Madring's La Monumental: the banked corner that's unlike anything else in F1
Madring's banked showpiece was built to be photographed and talked about, but how big is the challenge around it?

It’s all change from last year when the Ferraris struggled to match the pace of the McLarens, as Massa took pole with his team-mate alongside him.
It looked like the front row would have been made up of the Kimster and Hamilton, however, a blisteringly quick lap by Massa, late on in Q3, moved everyone down a place.

Coulthard escaped a huge crash in Q2 on the way out of the tunnel, but is still planning start the race tomorrow from 10th on the grid.
As for tomorrow; Monaco is a notoriously hard circuit on which to overtake so if the Ferrari’s race pace is as quick as their qualifying, Lewis and Heikki certainly have their work cut out for them. However, if the forecast of rain materializes, who knows what will happen… The first race without traction control in the wet, through the street of the Principality isn’t something I want to miss.
Qualifying
| Pos | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Massa | Ferrari | 1:15.190 | 1:15.110 | 1:15.787 |
| 2. | Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:15.717 | 1:15.404 | 1:15.815 |
| 3. | Hamilton | McLaren | 1:15.582 | 1:15.322 | 1:15.839 |
| 4. | Kovalainen | McLaren | 1:15.295 | 1:15.389 | 1:16.165 |
| 5. | Kubica | BMW | 1:15.977 | 1:15.483 | 1:16.171 |
| 6. | Rosberg | Williams | 1:15.935 | 1:15.287 | 1:16.548 |
| 7. | Alonso | Renault | 1:16.646 | 1:15.827 | 1:16.852 |
| 8. | Trulli | Toyota | 1:16.306 | 1:15.598 | 1:17.203 |
| 9. | Webber | Red Bull | 1:16.074 | 1:15.745 | 1:17.343 |
| 10. | Coulthard | Red Bull | 1:16.086 | 1:15.839 | No time |
| 11. | Glock | Toyota | 1:16.285 | 1:15.907 | |
| 12. | Button | Honda | 1:16.259 | 1:16.101 | |
| 13. | Heidfeld | BMW | 1:16.650 | 1:16.455 | |
| 14. | Nakajima | Williams | 1:16.756 | 1:16.479 | |
| 15. | Barrichello | Honda | 1:16.208 | 1:16.537 | |
| 16. | Bourdais | STR | 1:16.806 | No time | |
| 17. | Piquet | Renault | 1:16.933 | ||
| 18. | Vettel | STR | 1:16.955 | ||
| 19. | Sutil | F India | 1:17.225 | ||
| 20. | Fisichella | F India | 1:17.823 | ||
Madring's banked showpiece was built to be photographed and talked about, but how big is the challenge around it?
With a brand new surface and a tyre-punishing banked Turn 12, Madrid's inaugural Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix weekend could reshuffle the Mercedes-McLaren-Ferrari pecking order once again, writes Mark Hughes
Motor Sport F1 Show with Mark Hughes
From Antonelli's "impossible" Monza victory to the paranoia gripping Ferrari and McLaren's driver pairings, this week's biggest Formula 1 questions answered
As Formula 1 arrives at Madring for the first time, Max Verstappen has highlighted two key worries. Will they come true?