Monaco F1 GP 2018

[Nitrodaze]

https://www.thisisf1.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Monaco-GP-2016-1.jpg


Formula 1 returns to the principality of Monaco. The most prestigious race of the year. A track that favours chassis and aerodynamic superiority over engine grunt. A tight and narrow track lined with unforgiving AMCO barriers that demands consistent precision driving. The drivers are tested for their disciplined operation of their vehicle.

F1 races has taken place here since 1929. This track is tight twists and turns followed by bursts of short straights over a 3.3KM lap. A full grand prix runs over 78 laps of demanding racing. Mclaren holds the record of the most wins on this track with 15 wins. Ayrton Senna remain the most successful driver ever to win the Monaco GP with 6 wins. Incidentally, Sergio Perez holds the fastest race lap time of 1:14:820 in 2017.

Danny Ricciado returns the scene where he lost a well deserved win to Lewis Hamilton due to a rare mistake at the Redbull pitstop in 2016. Third on the podium last year. He is favorite to win this sunday's race with a bit of luck. Ferrari look well pumped up to take the fight to all comers. Mercedes is bullish but cautious. For Vettel this is a must win race to bring himself back into fray of Hamilton's handsome seventeen points lead.

[airshifter]

I have a love/hate relationship with Monaco. Though I really enjoy how it tests the driver skill set for pushing right to the edge of track limits, at times if the cars and drivers have too much gap it just becomes a procession. When things are tight and the drivers are fighting, it's a true test even if many passes take place in the pits.

Interesting that Perez holds the fast lap. After looking I found that he only holds 4 total if gauged by season, but he got his Monaco fast lap in the Force India. Being that the car is more known for speed than handling and aero, quite an accomplishment.

Monaco has also been the site of some strange incidents. The great Schumacher parked it on the racing line, Alonso and Fabio took advantage of a driver and "spun", and I remember Button driving past the podium area and running back to get there. While searching for info on Checo's fast lap, I also found a link that says Monaco will have "female promotional models" on the grid, and it somehow flys under the radar of the grid girl rulings.


I'd really like to see Ricciardo pull it off. It must have been hard for him to have one tossed away with the RB pit error.

[Starter]

I have a love/hate relationship with Monaco. Though I really enjoy how it tests the driver skill set for pushing right to the edge of track limits, at times if the cars and drivers have too much gap it just becomes a procession. When things are tight and the drivers are fighting, it's a true test even if many passes take place in the pits.

Interesting that Perez holds the fast lap. After looking I found that he only holds 4 total if gauged by season, but he got his Monaco fast lap in the Force India. Being that the car is more known for speed than handling and aero, quite an accomplishment.

Monaco has also been the site of some strange incidents. The great Schumacher parked it on the racing line, Alonso and Fabio took advantage of a driver and "spun", and I remember Button driving past the podium area and running back to get there. While searching for info on Checo's fast lap, I also found a link that says Monaco will have "female promotional models" on the grid, and it somehow flys under the radar of the grid girl rulings.


I'd really like to see Ricciardo pull it off. It must have been hard for him to have one tossed away with the RB pit error.
I'm always in favor of the "promotional models". Sometimes more interesting than the production version.

[Bagwan]

I'm always in favor of the "promotional models". Sometimes more interesting than the production version.

I'd go for the "floor model" , myself .

Apparently , they aren't "grid girls" because they won't be carrying numbers .

[Duncan]

Not a great start from Max; terrible timing to make a mistake like that. Looked like he was thrown off line by a slow car at the exit of Piscine 1, and instead of abandoning his fast lap, tried to recover and got it completely wrong at Piscine 2. Oops.

Still, should be interesting. Everybody up front is going to be starting on hypers, and presumably Max is going to start on the supersoft, try to stay out longer than anybody else, and hope for a safety car to come in and switch to ultras. Of course, everybody out of the top 10 is going to be doing the same thing.

[N4D13]

I wouldn't have high expectations for Max for this race. He might be desperate to gain positions on the track (after all, that's most likely the only way in which he could salvage this race). That combined with how insanely difficult it is to overtake in Monaco and his usual recklessness makes me think that he'll be entertaining to watch... until he takes himself out.

[gm99]

What a boring race so far. And terribly slow as well - the frontrunners are more than 8 seconds a lap slower than in qualifying.

[truefan72]

As usual. Mercedes pitwall by committee screwed up the 2 stop opportunity for hamilton. Smh

[N4D13]

As usual. Mercedes pitwall by committee screwed up the 2 stop opportunity for hamilton. Smh
If he had pitted, I wouldn't have put my money on him overtaking Räikkönen - and then you'd be criticizing them for taking an absurd risk when you can't overtake in Monaco. :p

As far as I am concerned, not switching to a 2-stopper is the right call here. We already saw a couple of drivers trying that a couple of times already and they failed miserably, so it's hard to imagine things would be any better. Even Verstappen, with the fastest car on the track, is finding it difficult to make much progress.

[N4D13]

Well, it's pretty telling that after 77 laps we're only at 9 posts - 10 counting this. But that's hardly a surprise. Take away the retirements, accidents and safety cars from Monaco and you just get an extremely dull procession. (Yeah, we got a retirement and an accident without effective consequences other than a DNF for those involved, but still).

I also covered myself in glory with my prediction for Verstappen. But I'm actually glad that he's driving a very sensible race for a change!

[steveaki13]

I loved the Monaco GP for a couple of decades, but I think F1 needs to leave it behind. It was always a challenge and you saw mistakes and crazy races. Now it seems very easy to drive around here for the top drivers and teams don't want to risk racing really up front. So it leads to boring races.

Its been a bit tense because of how close everyone is but actually they have been cruising holding what they have.

[steveaki13]

Well, it's pretty telling that after 77 laps we're only at 9 posts - 10 counting this. But that's hardly a surprise. Take away the retirements, accidents and safety cars from Monaco and you just get an extremely dull procession. (Yeah, we got a retirement and an accident without effective consequences other than a DNF for those involved, but still).

I also covered myself in glory with my prediction for Verstappen. But I'm actually glad that he's driving a very sensible race for a change!

You are right. Monaco used to be that crazy race where accidents and retirements made the drama and crazy incidents. With a few exceptions Monaco has never been a great race in terms of racing, but the other aspects made it fun. I mean 81 or 82 when the lead changed 5 odd times in the last laps. That was crazy but never happens now.

[Starter]

There are two conclusions that can be had here, based on the fact that no one posted about qualifying or the race until this morning. One is that Monaco, as a race, is a write off for most fans. The second is that interest in racing in general, see the lack of ANY recent posts in the other racing forums here, is pretty much gone everywhere. The only real activity this board gets anymore are on the rally forums. A third possibility is that one and two both apply. Sad.

[Nitrodaze]

Congratulations to Ricciado a well deserved win. Hamilton managed to keep the damage to his championship points to the minimum. Vettel edging closer. Kimi and Bottass slipping backwards as Danny leaps to third in the championship. Canada is going to be a different matter, Mercedes and Ferrari shall resume their superiority

[The Black Knight]

Most boring race ever.

Comparison of Ricciardo’s drive to Schumacher 95 in Spain are a bit over the top. He was down on power in the least power dependant track in the world. Monaco is the best track in the world for him to have that type of issue. Congratulations to him - top drive.

[truefan72]

Most boring race ever.

Comparison of Ricciardo’s drive to Schumacher 95 in Spain are a bit over the top. He was down on power in the least power dependant track in the world. Monaco is the best track in the world for him to have that type of issue. Congratulations to him - top drive.

agreed. What Schumacher did on a proper race track was unbelievable, you can get away with a few missing gears at monaco
especially in these 2018 cars, and if you are in the lead.
Despite a huge power difference, Vettel couldn't even come close to him

[Warriwa]

There are two conclusions that can be had here, based on the fact that no one posted about qualifying or the race until this morning. One is that Monaco, as a race, is a write off for most fans. The second is that interest in racing in general, see the lack of ANY recent posts in the other racing forums here, is pretty much gone everywhere. The only real activity this board gets anymore are on the rally forums. A third possibility is that one and two both apply. Sad.


I put the blame solely on pay per view. It is impossible to generate new fans when the organisers block huge numbers of people around the world from seeing it. Greed, under the guise of "excellent business strategy", is depleting the fan base massively.

[Duncan]

I put the blame solely on pay per view. It is impossible to generate new fans when the organisers block huge numbers of people around the world from seeing it. Greed, under the guise of "excellent business strategy", is depleting the fan base massively.

Unfortunately it's going to take quite some time to undo Bernie's idiocy in this area. I'm hopeful that LM has a better grasp of reality and is looking at the longer term, but the short-sighted lets-take-as-much-money-as-we-can-right-now deals are going to be doing damage for a long time yet.

[Mia 01]

First, congrats to Daniel!

Second, it was a boring race!!!

[zako85]

After the lap 10, I was watching the race on fast forward whenever the leader order was Ric-Vet-Ham-Rai-Bot, and it looks like I didn't miss anything important.

[52Paddy]

Oddly enough, I enjoyed the Monaco GP. I was delighted to see that Ricciardo could hang on. Even though it's the best track to have such a problem, I was really worried that the Red Bull would expire on him and deal him a cruel blow. Surely he's really considering jumping ship for 2019 now!

And I also thought it was interesting to see if Hamilton would fall off the pace completely with his graining, or chance a 2-stop (Mercedes did the right thing in keeping him out). Bottas looked like he had the pace to win the damn race but not the opportunity to overtake which was a shame. And kudos to Ocon and Gasly too for strong performances, particularly the latter in fending off Hulkenberg and Verstappen in the closing stages.

I mean, it was far from a spectacle, but I did enjoy following the different potentialities at play albeit that none came to an exciting fruition.

[Bagwan]

It's Monaco .
It's going within inches of the barriers at frightening speeds .

This was just one of those races without a lot of overt chaos , which , in one of the craziest places to hold a race is a feat in itself , so I enjoyed it for at least that reason .

I enjoy watching them not hit walls , too .
And , I didn't know who was going to win it until the end .
I like that , too .

I guess 52Paddy and I are the only ones who had a good time .
Cheers , Paddy .

[N4D13]

This was just one of those races without a lot of overt chaos , which , in one of the craziest places to hold a race is a feat in itself , so I enjoyed it for at least that reason .

I enjoy watching them not hit walls , too .
And , I didn't know who was going to win it until the end .
I like that , too .
That's a fair point, but keep in mind that many drivers were just cruising and not taking any risks whatsoever, simply because there was no point whatsoever in it. In a race in which you can't overtake or be overtaken, you simply have no reason to try and go fast. So even the lack of accidents (barring Leclerc's brake failure) doesn't speak for the drivers' ability as much as the pointlessness of actually trying.

[52Paddy]

In a race in which you can't overtake or be overtaken, you simply have no reason to try and go fast. So even the lack of accidents (barring Leclerc's brake failure) doesn't speak for the drivers' ability as much as the pointlessness of actually trying.

But would this apply for ever Monaco GP ad infinitum (in this current era of regs)? Because, by your assessment, it is entirely to do with the track nature...or am I mistaken? Verstappen proved that you can make a busty overtaking manoeuvre if you give it you can pull it off. That said, he struggled to mount a challenge to Hulkenberg and Gasly in the closing stages. If that is your assessment, I don't disagree necessarily but I'm just trying to see if there's anyone or anything to apportion blame for it's lack of overtaking. Tyre management in the top runners was certainly a factor too.

[BigWorm]

Those Schumacher references are really out of hand

[N4D13]

But would this apply for ever Monaco GP ad infinitum (in this current era of regs)? Because, by your assessment, it is entirely to do with the track nature...or am I mistaken? Verstappen proved that you can make a busty overtaking manoeuvre if you give it you can pull it off. That said, he struggled to mount a challenge to Hulkenberg and Gasly in the closing stages. If that is your assessment, I don't disagree necessarily but I'm just trying to see if there's anyone or anything to apportion blame for it's lack of overtaking. Tyre management in the top runners was certainly a factor too.
Well, it has to do with the track nature, but also with the tyres'. If you can do a one-stopper on the hypersofts and the ultrasofts, then surely that's a contributing factor as well. And of course, in other years we had harder tyres, which meant that pushing them was not as terrible, but in 2018 they were a bit on the limit with the tyres, so pushing with them on to try and overtake other drivers meant a lot of risk (tyre performance falling off a cliff) for a reward that was very dubious at best.

Pretty much all of the last Monaco races under these regulations have been like this, only that sometimes we got rain or safety cars to spice things up. Still, of course the track is unforgiving of mistakes and a single one can mean a DNF and a safety car - this year we just got "unlucky" in that regard. It doesn't help that overtaking with the 2018 cars is also notoriously difficult.

Keep in mind that Verstappen's passes were on cars which were MUCH slower than his, and once he passed Sainz, who was struggling a lot with his tyres and losing several seconds a lap, he was unable to overtake cars which had been a whole second slower than his* in qualifying. And we're talking about a whole second in a track where pole position was 1:12, whereas in other circuits it would be typically around 1:30 or 1:40, so a second in Monaco is more significant than anywhere else.

* Well, Ricciardo's, but you get the point.

[Duncan]

I think it was pretty telling that Seb couldn't pass Daniel, despite the latter having a busted engine and limited gearbox. It wasn't like Dan was really defending either; Seb just couldn't get closer than a second or so.

Also, interesting side by side - check out the lap charts for China versus Monaco here:

https://www.racefans.net/2018/04/15/2018-chinese-grand-prix-interactive-data-lap-charts-times-and-tyres/
https://www.racefans.net/2018/05/27/2018-monaco-grand-prix-interactive-data-lap-charts-times-and-tyres/

[airshifter]

Well at least Ricciardo finally got his win.

I think the tires once again played a huge role. It seemed that the softer tires made for great lap times, but once on the back of another car nobody really made a tough move. Then again, it could be that at the pointy end of the field the drivers are simply smart enough to know that making a pass stick at Monaco is tough.

I though Ricciardo was toast, likewise Kimi when Bottas charged up. With all the radio talk I was sure Hamilton or at least one of the front runners would go for a two stop strategy. But none of it ever happened, and things sorted out with everyone seemingly not wanting to be the one to switch, and all drivers happy with the slower laps.