Fisichella involved in traffic crash in Italy

Giancarlo Fisichella has this week been involved in a minor traffic crash.

The 3-time grand prix winner and now a Ferrari test driver rear-ended a small car driven by a 52-year-old woman in Campagnano, north of Rome, according to Italian media reports.

Fisichella, 38, was driving a Ferrari.

The driver of the car he hit was taken to hospital and discharged shortly afterwards.

Fisichella reportedly told the traffic police - the Polstrada - that he came across a long queue of traffic caused by road works and was not able to stop in time.

In 2005, when Fisichella was caught doing 148kph in a 60kph zone in Rome, he explained to police that he was rushing to his child who had a high fever.

Source: Nextgen

Button: A few of us will be angry after Q1

Jenson Button is expecting qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix to culminate in angry scenes and a number of potential penalties.

McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton this week warned the one-lap battle around the tight, twisty, two-mile Monte-Carlo circuit "could be a disaster".

The fear is that, with slow-coach newcomers Lotus, Virgin and Hispania Racing likely to be over seven seconds per lap slower during the initial 20-minute session when all 24 cars could be on track, problems will arise and sparks might fly.

"We've got to hammer it round. I don't think we can back off, we have to stay on it because that might be the quickest lap we do," remarked Button.

"It will be tricky in Q1, but I'm sure we'll cope. A few of us will be angry and unhappy at the end of Q1, but we all have to deal with the same situation.

"It's the same for all of us. Some of us will get lucky, some of us won't. You can't do much about it now. That's the way it is.

"But there are going to be a lot of people asking for penalties I think."

Jarno Trulli, a winner around Monaco in 2004, is now one of those likely to incur the wrath of the quicker guys.

Although in a car that can rightly be hailed as the best of the backmarkers, the Lotus driver is in agreement with Button.

"We're all going to have a lot of traffic," said the veteran Italian.

"It's a question of luck because maybe a quicker car slows down in front of me whilst I'm on a quick lap and I'm hindered.

"On the other hand maybe I'm on a quick lap, but not quick enough for a faster car which is probably four or five seconds (per lap) quicker than me.

"Neither way will work, but we will have to see what we can do to be free of traffic and do our job.

"Anything can happen in Monaco, and it is the place where you can have more chance.

"You can get one good lap by running round and round, and you get your lap in, but for us it's a bit more difficult to do that.

"But we are all in the same boat. I don't have a solution, and I don't care. I will go out and try to get some free space, get my lap in and that's it."

Bruno Senna already has experience of how Saturday will unfold from his days in GP2 when there were 26 cars on track, and like Hamilton he predicts it "will be a mess".

It may even be the case that Hamilton, Button et al, end up at the back of the grid as they are unable to get in a quick lap.

"With so many cars on track and with their difference in pace, I believe some people won't get a lap time," Hispania Racing's Senna said.

"It happens in GP2, with some of the quick cars at the back because they were held up, or there was a queue in Rascasse to start a lap.

"It's going to be quite interesting. We have to make sure we are on the track as much as we can to get a lap in that counts.

"But it's going to be a big mess, and if it's wet it will make it even harder."

As for the race, Senna is already anticipating spending more time looking in his mirrors than at the road ahead.

One backmarker in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix managed only 15 laps out of 66 without being shown a blue flag telling him to allow a quicker car by.

"With that many laps, it's going to be quite interesting to see how many times I will be lapped," added the nephew of Ayrton, the three -times champion who holds the record for most wins at this track with six.

"Monaco is very peculiar. It is unusual to have a straightforward race where you're not stuck behind another car or you don't make a mistake.

Source: Planet F1

Hamilton: Monaco traffic would be a disaster

Lewis Hamilton's love for the Monaco Grand Prix could be tested this weekend as he fears "a disaster" could be looming on the horizon

Hamilton will start as one of the favourites to repeat his 2008 triumph and rekindle his title hopes after a suspected tyre rim failure cost him second place in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Instead of heading into the famous race around the principality a point behind McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, Hamilton will start 21 points adrift and eager to forget what transpired on the penultimate lap at the Circuit de Catalunya.

But Monaco this year promises to be a very different proposition as there are 24 cars on the grid, with the six newcomers from Virgin, Lotus and Hispania Racing considerably slower.

Around Monaco's twisty, narrow streets, there will be an unknown element to qualifying and the race, even more so if it is wet, as is currently being forecast.

For qualifying, plans to split the initial 20-minute session have been quashed, which means it will be a lottery for all concerned, while backmarkers in the race will also prove a problem.

"It could be a disaster," Hamilton said.

"I lapped (Virgin's Lucas) di Grassi four times yesterday. That's one of the biggest gaps I've had in Formula One."

Asked if the slower cars could screw up his plans this weekend, Hamilton replied: "I don't know about 'screw', but it's just very difficult when there is such a big difference.

"You catch them so quick, it's just unreal. When you see them you are wondering where they will move out of the way, and then they move into the wrong position.

"They'll go on the inside and be in the corner as you come up to them, so it gets quite tricky.

"So far, fortunately, there have been no incidents and it's been okay, but Monaco will be very tough."

Hamilton just avoided a crash into the back of Di Grassi on Sunday as he diced with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel after emerging back onto the track following his pit stop.

"I still had so much work to do," added Hamilton.

"The backmarker didn't do a very spectacular job. I don't know what the hell he was doing there.

"It wasn't very safe. I had to go left, Vettel was going right, and it looked worse than it was."

If Hamilton manages to escape any incidents around Monaco, he feels he has a car to again win Formula One's blue riband event.

"I feel I did a very good job considering we didn't have the fastest car," Hamilton said of yesterday's race.

"To be as consistent as I was, I didn't make any mistakes and I'm really very happy with my performance.

"Even though you didn't see me do any overtaking, I feel it was one of my best performances because I feel I improved, and I was really controlled.

"So I feel I've a great chance at Monaco this year. We've a strong car and I love the place.

"I've had quite good results there in the past, and I feel the car now is the best I've had during my time at the team.

"We should be competitive, and there's no reason why we shouldn't be challenging the Red Bulls there.

"Whether or not we'll see a gap of one second between us and them, who knows, but it's going to be very tricky again.

"A driver can have bit more of an impact on his overall time there.

"Hopefully the weather holds up for us, but if it rains, that will make it exciting."

Hamilton will at least be eager to avoid what unfolded last year when he put his car in the barrier in qualifying when he knew he had a shot at victory, despite the woeful nature of the McLaren at the time.

"I don't remember it," joked Hamilton.

He then added: "Somehow, even though I had a terrible car, I had a chance to be in the top four, and I was just unfortunate.

"I was always on the ragged edge, and being on the ragged edge there with a bad car is hard work.

"I locked up the rears and put it in the wall. These things happen."

Source: Planet-F1