Could be defining moment for Alonso

MOTOR SPORT/Formula One: Somerset Maugham might just have had it right. As Star Wars' evil overlord Darth Vader hovered into view over the past few days, the writer's view of Monaco as a "sunny place for shady people" had a definite ring to it.

Yesterday though the great, the good and the shady sought a cool, calm place to ride out the waves of hype and excess that have been washing over the most over-the-top weekend in Formula One's long, long world tour for the past two days.

Then there is the currently arcane qualifying system - an aggregate score of times posted in Saturday's low-fuel qualifying hour and Sunday's fuelly-gassed session. If rumour is to be believed, qualifying will be different - from next week on.

The current system has been under discussion for some time and according to the FIA the teams this weekend agreed unanimously to change the format.

What shape will it take? So far it seems to be largely a reversion in place before this year's Sunday session was introduced meaning a single one-hour session on Saturday, with drivers going out in order of their finishing position at the previous race. Teams will still be unable to refuel before the race or make major changes to the cars before the race start.

Monaco, the most unforgiving of environments, requires pinpoint precision and rewards nerveless negotiation of its tiny streets and looming barriers. Power is not an issue. Any of the major powers on the grid could profit here today and tomorrow to be in the ideal position on a circuit where overtaking is almost impossible.

On Thursday, the top three were Renault's championship leader Fernando Alonso, McLaren test driver Alex Wurz and David Coulthard of Red Bull Racing. Undoubtedly Renault remain the pick of the bunch. Last year, Jarno Trulli triumphed here in a Renault, then reckoned to be a superbly balanced, supremely driveable car that could be hurled through the streets of Monaco like pellet from a slingshot.

Nothing much has changed with the new Renault at the disposal of Alonso and team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella, who was fourth fastest on Friday.

Trulli, second-placed in the championship, should be the next most likely. The Italian is a single-lap qualifying specialist, his 1.13.985 pole time of last year representing a spectacular achievement.

This year he is armed with Toyota machinery. The Japanese car has propelled him to second in the championship but so far this weekend it has let him down. Whatever his problems, Trulli was slow in Thursday's practice sessions, slow enough to record 13th position.

Coulthard is another story. The Scot has become something of a Monaco specialist. A two-time winner here with McLaren, the Red Bull racing driver has been boosted here by the circuit's emphasis of touch and timing over power.

Which leaves McLaren and Ferrari. In Barcelona, Kimi Raikkonen reignited the team's championship with an unstoppable charge to victory. He made the previously fickle McLaren MP4/20 look a formidable machine. Whether it is a similar beast around Monaco remains to be seen. The Finn's team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, a winner here in 2003, was fastest in the first session on Thursday and the team is happy with progress in the Principality.

The same cannot be said for Ferrari. Both Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello had troubled runs on Thursday - Barrichello with self-instigated problems, being overly enthusiastic at the chicane and Schumacher with a vibration in the car that left him scratching his head.

The champion had already said this was going to be a difficult race for Ferrari, a car difficulty compounded by rumours that the relationship between the F2005 and its Bridgestone tyres has far too much friction for either company's liking.

Lose here and Schumacher will surely have to pass the crown to Alonso in October.