2017 Monaco Grandprix

[Nitrodaze]

http://www.lotuscars.com/sites/default/files/image_store/89576_monacoGP-track_569x269.jpg

The Monaco GP is the ultimate street circuit which has been hosting F1 GrandPrix since 1950. The unforgiving narrow streets lined with punishing AMCO barriers puts the drivers through their highest precision driving ability. Considered by many to be one of the most prestigious motorsport races of the year. And forms one of the Motorsport Triple Crown first and only attained by F1 Double World Champion Graham Hill, consisting of Monaco GP, Indy 500 and Le Mans 24 Hr endurance race.

A Monaco lap is 3.3KM of 14 torturous tight chicanes, about six swooping fast corners and two main straights. The race is 78 laps of heart thumping, white knuckle and relentless flat out and slow. The most successful driver of the Monaco circuit is the illustrious Ayrton Senna, who won it 6 times. Graham Hill and Michael Schumacher have won it five times each. The most successfull drivers on the current grid to win this race are jointly by Alonso and Hamilton who have won it twice each. The most successful team of the circuit is Mclaren with 15 wins on this circuit.

The fastest lap on this circuit is by Lewis Hamilton at 1:17:939 in the 2016 Mercedes W07. This was the scene of some disappointment for Ricciado who in the Redbull was set to win this race with some very impressive driving but was denied the win by a very rare Redbull pit error that gifted the win to Hamilton.
http://image1.redbull.com/rbcom/010/2016-05-29/1331797448003_7/0010/1/1500/1000/7/daniel-ricciardo-congratulates-winner-lewis-hamilton-on-the-2016-monaco-grand-prix-podium.jpg

Monaco is a chassis supremacy race, hence underpowered cars can mount an upset. But is the 2017 Redbull as good as the 2016 car? Can Ricciado and/or Verstapenn steal the front row and pole from Mercedes and Ferrari.

It would be interesting to see how the long wheel base W08 car of Mercedes fairs on this track.

[AndyL]

Torro Rosso looked pretty handy in practice. They could have an opportunity for a good result here. In the midfield Force India, Williams, Haas and McLaren look very closely matched. Probably some tiny margins in qualifying are going to make the difference between a bad weekend and a decent one for those teams.

[Rollo]

The most successful team of the circuit is Mclaren with 15 wins on this circuit.


Or Brawn GP who have a 100% win rate.

[Tazio]

Quali dawgz, and it looks like Ferrari are in the pound seats!

[steveaki13]

Hamilton struggling to even get out of Q2.... WTF is going on down there lol

[steveaki13]

Hamilton no pace and 14th. That is unreal that a Mercedes can be that slow

[Tazio]

Boss out in q2!

[Tazio]

So should The Boss start on soft and change to ss right away?

[yodasarmpit]

Hamilton no pace and 14th. That is unreal that a Mercedes can be that slow
Thinking the longer wheelbase of the Merc hasn't helped, but also seems Ferrari and Red Bull have upped their game.

[Tazio]

Congrat's to Kimi a brilliant pole lap!

[Koz]

RAIKKONEN! FUCKING RAIKKONEN! :D

Fucking stoked. Only took 9 years.

Tomorrow the win!

[steveaki13]

So should The Boss start on soft and change to ss right away?

Yes. Hope there is a SC on lap 2 to 5 and stay in front and win.

[steveaki13]

KIMI........................... yes boyz

Brilliant lap.

Really hope Kimi wins tomorrow.

[Mia 01]

I´m so very happy this evening!! Congrats to Kimi!! As MA says, the Champion is coming out!!

[N4D13]

It's great to have Kimi back on pole and shocking to have Lewis out of Q2 (of course, Stoffel had a large role in that), but don't forget about Carlos Sainz's sixth place. Last year poor strategy calls cost him a chance at a podium, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's a bit of carnage among the frontrunners. :p

[Bagwan]

I´m so very happy this evening!! Congrats to Kimi!! As MA says, the Champion is coming out!!

So happy for Kimi and even more happy for you !
It's been a looooooooong wait for a Kimi pole .

Looking to see Lewis thread his way up the field , if he can get on top of that set-up .

This is going to be a lot of racing tomorrow , with the 500 as well on the plate .

I can't wait .

[Tazio]

So should The Boss start on soft and change to ss right away?Yes. Hope there is a SC on lap 2 to 5 and stay in front and win.Of course I meant ss to us! :dork: ;)

[Tazio]

This is going to be a lot of racing tomorrow , with the 500 as well on the plate .

I can't wait .Yeah babe! Both on network TV, and almost back to back!

[gm99]

Bingo time: On what lap will Lance Stroll crash tomorrow? I'm going for lap 18.

[AndyL]

Kimi's reply when his engineer told him over the radio that he'd got pole: "Good." :D

[BigWorm]

Bingo time: On what lap will Lance Stroll crash tomorrow? I'm going for lap 18.

I'm guessing early, 5.

[Koz]

I say lap 9.

[Tazio]

Monaco Dawgz! I wonder how far into the points the Boss can get, and stop the bleeding!:vampire:

[Koz]

Lewis will surely make it to the top 5.

[steveaki13]

The big chat seems to be that Ferrari will ask Kimi to move over quite quick if the Ferrari's get away 1-2.

That would be sensible but sad to see. GO KIMI

[Koz]

That's terrible. I guess he will just get screwed by the pit stops. :(

[Koz]

I will pee on your seat. :D

[steveaki13]

Jenson & the Sauber gambling early.

Who can combat the field spread here?

[AndyL]

5 second penalty for Wehrlein's unsafe release. Sometimes these 5 second penalties are too lenient. Like in the last where he took 5 seconds for diving into the pit lane late, but gained far more than 5 seconds by making that stop. Could easily be the same here, Sauber could gain more than 5 seconds by keeping track position over McLaren.

[steveaki13]

Not a classic so far. Vettel really pushing hard to close on Kimi now. Jenson is screwed by Werhlein on this strategy.

No one has even touch the wall yet with these wider cars. Thats impressive

[steveaki13]

Hulkenberg's gearbox explodes.

Is their fluid on the track?

[steveaki13]

The more advanced the cars and drivers get the less action Monaco has. It used to be survive and score points. These days no one has any issues.

[yodasarmpit]

Nearly half way through and this is dire. Starting to think Bernie's random sprinklers idea should be implemented.

[Koz]

Kimi is in!

[AndyL]

Sucks to be Button right now. He lets all the leaders past, then they pit and they're all behind him again giving him the blue flags.

[steveaki13]

Vettel will pass Raikkonen here. Job done for Ferrari I think.

[steveaki13]

Nearly half way through and this is dire. Starting to think Bernie's random sprinklers idea should be implemented.

It is bad. Not as bad as Russia though. That wins my worst race I have ever seen

[AndyL]

Perez managed to overtake Stroll somewhere, so that's one more pass than in Russia.
Of course we didn't see it, but we can imagine it, I guess.

[Koz]

It's over. Fuck this shit.

[steveaki13]

One of the worst Monaco GP.

Last year was a good one. Shame these new rules make street racing impossible. Russia & here barriers mean no close battling. Frankly there is a lack on in the wall action too:bandit:

[gm99]

Williams looking to not score any points for the second GP in a row (although Stroll has exceeded expectations in this race so far ;) )

[steveaki13]

Oh dear Jenson. Great yesterday and a rusty looking Sunday. Sums up why he left F1 when he did

[yodasarmpit]

With virtually no overtaking opportunities on this track, there will be the odd occasion when someone tries one up the inside - Button should have known this wouldn't work :(

[gm99]

Lucky escape for Wehrlein!

[steveaki13]

Hahaha Ericsson

Glad to see Paschal is OK.

More action in and around the SC than the whole race lol

[yodasarmpit]

Lucky escape for Wehrlein!

The actual roll/crash was pretty soft in the end.

[steveaki13]

Stoffel is out. No points again for Mclaren:(

[steveaki13]

This would have been a cracker if this much action happened from the beginning.

[gm99]

What was Perez thinking there?

[AndyL]

Perez doing the same thing as Button, going up the inside at a corner that's not really a passing place but only getting half way alongside. If you can get fully alongside and hit wheel-to-wheel (Kobayashi style) then it's a pass, otherwise it's a crash.

[yodasarmpit]

6 races in, 3 good, 3 awful - and this fell into the later category. F1 needs to really look at the tracks and look to ensure free flowing racing, with no corners which force cars into single file.

[Koz]

Kimi looks pissed. I'm so disappointed. Uh.

[yodasarmpit]

Kimi looks pissed. I'm so disappointed. Uh.

Ohh yeah, that's not a happy chappy.

[steveaki13]

6 races in, 3 good, 3 awful - and this fell into the later category. F1 needs to really look at the tracks and look to ensure free flowing racing, with no corners which force cars into single file.

F1 has always had different circuit types though.

I would hate to see one track on the calendar because it makes every race awesome.

[zako85]

Nearly half way through and this is dire. Starting to think Bernie's random sprinklers idea should be implemented.

Why? Let's be honest. Monaco is terrible race track. The best strategy there is to get the best position in the qualifying, and then hope to preserve your points in the race. The idea that this is the most important GP of the season is preposterous.

[zako85]

What can I say about this race? Monaco GP is being the classic Monaco GP. The strategy here is to qualify as well as you can, then try to hang onto your points. Nothing interesting happened in this race.

Vettel won most likely because Ferrari decided to pit Raikkonen first, allowing Vettel a few good laps in clean air. There. I said it.

Now, I gotta say that the greatest thing about the Monaco GP is that once we are done with it, it is followed by truly exciting races, like Canada and the classic European GPs like the British, Italian, and Belgian GPs. Those are the GPs everyone is waiting for the rest of the season.

[steveaki13]

I have seen lots of good Monaco GP's that I have really enjoyed. F1 is not always about passing.

However with modern cars and professional levels it is harder to get a good race here. Passing used to be possible. Also more drivers made errors leading to some great action over the years. F1 as it is now has outgrown Monaco.

[steveaki13]

What can I say about this race? Monaco GP is being the classic Monaco GP. The strategy here is to qualify as well as you can, then try to hang onto your points. Nothing interesting happened in this race.

Vettel won most likely because Ferrari decided to pit Raikkonen first, allowing Vettel a few good laps in clean air. There. I said it.

To be fair 4 finishers in 96 is interesting. Coulthard starting last and finishing 5th is interesting. Monaco 1984 was good. The ending in 1992 was epic.

The 2004 race was a cracker IMO. 2005 was decent. Battles and overtaking.

2008 was good.

Since then racing has gotten too professional to make racing here as good as it was.

Even last year was OK

[zako85]

To be fair 4 finishers in 96 is interesting. Coulthard starting last and finishing 5th is interesting. Monaco 1984 was good. The ending in 1992 was epic.

Let's stay relevant and limit the attention span to say the last 10 years. Yes, there is a surprise here and there, but most of the time it's a glamorous procession. It's an important race in the F1 calendar, and everyone wants to win there, but I wish the press stopped hyping this race as if it was the most important race of all season.

[Mia 01]

I´m gutted for Kimis sake, poor fellow!

[BigWorm]

Would be nice to see Kimi winning, but since Vettel qualified just behind him it was no surprise at all Vettel would get the better strategy. I'm sure Kimi will win a race this season if he keeps this up.

Ericsson's retirement was very, very awkward.

[N. Jones]

Unlike the NBCSN crew in America, I don't think Vettel got first because of his laps before pitting. I think Ferrari told Kimi to be competitive with his times but not Too Competitive.

[anfield5]

Funny how people are bitching at Ferrari, but not at Red Bull who gave Danny Ric the same strategy as Vettel and he overtook max.

Maybe if Kimi was not so slow before his stop things may have been different, or should Vettle have slowed down to Kimi pace before his stop to allow Kimi to stay in front?

[The Black Knight]

Funny how people are bitching at Ferrari, but not at Red Bull who gave Danny Ric the same strategy as Vettel and he overtook max.

Maybe if Kimi was not so slow before his stop things may have been different, or should Vettle have slowed down to Kimi pace before his stop to allow Kimi to stay in front?

I am dubious about both RBR and Ferraris strategy. Had Ferrari pitted Vettel one lap later as Mercedes normally do then I would be of the same opinion as you, that it wasn't planned. Leaving him out for a number of laps when the 1-2 wasn't under threat is a clear stitch up and to be frank, it's undeniable.

It's typical Ferrari. Lets face it, their MO is to have a number one driver and Vettel is it.

Anyway, definitely the worst GP in living memory. I can't remember a GP I found as boring as that in a very long time. Roll on Canada.

[Hawkmoon]

I am dubious about both RBR and Ferraris strategy. Had Ferrari pitted Vettel one lap later as Mercedes normally do then I would be of the same opinion as you, that it wasn't planned. Leaving him out for a number of laps when the 1-2 wasn't under threat is a clear stitch up and to be frank, it's undeniable.

It's typical Ferrari. Lets face it, their MO is to have a number one driver and Vettel is it.

Anyway, definitely the worst GP in living memory. I can't remember a GP I found as boring as that in a very long time. Roll on Canada.

Despite being undeniable I'm going to do just that. Raikkonen simply wasn't on Vettel's pace which was pretty obvious by Vettel going from 1.17s behind Raikkonen to 1.15s in clear air. Even with that pace Vettel only managed to leave the pits a handful of car lengths ahead. Ferrari are either really good judges of how the pit stops will play out or they simply let things play out on the track.

Was Vettel winning better for the championship? Yes. Did Ferrari have to play silly games with pit stops to get that result? No. They could have simply told the Finn move over. It's their "MO" after all.

[steveaki13]

People moan when drivers do all but the same strategy (i.e pitting one lap later) and people moan when drivers do different things.

If it was a team decision then so be it. Maybe Vettel was just plain faster if he pitted first or second. Either way it was perfect for Ferrari

[steveaki13]

Not even Russia? At least we had the skill of precision driving around Monaco and some incident around the pit stops and the last 15 laps.

Russia nothing happen after lap 1. I would rate yesterday as 3/10. Russia 1/10 all day

[zako85]

Not even Russia? At least we had the skill of precision driving around Monaco and some incident around the pit stops and the last 15 laps.

Russia nothing happen after lap 1. I would rate yesterday as 3/10. Russia 1/10 all day

Despite having a bad race here and there, Russia on average still seems to be more exciting than Monaco. Having said that, it would be great if F1 management moved the Russian GP to some other venue, such as Moscow Raceway (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Raceway).

[Tazio]

People moan when drivers do all but the same strategy (i.e pitting one lap later) and people moan when drivers do different things.

If it was a team decision then so be it. Maybe Vettel was just plain faster if he pitted first or second. Either way it was perfect for Ferrari
Kimi is doing excellently in a very good car at the twilight of his carreer, in fact he has exceeded my expectations. But on the whole Vettel is faster than Kimi over the course of a whole GP (which is no disgrace), and it showed in Monaco. If Ferrari wanted to feature Kimi they could have left him out and pitted when the U.S. really had gone off, which would complicate their strategy, and risk the !,2. but make no mistake Vettel is their man, and that strategy played perfectly into a 1,2 finish.

[airshifter]

Kimi is doing excellently in a very good car at the twilight of his carreer, in fact he has exceeded my expectations. But on the whole Vettel is faster than Kimi over the course of a whole GP (which is no disgrace), and it showed in Monaco. If Ferrari wanted to feature Kimi they could have left him out passed when the U.S. went off, which would complicate their strategy, and risk the !,2. but make no mistake Vettel is their man, and that strategy played perfectly into a 1,2 finish.


Hard to add much to that. Kimi still has at times great speed in qually, but Seb usually reels him in easily over the course of a race. With Ferrari having a long history of favoring one driver, it was doubtful they would even set Kimi up for the more favorable strategy either way. And if they did, most likely he would hold Seb up, or be passed by him. I've been a fan of Kimi's since he came into F1, but thinking he is quicker than Seb these days is only occasionally true IMO.

As for Monaco being boring, I've thought that for years in regards to racing action. It's still a fun race to watch, but most of the passing (if there is any) is in the pits, or with a grossly superior car and/or driver that made qually mistakes or had the car break. I'd love to see a track with sections similar to Monaco that don't allow error, but one that also had real passing opportunities at at least a few parts of the track.

[mr_swiss]

The problem was, Kimi got stuck behind lapped cars when he came out of the pits.

[Hawkmoon]

The problem was, Kimi got stuck behind lapped cars when he came out of the pits.

Vettel needed this, a bunch of very quick laps and a slightly slow stop for Raikkonen to only just come out of the pits ahead. But some ignore all that and say Ferrari screwed him over. It's much more fun that way! :rolleyes:

[Nitrodaze]

I think this Monaco grandprix highlights why l admire Ferrari as team but would never be a Ferrari fan. The main difference between the Vettel and Raikonen strategies were that Kimi was pitted into traffic and Vettel was not. On a track like Monaco where passing lapped cars is time costly, it is hard not to see that Ferrari favored Vettel to win the race. I don't buy the claim that they did not know it would turn out as it did. That would be an open acceptance that they have an idiot for a strategist.

[BigWorm]

I think this Monaco grandprix highlights why l admire Ferrari as team but would never be a Ferrari fan. What the main difference between the Vettel and Raikonen strategies were that Kimi was pitted into traffic and Vettel was not. On a track like Monaco where passing lapped cars is time costly, it is hard not to see that Ferrari favored Vettel to win the race. I don't buy the claim that they did not know it would turn out as it did. That would be an open acceptance that the have an idiot of a strategist.

Oh, they knew what they were doing. Vettel was always going to be faster in the race, but no way could he have made those laps he did if there was traffic in front of him, it's Monaco after all.

[The Black Knight]

Despite being undeniable I'm going to do just that. Raikkonen simply wasn't on Vettel's pace which was pretty obvious by Vettel going from 1.17s behind Raikkonen to 1.15s in clear air. Even with that pace Vettel only managed to leave the pits a handful of car lengths ahead. Ferrari are either really good judges of how the pit stops will play out or they simply let things play out on the track.

Was Vettel winning better for the championship? Yes. Did Ferrari have to play silly games with pit stops to get that result? No. They could have simply told the Finn move over. It's their "MO" after all.

And your post would be completely valid had they pitted Vettel the lap after they pitted Raikkonen. Instead they left him out until he was sure he would get by in the pits. I'm sure that had Raikkonen come out of the pits ahead of Vettel they would have simply told Raikkonen "Vettel is faster than you". The way it panned out now they were able to convince all the malleable folks it wasn't pre planned.

[Hawkmoon]

And your post would be completely valid had they pitted Vettel the lap after they pitted Raikkonen. Instead they left him out until he was sure he would get by in the pits. I'm sure that had Raikkonen come out of the pits ahead of Vettel they would have simply told Raikkonen "Vettel is faster than you". The way it panned out now they were able to convince all the malleable folks it wasn't pre planned.

If Ferrari were simply going to ask Raikkonen to move over they would have done so and not played games with pit stops. There's a piece on JAonF1 that looks at the situation from both sides of the arguments. It won't change your mind I'm sure but it's worth a read.