled by binding arbitration.”

To that end, COTA says that it has “today filed with the District Court of Travis County, Texas, an amended plea in abatement and motion to compel arbitration.”

COTA has also agreed to release to the public information related to the dispute that had previously been sealed by the court.

Circuit Chairman Robert Epstein said: “Our intent from the beginning has been to resolve this matter efficiently through the agreed-upon binding arbitration process, and we feel that unsealing the court records moves us closer to this goal.”

COTA attorney Michael Whellan added: “We believe the facts made public through today’s filing strongly support our position that Mr. Hellmund’s claims and accusations—and his misrepresentations to Circuit representatives and the public about his ability to assign Formula 1 race contracts—only serve to undermine his case.

“We believe the tactics Mr. Hellmund and his legal team have employed to date are meant to purposely generate negative public sentiment about Circuit of The Americas in hopes of extracting a large settlement. Unfortunately, we do not expect these tactics to end anytime soon. Nonetheless, we are prepared to arbitrate this dispute as the parties have agreed to do in writing.”

Just 10 days after the devastating fire in Barcelona Williams was fully set-up in the Monaco garage today after a marathon effort by team members.

Williams has also borrowed equipment from rivals who generously offered to help out.

“We lost about 90% of all the garage infrastructure, and pretty much everything IT related,” said chief operations engineer Mark Gillan. “So we lost all the radios, all the intercom equipment, all the rack equipment, all the IT storage system.

“So I would say about 90% of the complete garage infrastructure was destroyed, and on Bruno’s car we lost pretty much every metallic component as well, due to corrosion. So the fire took a heavy toll.

“We’ve been able to replace pretty much everything. We’re certainly fully operational. There’s a few things that we don’t have, such an abundance of radios and things like that, but it doesn’t stop us operationally. And we’ve borrowed equipment from other teams as well.

“Not only did they come to help with the fire and on that side, but they have come good on their promises of offers of support and with certain teams we’ve taken them up. So we’re borrowing equipment for the moment, and we’re fully operational. I was just saying to Sir Frank if you go to the garage you wouldn’t know we had a fire. It’s an unbelievable effort from everybody concerned.

“In reality you can run an F1 car with laptop if you have to – but you don’t want to, and we’re back, fully operational.”

Gillan admitted that the task would have been much harder if Spain was followed immediately by Monaco, as was the case in 2011.

“That would have been much more of a struggle of course – if it had been a back-to-back, it would have been a struggle. As it has been, it has been a struggle, and a lot of long hours have been worked by the people in the factory to prepare the things, because literally everything that was in that garage from an IT side and general infrastructure was destroyed.”

Gillan said the fire had been discussed with the other teams at a meeting of the FIA’s Technical Working Group, and Williams had passed on all its findings in an effort to improve overall safety.

“On the Friday afterwards I attended a TWG meeting. Things were still coming up, and I spoke to all the technical directors and the FIA to explain what our understanding was, and the chain of events that caused the fire. It happened in the fuel handling area, so it was a fuel handling related fire, but the exact cause, we’re still investigating. We’re liaising with the FIA to ensure that, not just within the garage, but obviously within the circuit, we improve things to ensure that something doesn’t happen again.

“I think there will definitely be a change to circuit procedures. But we have all agreed a certain level of cover at a circuit, and that level of cover was in place, so I think collectively we need to look at the level of cover, when it’s in place, both the fire and the medical support. Undoubtedly things will change as a result of this.”

Regarding the last hospitalised team member, Gillan added: “Things are going well there, and he should be out in about 10 days. He’s in good spirits.”