Driver of the Race - Monaco

[steveaki13]

Wow. Give us a vote

[truefan72]

it was hamilton
21 second lead before the SC

[N4D13]

Honourable mention to Merhi, who was a whole minute in front of his teammate before the SC.

Edit: and also the track marshals, obviously, who have done a great job as always.

[steveaki13]

Driver of the Race:
Lewis Hamilton - Not sure you could argue against that. Dominated the race and was better through traffic, faster generally and had a 20 second lead.

He was well and truly robbed today.

Other Mentions:

Dani Kyvat - I thought he did a good job today.
Sergio Perez - Solid drive from him.
Jenson Button - Drove well and deserves some points. Macca off the mark.
Felipe Nasr - Sauber needed some more points. Good effort.
Carlos Sainz - Pit lane to a point is a decent effort.

Max verstappen - despite the crash, he was fast and passed people.

Roberto Merhi - Good effort

[Tazio]

I voted for Jensie, but The Boss was really at his best and drove a brilliant race! :idea:

[Mekola]

Jenson finally scored points for McLaren - Then gets my vote.

[Mia 01]

I gave it to Jenson Button.

[rjbetty]

I let Perez have this one, even though I like Hulk.

Definitely Hamilton ties though.

I'll put Merhi 3rd for aforementioned reasons. F1's 3rd Spaniard has had a rough time this season, so well done to the guy.

I almost put Rosberg just for a laugh, but decided to be serious.

[The Black Knight]

Hamilton - DOTD - no one else could touch him!

[steveaki13]

Hamilton - DOTD - no one else could touch him!

Sounds like a line from one of MC "hammer time"s songs.

[A FONDO]

Ricciardo

[Robinho]

I would have gone Hamilton and Verstappen, until young Man threw it at the wall, still an impressive drive though. Lewis had absolutely everything covered today, except his own team...

Sent from my 0PJA10 using Tapatalk

[henners88]

Hamilton - drove absolutely flawlessly and was the unlucky hero of the day. Mercedes owe him one for this cock up.

[steveaki13]

Hamilton - drove absolutely flawlessly and was the unlucky hero of the day. Mercedes owe him one for this cock up.

I wonder if Mercedes would consider helping Hamilton winning a race in return for this. Won't help in terms of prestige losing Monaco, but will help in terms of the Championship.

[N4D13]

I wonder if Mercedes would consider helping Hamilton winning a race in return for this. Won't help in terms of prestige losing Monaco, but will help in terms of the Championship.
On one hand, I think it would be very nice if they would arrange it for their drivers so that they ensured a 1-2 finish in the next race with Hamilton in front. However, they do not do that whenever there is a reliability issue preventing one of them from taking the victory, so I fail to see why they would or should do that in this situation. This is not the end of the world - Hamilton loses 17* points to Rosberg, all right, but a DNF would have been 32.

* Hamilton loses 10 points from P1 to P3 and Rosberg wins 7 from P2 to P1. Same logic applies for the DNF.

[henners88]

I wonder if Mercedes would consider helping Hamilton winning a race in return for this. Won't help in terms of prestige losing Monaco, but will help in terms of the Championship.

I wouldn't want to see that but I would like to see Hamilton get preference within the team at next years race to give this one back. As frustrating as it is, this race is important to an F1 drivers CV and Lewis won this one by a country mile. The result must hurt.

[Tazio]

I forgot to mention that Seb drove a hell of a race. He's spanking Kimi almost as badly as Fred did last year. I think if you put Brittany on the same team as Seb, Seb would really punish him! ;)

[anfield5]

Would have given it ti young Max, but it is difficult to give man-of-the-match to someone who's car is in pieces buried in a barrier

[Jag_Warrior]

I wouldn't want to see that but I would like to see Hamilton get preference within the team at next years race to give this one back. As frustrating as it is, this race is important to an F1 drivers CV and Lewis won this one by a country mile. The result must hurt.

I would rather see Merc tell Lewis that Rosberg no longer gets to peep at his setup data. My guess is, that has pretty much always been a one way street. Similar to how Rosberg fell off a cliff, once they banned the pitwall from coaching drivers around the track.

And I voted for Hamilton by a country mi... er, 24 seconds.

[Rollo]

I think that we can all definitively say now that the Honda powerplant in the back of the McLaren, is monumentally horrible and a opprobrium to automotive history. Even the engine knows this. It unilaterally decided to shut itself down in Alonso’s McLaren because it brought shame and disgrace to its family name for generations to come.

Although it’s impossible to make a silken purse from a sow’s ear, Jensen Button showed tact and enough mechanical empathy, that he was able to bring a modicum of adequacy to an engine which deserves for it to be thrown into the centre of the sun by Captain Planet.

Jensen carried the machine to eighth; which is nothing short of a minor miracle. The only miracles that this Honda engine is capable of is making deaf people blind and poor people lame. Jensen only needs two more miracles before the church of Castrol grants him sainthood.


Book of Armaments, Chapter 2, Verse 10:
And the Lord did grin and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats and large churros.

[longisland]

Hamilton
Fastest in practice 1 & 2. Pole on Saturday, leading the race without a glitch until the safety car.

[pino]

Jenson for me, considering the crappy car :p:

[Mia 01]

As I understood it, it was Lewis own call to come in during the SC period. Don´t know why the team didn´t advice him different.

[henners88]

As I understood it, it was Lewis own call to come in during the SC period. Don´t know why the team didn´t advice him different.
I think the team called him in and he saw them on the big screens preparing for the stop but didn't question it. Mercedes messed up but it's one of those things. Drivers aren't really in the position to always call pit stops, especially at Monaco where it's very difficult to overtake if the wrong call is made.

Mercedes admitted responsibility for this one.

[The Black Knight]

I think the team called him in and he saw them on the big screens preparing for the stop but didn't question it. Mercedes messed up but it's one of those things. Drivers aren't really in the position to always call pit stops, especially at Monaco where it's very difficult to overtake if the wrong call is made.

Mercedes admitted responsibility for this one.

Sometimes they are but Lewis didn't have all the required information in this case. I remember I think it was China 2010 where Jenson Button refused to come into the McLaren garage for a pit stop and that call won him the race. He did that and the decision was based on the feel of the car underneath them. No matter what data the Engineers have they can't beat what the driver feels in the cockpit. No such variables here of course, Lewis didn't have all the information and trusted his team and they cost him the race.

[Zico]

DOTR- Lewis Hamilton, I felt really sorry for him, after being in a different league pretty much all weekend only for that to happen.. so cruel!

I was really impressed with what I saw of young Verstappen yesterday and he would have had my DOTR but for hitting Grosjean, I dont doubt he'll learn from it. Im just glad he was ok.
You look to be a real talent Max but sorry.. Imo your small error in judgement ruined an otherwise DOTR worthy performance. :)

[N. Jones]

I gotta say Button for driving that LUMP around and into the points!

[anfield5]

I gotta say Button for driving that LUMP around and into the points!

Hard to argue. Good to see the McTurkey finally look like it can compete for points. Now if only Fred would stop breaking his...

[truefan72]

Sometimes they are but Lewis didn't have all the required information in this case. I remember I think it was China 2010 where Jenson Button refused to come into the McLaren garage for a pit stop and that call won him the race. He did that and the decision was based on the feel of the car underneath them. No matter what data the Engineers have they can't beat what the driver feels in the cockpit. No such variables here of course, Lewis didn't have all the information and trusted his team and they cost him the race.

that is a huge point IMO

here is how the situation would have gone down if his race engineer had some balls and not cowered to the pits.

PB " Lewis the team wants you to come in, but Rosberg and vettel are staying out"
LH " Well I'm staying out then"
PB " Ok Copy"

End of story

but instead pete bonnington for whatever reason did not relay any of that information to him, asked him how the tires were, Hamilton gave him an assessement and the next thing is, "box, box, box"
There may be more conversations we were not privy to hear, but i bet you that if anything, PB probably told hamilton that nico and seb weregonna come in too. Even though there was no movement from ferrari pit crew.

As to the strategists, and the rest of the merc heads it was pathetic. Trust me if Ross brawn was there and the strategist came up and said, "we should pit hamilton" Brawn would have responded "Why?"
and after the race, demoted that fool.

[truefan72]

DOTR- Lewis Hamilton, I felt really sorry for him, after being in a different league pretty much all weekend only for that to happen.. so cruel!

I was really impressed with what I saw of young Verstappen yesterday and he would have had my DOTR but for hitting Grosjean, I dont doubt he'll learn from it. Im just glad he was ok.
You look to be a real talent Max but sorry.. Imo your small error in judgement ruined an otherwise DOTR worthy performance. :)

In watching the Verstappen grosjean incident again, i think it was slightly more grosjean's fault than verstappen. The young lad did come in hot though but i think he had a shot at an inside overtake on grosjean. Grosjean I think did a brake check on him. I don't think he intended to cause an accident but he probably tried to slow him down a bit so that he wouldn't get an opportunity to get a run on the inside. He braked really early for that corner. Which to me is the deciding factor. Furthermore he did not hold his line and veered to the right before going back to the left again. He tried to cover the inside and outside at the same time. Verstappen was coming in fast, but the combination of the swerve and then braking early and moving back to the right again meant that MV clipped his right rear. He obviously knew where MV was and he had him in his mirrors and decided anyway to brake earlier than normal.

[Rollo]

In watching the Verstappen grosjean incident again, i think it was slightly more grosjean's fault than verstappen.

If this accident formed a claim for motor insurance, all of the fault is Verstappen's. He was the car following.

I think that this makes the case that brake lights should be installed on Formula One cars.

[The Black Knight]

In watching the Verstappen grosjean incident again, i think it was slightly more grosjean's fault than verstappen. The young lad did come in hot though but i think he had a shot at an inside overtake on grosjean. Grosjean I think did a brake check on him. I don't think he intended to cause an accident but he probably tried to slow him down a bit so that he wouldn't get an opportunity to get a run on the inside. He braked really early for that corner. Which to me is the deciding factor. Furthermore he did not hold his line and veered to the right before going back to the left again. He tried to cover the inside and outside at the same time. Verstappen was coming in fast, but the combination of the swerve and then braking early and moving back to the right again meant that MV clipped his right rear. He obviously knew where MV was and he had him in his mirrors and decided anyway to brake earlier than normal.

That's pretty much my take on it except that I don't think Verstappen was trying an overtaking maneuver at any point . The most striking part of it to me after review was the change of line from Grosjean. What's the rule? Only allowed to change your line once - which he already did. There came a certain point where there was no way for Verstappen to avoid that accident and before that point there was nothing he could have done differently therefore I can't apportion blame to him and I think it's unfair for the likes of Massa (okay we all know he's a bit of a Jesse) to come out and simply blame the young guy, especially when we're talking about "The first lap nutcase". I find it far more likely that Grosjean misjudged this than Verstappen - he's the one with the bad judgement history and up until this point Verstappen hasn't shown any of that, and still hasn't.

Coming back to Massa and his comments, lets not forget the incident with him at Germany last year with Kevin Magnussen which was clearly Massa's fault. He's renowned for reading situations wrong, far more than any other top driver (I don't rate him as a top top driver), both during and after an incident.

[truefan72]

If this accident formed a claim for motor insurance, all of the fault is Verstappen's. He was the car following.

I think that this makes the case that brake lights should be installed on Formula One cars.

well this is racing and sometimes the guy in front is at fault.
butt, i agree, i think that would be a good idea to install some sort of brake light. It would help the drivers out and also allow stewards to make and even more clear cut decision.

[henners88]

I think Romains worn tyres had a lot to do with it. He was having to brake earlier and Max was a little over zealous perhaps. Just a racing incident for me even if it was a heavy impact. :)

[Tazio]

:stareup: I agree Hennie, passing at Monaco is generally a difficult proposition, especially considering that these two cars were pretty well matched on this circuit. We saw how hard it was for Lewis to pass Seb, which is reasonably close parallel imo. Max made a fully committed stab at it, but Rogro in the end was only protecting his line, with very worn tires.....arguably?! :)

[journeyman racer]

Has to be Rosberg. His never give up attitude came to the fore here, and pulled off one of the most remarkable wins in motorsport history!

[easy rider]

How can Nico be driver of the day, when his teammate was 22 seconds down the road ahead of him?

[Warriwa]

I think Journeyman is taking the piss.
Telemetry shows Grosjean braked five meters later than he did the previous lap.
This is 100% a rookie mistake.

[Bagwan]

:stareup: I agree Hennie, passing at Monaco is generally a difficult proposition, especially considering that these two cars were pretty well matched on this circuit. We saw how hard it was for Lewis to pass Seb, which is reasonably close parallel imo. Max made a fully committed stab at it, but Rogro in the end was only protecting his line, with very worn tires.....arguably?! :)

Max said he wasn't trying to pass him , Taz .

[Tazio]

Oh, OK, never mind then! :)

[EddySan]

For me ...Jenson Button, putting that horrible car into the points

[AndyL]

While I think Jenson did a commendable job in Monaco, and indeed has done all season, the McLaren wasn't so horrible in Monaco. If not for that yellow flag and technical troubles that put them both out in Q2, the car had the pace for 6th in the race. Button was lapping as fast as Kvyat's Red Bull for most of the race.
One thing that was revealed is that fuel economy is a major problem for Honda, 10% worse than Perez' Mercedes according to the FOM graphics. Presumably they have fuel-save pretty heavily at normal-length races.