2011 Monaco Grand Prix Discussion Thread

Collieafc · Post by **Collieafc** » 28 May 2011, 17:49

Shame for Perez. He would have had his best quali yet if that never happened (I think?). Nice to hear though that he was wanting to race tomorrow afterwards! (though they wouldnt let him in case of of concussion) He's lucky though - I'd dread to think what would have happened if there wasnt the extra padding on that barrier...

On another note, Vettel by (almost) 1/2 a second? What did I tell you all?

Unless he makes a mistake or theres a safety car at an appropriate time, Im expecting the second half of my prediction to come true as well. Lets hope im wrong!

Post by **mario** » 28 May 2011, 18:07

F1000X wrote:
tc3j3r wrote:Hamilton demoted to 10th for cutting chicane.

When it rains it bathplug pours, doesn't it.

Congratulations to Vettel on another win. I don't even see the point in watching tomorrow.

If he wasn't annoyed beforehand, Hamilton will be seething now - not only does it seem that the stewards are taking no action against Massa, as he hinted he would like to see happen, but what was a bad position has only got worse. You know that things are not going his way when even Alonso says that Hamilton should have been fighting for pole.

As for tomorrow, well, Vettel is definitely in a very strong position, but it does look as if the strategies for this race are a little unclear. Button is likely to run a one stop race - the tyres are holding up well, and McLaren normally run Button on a "one stop less" strategy - whilst Hamilton may well try the same strategy to make up ground. On the other hand, Gascoyne was saying that he thinks that a two stop race is more likely - so, are Red Bull going to stop twice, aiming to build up enough of a gap to make the extra stop? After all, Button, whilst generally a little slower than Hamilton, has looked on good form here, and has still been setting good lap times in practise.
In addition, given that the drivers have been struggling for grip (mostly on low fuel, it must be said), the chances of an accident, and a safety car, are high. If we do see a safety car, that could throw a spanner in the works, especially for Vettel - and also for the midfield teams, since we might see a back marker like Team Lotus gamble on strategy and make their way into the points.

DonTirri · Post by **DonTirri** » 28 May 2011, 18:20

Didn't see the qually live (working on weekends *shakesfist*) but from what I saw on the rerun is that Red Bull is STILL strong as ever.
Hate Vettel all you want, putting nearly 0,5 seconds to your teamie is impressive on a track that rewards skill like Monaco.

Perez' crash was a heartstopper, I was banking on him to pull a surprise out of his pocket and mess up the grid order but alas, it all came to naught.
A fine drive from Rosberg considering he utterly smashed his car on FP3, he might be a black horse in the race?
Renaults dissappointed me greatly.
Maldonado is showing that he isn't worthless after all. Interesting to see what he can produce in the race.

Kovalainen still king of the bottom three, but the gap to Q2 is getting smaller!

also.

patrick · Post by **patrick** » 28 May 2011, 20:14

mario wrote:KERS probably has played a part in some of the accidents we've seen - that particular corner is one of the hardest braking points on the circuit, and since most of the drivers will have used up their allotted KERS usage in the tunnel, the MGU will be harvesting a lot of energy in that corner. Given that the retardation provided by the MGU does vary as the battery pack charges, and the rate at which the kinetic energy can be absorbed, that would probably unsettle the car slightly; that, coupled with the road dropping away, both down the road and towards the barrier, may be enough to pitch the car into a spin.

mario wrote:In addition, given that the drivers have been struggling for grip (mostly on low fuel, it must be said), the chances of an accident, and a safety car, are high.

KERS could indeed be a factor - can anyone remember any similar incidents in 2009? I only recall Heikki crashing at the swimming pool.
Alonso suggests the current aerodynamics of the cars are causing problems - although Ross Brawn says the EBD is not to blame. Fernando also says there is a bump at that braking point is worse than last year, while Petrov joins Kovalainen in suggesting the track surface is not up to scratch.
One thing is "for sure", under heavy fuel loads (as Rosberg was) or light loads (as Perez undoubtedly was), cold or worn tyres, there may well be more incidents at that braking zone.
What we know for certain though, is that the drivers and FIA were right to ban DRS usage on that stretch of the circuit.

Ferrim · Post by **Ferrim** » 28 May 2011, 20:15

Collieafc wrote:Shame for Perez. He would have had his best quali yet if that never happened (I think?). Nice to hear though that he was wanting to race tomorrow afterwards! (though they wouldnt let him in case of of concussion) He's lucky though - I'd dread to think what would have happened if there wasnt the extra padding on that barrier...

On another note, Vettel by (almost) 1/2 a second? What did I tell you all? Unless he makes a mistake or theres a safety car at an appropriate time, Im expecting the second half of my prediction to come true as well. Lets hope im wrong!

He hasn't half a second on hand today. But when you are in the strong position Vettel is right now, everything seems to go your way.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 28 May 2011, 21:28

Hamilton's whinging as ever I see - always the team's fault when things go badly isn't it? I really don't think Massa held him up too much - I think sometimes he channels the Senna who drove like an idiot occasionally (cf Adelaide 85 which I watched this week - I'd totally forgotten how he was carried on in that one) rather than the one who drove like a genius most of the time.
Oh, and I can't *wait* for the shots of Daddy Hamilton and the stupid 'singing' bint of his every other lap tomorrow....

On the plus side, I'm glad Perez is OK - no-one seems to have referred to the in-car shot of him in (I think) Q2 where the car was all over the place, but I thought then 'my god, how is he keeping that on the road?'

Also, I'm pleased for Maldonado and also for Rosberg (whose Dad drove very well in that aforementioned Adelaide 85 GP to win it) - maybe an outside bet for a win tomorrow if there are a few incidents?

patrick · Post by **patrick** » 28 May 2011, 21:41

Barbazza wrote:maybe an outside bet for a win tomorrow if there are a few incidents?

Very outside - the nature of this circuit suggests there is little he can do from P7. Michael, for once, is slightly better off in P5 but I just don't see any of the drivers in front of them falling off the road - and the poor race pace of Mercedes must be considered. Let's hope the DRS can do something - and we'll undoubtedly have a safety car or two.

eytl · Post by **eytl** » 28 May 2011, 22:10

Barbazza wrote:On the plus side, I'm glad Perez is OK - no-one seems to have referred to the in-car shot of him in (I think) Q2 where the car was all over the place, but I thought then 'my god, how is he keeping that on the road?'

Actually, my long-suffering F1-disinterested wife was watching Q2 with me and I said to her, "Perez is an accident waiting to happen at this rate." I just didn't want to refer to that until more news of his condition came through. The other thing is that, for all the talk about the number of accidents at that spot this year, Perez seems to have been on completely the wrong line coming out of the tunnel, and needing to sharply jink to the right to get onto the right line, plus the bumps, plus braking all at the same time has probably contributed to his accident.

eytl · Post by **eytl** » 28 May 2011, 22:16

DonTirri wrote:also.

OK mate, point made. Let's all just acknowledge that ever since last year the tide of public opinion has either turned against Vettel or become neutral towards him, and even the neutrals and some of his fans probably think The Finger is a bit silly, but to each their own and he's having an excellent season and it's good to have some Vettel fans here. Good natured bantering is fine but let's make sure we don't go the way of fanboyism, eh? That's what makes this forum better than the rest :lol:

Post by **mario** » 28 May 2011, 22:39

Barbazza wrote:Hamilton's whinging as ever I see - always the team's fault when things go badly isn't it? I really don't think Massa held him up too much - I think sometimes he channels the Senna who drove like an idiot occasionally (cf Adelaide 85 which I watched this week - I'd totally forgotten how he was carried on in that one) rather than the one who drove like a genius most of the time.
Oh, and I can't *wait* for the shots of Daddy Hamilton and the stupid 'singing' bint of his every other lap tomorrow....

On the plus side, I'm glad Perez is OK - no-one seems to have referred to the in-car shot of him in (I think) Q2 where the car was all over the place, but I thought then 'my god, how is he keeping that on the road?'

Also, I'm pleased for Maldonado and also for Rosberg (whose Dad drove very well in that aforementioned Adelaide 85 GP to win it) - maybe an outside bet for a win tomorrow if there are a few incidents?

It did come across as a stupid thing to say, although not entirely unexpected given the circumstances (the uncertainty over Perez's condition coupled to the frustration of seeing a potential front row slot going to waste before his eyes means that he was probably a bit loose with his comments).
Whilst I disagree with the way that he said it, it is true though that McLaren made a mistake by not sending Hamilton out earlier in the session, as they did with Button, to get an early lap in. In the circumstances, McLaren were putting a lot of unnecessary extra pressure on him, so he was left in an awkward situation - and, as the race reviews written by Jamie point out, all too often we've seen a team put all their eggs in one basket only for it to backfire (such as Schumacher in Turkey).

As for Maldonado and Rosberg, both of them drove well, especially Rosberg, given how little preparation he'd had - to be able to crank out a quick lap right from the off is impressive, even if in the end Schumacher did get the better of him in Q3. In the case of Maldonado, though, what concerns me is whether he'll actually be able to turn his position into points - after all, in Spain he also made it into the top 10, but dropped back in the race (and Williams have admitted that Maldonado has a new rear wing that should gave him an advantage in qualifying, but Rubens has the better race set up).
As for a race win, well, I think that is possible but, as others have stated, quite a long shot. Even if Vettel failed to finish, you'd also have to rely on Webber, Button and Alonso hitting problems to be in with a chance of winning. Perhaps a safety car might give them track position, so they might have a slight chance then - but, given that Williams and especially Mercedes have suffered from excessive rear tyre wear (Mercedes are really struggling in that regard), they might need to stop again, which would hurt their chances.

Post by **Londoner** » 28 May 2011, 22:42

Perez will not be racing tomorrow.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/05/28/perez-race-monaco/

Dan B · Post by **Dan B** » 29 May 2011, 01:18

East Londoner wrote:Perez will not be racing tomorrow.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/05/28/perez-race-monaco/

Perez is one VERY lucky man; comparing this accident to Wendlinger's it shows the true safety of the cars.

Hope what he received from that crash is all that he got.

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 29 May 2011, 01:30

Dan B wrote:
East Londoner wrote:Perez will not be racing tomorrow.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/05/28/perez-race-monaco/

Perez is one VERY lucky man; comparing this accident to Wendlinger's it shows the true safety of the cars.

Hope what he received from that crash is all that he got.

I really hope that he doesn't end up like Wendlinger. As in, losing so much of his talent.

ibsey · Post by **ibsey** » 29 May 2011, 01:58

Firstly, like everyone here I am very pleased to hear that Sergio Perez has not sustained serious injuries in Quali & I'm hoping Perez will be OK for Canada. It was particularly sad since he put in a impressive performance in Q2 (IIRC over 0.5 secs faster than Kobayashi!!!), despite the suggestions from the team that the Sauber was not ideally suited to Monaco after Thursday. In fact, I wonder whether Kobayashi's reports of how bad the car was over the bumps had any influence on the accident? (in addition to pushing to hard, big bump at Nouvelle Chicane, Sergio being off line etc). Also wonder whether the bumps into that corner will affect overtaking into the chicane during the race. Undoubtably drivers will be more catious than usual as a result of all the accidents this weekend.

Turning to the race, I have been trying to work out whether Hamilton can choose which tires he can start on, given his only flying lap was disallowed. Looked at live timing reply & Hamilton had not set a time at 02.26 when session was red flagged. Therefore IMO he can choose his tyres to race on (in theory...!). Whether the stewards will allow him this luxury as a direct result of an earlier penalty is another question alltogether. However If he is allowed to choose his tyres, then IMO he might as well gamble & start on primes.

The Alguersuari / Kobayashi incident from Q1 was also something been looking into further. Appartently Alguersuari was angry at the cars ahead of him holding him back and decided to knock into Kobayashi on purpose. Furthermore he said to a Spainish reporter afterwards " i made them know i was there, and that is why i touched kobayashi".

Therefore if this is true, then IMO that is a very poor attitude from Alguersuari & I wouldn't be suprised if the stewards punished him for that. Remember there is a bit of history between these two drivers i.e. Japan 2010 & actually of the start in Spain 2011. Also interesting both Sauber & Torro Rosso don't appear to have released their usual post quali press quotes (unlike all the other teams). Perhaps I'm reading too much into this, but I wonder there this has anything to do with this incident. Although it is understandable why Sauber might have failed to do this.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 29 May 2011, 11:34

Nice to see Flavio and Bernie setting an example by not wearing a seatbelt on that top-gear montage.

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 29 May 2011, 12:06

2.4s on the 1st lap?

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 29 May 2011, 12:06

Come on Maldonado

Post by **Londoner** » 29 May 2011, 12:11

shinji wrote:2.4s on the 1st lap?

Bathplugging Vettel! :evil:

Henrique · Post by **Henrique** » 29 May 2011, 12:17

Why is HRT so slow?

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 29 May 2011, 12:18

Hamilton showing huge cojones against Schumacher.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 29 May 2011, 12:18

Henrique wrote:Why is HRT so slow?

They suck. Simple as.

Post by **Londoner** » 29 May 2011, 12:19

Barichello just mugged Schumi just before the hairpin.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 29 May 2011, 12:19

RUBENS OWNAGE!!!!

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 29 May 2011, 12:19

Rubens, that pass was ... awesome :shock:

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 29 May 2011, 12:20

Hamilton with echoes of Rosberg in 86 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5AqOTpHEH0

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 29 May 2011, 12:20

Go Williams!!! Both of them in the points.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 29 May 2011, 12:21

Meanswhile Keke's son is doing the opposite.

James1978 · Post by **James1978** » 29 May 2011, 12:21

Wow, how fast has Hamilton caught the Rosberg train?

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 29 May 2011, 12:21

Pastor sticking with Rosberg and Massa very well. I'm impressed.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 29 May 2011, 12:22

Felipe just messed himself up on Nico... and then does a pass. Wow.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 29 May 2011, 12:22

PASTOR OWNAGE!!!

Post by **Londoner** » 29 May 2011, 12:22

Maldonado and Massa! Brilliant passes on Rosberg.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 29 May 2011, 12:22

Keke "I have no son"

the Masked Lapwing · Post by **the Masked Lapwing** » 29 May 2011, 12:23

15 laps and Karthikeyan's already been lapped. The FIA are idiots.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 29 May 2011, 12:24

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH

Put that finger on ice...

Post by **Londoner** » 29 May 2011, 12:25

Vettel's had a slow pitstop! Red Bull in disaray at the pits!

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 29 May 2011, 12:25

Red Bull LoL

the Masked Lapwing · Post by **the Masked Lapwing** » 29 May 2011, 12:25

And what is Red Bull doing?

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 29 May 2011, 12:26

Did they put the wrong ones on either RB7?

Post by **Londoner** » 29 May 2011, 12:27

ADx_Wales wrote:Did they put the wrong ones on either RB7?

PLEASE let that be the case! :twisted: