Monaco: Chances end in the wall for Ralf.

By Nick Sparkes
May 22 2005

Panasonic Toyota Racing had high hopes going into qualifying one, sadly it wasn't to be. Ralf Schumacher crashed at Tabac corner, bringing out the red flag. Then Jarno Trulli took it cautiously on his flying lap leaving him in seventh spot.

Ralf Schumacher was lucky to walk free from his car after he clipped the barrier spending him straight into the one opposite, his car then skidding down the track before coming to a halt. This ended all chances of Ralf's first podium finish for the Panasonic Toyota Racing team, although anything can still happen on Saturday. Ralf was very angry with himself after the accident:

“First of all I would like to apologise to the whole Panasonic Toyota Racing team for my mistake today. They have done a great job throughout the whole weekend and I’m sorry that they have no result to show for it. The car was fine around the lap but I clipped the inside of the barrier at Tabac with my left front wheel, which sent me into the other side of the barriers. Thankfully I’m perfectly okay. I got out of the car without any trouble and I have no other problems. But it’s been a bad weekend for me and it means that we will be starting from the back tomorrow. Monaco is the hardest race on the calendar to pass but I will give everything to try and end the weekend on a better note.”

Jarno Trulli didn't fair any better; as he was next to go out. With sand covering the outside line of Tabac corner Jarno took it easy losing time to the front-runners. By the end of the lap Jarno was seventh quickest.

“I’m happy that Ralf is okay after such a big accident. For me, though, it was tough to be the first driver out after an accident like that. Because of the wait it meant that the temperature of the track went down a lot. On my warm-up lap I also found that the track was dusty and slippery. I had no problems with my car but I didn’t have enough faith to push as hard as usual, especially through the second sector. All in all, this was not a lucky day and it leaves us a bit further back than we would have liked. But tomorrow is another day, we have another qualifying session in the morning and we will hope to do our best to improve our position.”

1. RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m13.644s

2. ALONSO Renault 1m14.125s

3. WEBBER Williams 1m14.584s

4. FISICHELLA Renault 1m14.783s

5. MONTOYA McLaren 1m14.858s*

6. HEIDFELD Williams 1m15.128s

7. TRULLI Toyota 1m15.189s

8. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m15.329s

9. VILLENEUVE Sauber 1m15.921s

10. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m16.142s

11. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m16.186s

12. MASSA Sauber 1m16.218s