Patronise F1

In the press conference after the Monaco qualifying, the faces of the top three said it all. Well, maybe not Kimi Raikkonen's, but the look of joy on Felipe Massa's face, having slotted his Ferrari onto a shock pole position, was in stark contrast to the shellshocked grimace on the face of third placed Lewis Hamilton, who had seemed on course for a front row start at the very least following free practice, but saw his pace fade in the final session.

Chances are that Ferrari are a lap or so lighter on fuel than the McLarens, with the second Macca of Heikki Kovalainen lining up alongside Hamilton on row two, but whether or not that in itself will be enough to explain Hamilton's dismal middle sector times is another matter that will only be resolved later tomorrow.

It was a McLaren/Ferrari duel at the front throughout the three parts of quali here, with BMW (Heidfeld in particular) struggling for grip, although Robert Kubica only just failed to pip Kovalainen for 4th in the dying seconds of Q3, and intimated afterwards that Hamilton may have blocked him on his final run.

Alongside Kubica will be Nico Rosberg, who looked capable of even more after finishing 2nd overall in Q2, but his Williams dropped off the ultimate pace in the final session, perhaps indicating that he will be running heavy on fuel in tomorrow's race.

Fernando Alonso and Renault struggled for much of the session, but he recovered to end 7th overall, one place ahead of Jarno Trulli's Toyota. You tend to think that Alonso may well be another light runner, particularly given how out of it he looked midway through Q2. The top ten is rounded out by the two Red Bulls, with Mark Webber complaining (at some length) that the car wasn't fast enough after the session.

DC managed a top ten, but only after he suffered a nasty crash at the end of the second session, losing control of the car under breaking for the Nouvelle Chicane and ending up about a mile down the escape road. That incident brought Q2 to a slightly truncated end, frustrating the likes of Glock, Heidfeld and Button, who lost one last chance to pip the Scot to the final session.

Heidfeld was struggling either way, once again being thoroughly outperformed by his team mate Kubica, while Glock had (for once) looked good in Q1, and will probably be a bit upset that he didn't manage to join his team mate in the final session.

The rest of the grid was fairly predictable. Barrichello lines up 15th, pending an investigation into an alledged block on Giancarlo Fisichella in Q1, while the Toro Rossos and Force Indias were joined on the sidelines after Q1 by Nelson Piquet Jr in his Renault, who had a torrid qualifying once again, though provided a moment of excitement after sliding the rear of his car onto the kerb on the exit of Portier.

So, Ferrari once again out front, as they have been since Hamilton's sole win this year in Melbourne, and around Monaco a 1-2 on the grid is usually enough for the win. Can McLaren offer anything tomorrow, or should we expect to get used to the Hammy "shellshocked" look?

* - Eliminated in second session.
** - Eliminated in first session.