The F1 Career Story [1999-2024]

Championship leader David Coulthard starts from pole for the Monaco Grand Prix. His main rival in the championship Michael Schumacher (one single point down on Coulthard after three races) starts from 4th. A notable performance came from Sauber's Pedro Diniz: yesterday the Brazilian was only 16th, now he qualified in 7th!

Coulthard had a degree of luck making it to pole position. While in an out lap, the McLaren driver was caught by Toranosuke Takagi around the swimming pool. The Japanese driver misjudged his braking point, hit the barrier while Coulthard hit the Arrows. Takagi's vehicle then hit another barrier, losing a front wheel. Coulthard had lost his front wing, but was able to go back to the pit lane, participate further in qualifying and seizing the front spot. Takagi however, starts at the back.

The narrow and twisty track is a guarantee for broken car parts and it also cost Daniel Marzec his first outing in Q2. The Minardi driver was 0.4s faster than his previous lap which would've brought him to a safe 15th place, but 10 seconds ahead of him Alex Zanardi crashed in the final corner, blocking a clear way through onto the main start/finish straight.

Marzec was not amused: It's becoming a pattern, it seems. In Brazil and Imola, Damon Hill held me up to have a clear second qualifying run. Here it was Alex Zanardi. I know he didn't do it on purpose, but what do I gain with it?

Monaco is known as a survival race. It's nearly impossible to make a pass on track, which is why tyre and fuel strategies are crucial. On top, a single error could be fatal and cause a safety car or neutralization. The best chance for a result is to stay on the track and out of trouble.