2019 Monaco F1 GP

[Nitrodaze]

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/120518015211-monaco-grand-prix-track-tour-00001528-story-top.jpg

The Fairmont Hairpin:- One of the tightest chicane in the series
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/i0XQhd-g-oE/maxresdefault.jpg

We head back to the glitzy principality of Monaco. This has been one of the successful hunting grounds of the Redbull team in recent years. At the beginning of the season, many believed that if Honda were to win a race with the Redbull chassis this season, Monaco was the most likely venue for such a feat.

However, there has been good indications that the Redbull may not have things their way this time round. Unfortunately for Redbull, the Mercedes W10 has shown, at all races this year, that its chassis has attained the aerodynamic quality of going through slow speed corners and chicanes with typical Redbull efficiency. The highly underestimated W10 is just as fast, if not faster than the Redbull at going through corners. The cumbersome long wheelbase that bogged the previous incarnations of this car has given way to well trimmed and muscular car. Which has proven to be equally as capable on the straights as it is in the corners.

By all indications, Mercedes is looking like the car to beat at this weekends Monaco GP. It is an all round better car than the twitchy Redbull. Better front and rear stability, faster engine and more superior aerodynamics package than the Redbull. Ferrari seem to be out of the running for a place at the front of the grid. The Ferrari has been cumbersome through the corners losing all of its performance superiority at the corners to the more efficient Mercedes and Redbull cars. A fairytale home track win for Leclerc seem very difficult and possibly unlikely. But anything is possible on the unforgiving AMCO lined track that is Monaco.

Somehow, Verstapenn has managed to drive around the problems of the Redbull. Hence, it is likely that the Mercedes might not have it entirely their own way. But the weekend is looking like a new page in the Hamilton and Bottas battle for the lead of the championship. Can Hamilton stretch out the lead to Bottas or can Bottas once again level the points.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/nintchdbpict000408876097.jpg

Who is your money on to win this glam race?

[Starter]

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/120518015211-monaco-grand-prix-track-tour-00001528-story-top.jpg




https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/nintchdbpict000408876097.jpg

Wow, Monaco is a curvier track than I had thought!

[steveaki13]

Could do with a crazy Monaco where only 6 finish.

Fat chance :rolleyes:

[Tazio]

My prediction;
Boss
'stapen
Bott' :idea:

[The Black Knight]

Could do with a crazy Monaco where only 6 finish.

Fat chance :rolleyes:

Was watching a rerun of 96 Monaco GP last nighg on Sky F1 - what a crazy race day that was!

[Tazio]

It's ridiculous how nimble the W10 is around the Monaco McOurse.
Here is The Boss' 1.11.245 lap in fp2
https://streamable.com/lfwic

[The Black Knight]

It's ridiculous how nimble the W10 is around the Monaco McOurse.
Here is The Boss' 1.11.245 lap in fp2
https://streamable.com/lfwic

Yeah the car looks mighty and, more concerning for their rivals is that there is still laptime there - a couple of corners there Hamilton left time on the table. What a car they have produced this season. The question me isn’t if Mercedes will win the constructors, it’s which Mercedes driver will be champion this year. The others are too far behind. It’ll be 2021 now before anyone catches Mercedes.

[The Black Knight]

Vettel crashes again in Monaco FP3. Thank God he is not a 5 time WDC. It’s bad enough that he is out there making mistakes week after week with 4 WDC’s to his name. Him as a 5 time WDC performing at this level would be embarrassing to the sport to the point of nearly intolerable.

There was a time I rated him as a top driver but now I think Ferrari should drop him. He is making more mistakes than Albon, Norris amd Russel combined. It might be the one lifeline to Ricciardo’s career. Ferrari drop Vettel and Ricciardo moves to Ferrari- I can potentially see that happening now.

[Tazio]

Quali dawgz :sailor:
Morning boyz! :wave:

[Tazio]

Ferrari stupidly screw over McLerc!

[Tazio]

Alright McBoss! :dork:

[The Black Knight]

Great laps at the end from both Mercs in the end but would love to have seen what time Hamilton would have done if he didn’t have that oversteer moment at Rascasse. A sub 70 seconds was definitely on the cards.

[Tazio]

Freakin' Haas is faster than Ferrari in both s1, and s2.
Let that sink in! :confused:

[Duncan]

Well that was interesting. And good to be watching on the F1TV service, where you can select what audio you want, including switching off the commentary but still having the sounds from the track. Makes a huge difference when you don't have to constantly listen to "Crofty's" inane blatherings; much more like the experience of being at the track, especially when you can turn up the audio. I watched the practice that way, but was watching the qualy on the TV. Might switch back to the streaming for the race.

Anyway, Ferrari's strategery department really outdid themselves today. What a farce. Good job getting Vettel's car back together, but he was clearly on the back foot from the lost setup time, and just remarkable that they blew Leclerc's chances. Good luck starting from 16th. Or as "Crofty" would have it "Everybody comes to Monaco to gamble, but you're got to be in it to win it when you spin the roulette wheel". Just shoot me.

Toro Rosso and Haas both looking impressive, with Grosjean likely to have made Q3 without Gasly's rolling roadblock.

But that final lap from Hamilton - wow. He was really determined to get that pole. Almost put it in the wall at Rascasse. He seemed... pleased.

[airshifter]

Three spot penalties for both Gasly and Giovinazzi. Though really I don't think Rogro would have made it into Q3 regardless. He seems to always choke when it matters. :laugh:

As for Ferrari and Leclerc.... wow. How they manage to screw things up so often leaves me wondering how they even got to be one of the top teams.

Blazing lap by Lewis, he obviously wanted this pole badly. Still a chance for Bottas and possibly even Max to find more race pace and take advantage if Lewis puts it wrong at any time during the race. As for the rest of the field, surprising to me that Haas is the best of the rest after the top 3 teams. KMag has been driving well, but still a surprise to me at Monaco.




And I agree with Duncan about commentary. The Croft/Brundle exchanges just make me crazy. I might have to resort to the methods he is using to turn off the commentary, though I hadn't played with F1 TV enough during live races to find that function yet.

[Nitrodaze]

There is 60% chance of rain tomorrow. There is everything to drive for. Bottas v2.0 has continued to impress, l expect he would give Hamilton a good fight when the lights go out tomorrow. That was an inspired lap to take pole by Hamilton. Once again, Bottas pushed the bar up and up to demand a flawless lap from Hamilton. But Hamilton had the answer in what was a very elated response once pole was confirmed.

Verstapenn did not disappoint. The Redbull did not have enough performance to split the Mercedes. But l have a feeling that he would have a strong race pace, which could really bother the Mercedes. Very unlucky for Gasly to pickup a penalty.

What can l say about Ferrari? They are still very much prone to errors at all fronts. It is really surprising to find a Ferrari going out of qualifying in Q1. The Ferrari team seem very rattled at the moment.

Magnussen would be starting at his highest position of the season in 5th. And Ricciado dragged the underperforming Renault car up to sixth; their best start this year.

Just in case there is any doubts, the Mercedes W10 is at this point of the season, the best car on the grid. Unfortunately, Ferrari did not make hay when they had a clear advantage over the Mercedes at the early stages of the season and they are paying dearly for it at the moment. Because Mercedes have worked really hard to close the gap to Ferrari and have somehow managed to take one step ahead of the grid in the process.

[journeyman racer]

Verstappen, in a RB, without Ricciardo as a team mate, in Monaco. Qualifies 3rd.

Fail!

[Nitrodaze]

Weather at Monaco may be 20 degrees celcius, 10% chance of rain at the start of the race. Chances are that would be no rain today through out the race. Dry race chaps!

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/spv2bfe5f#?date=2019-05-26

[journeyman racer]

Hamilton is likely to win. In isolation it's no big deal for Bottas. But in a tight championship battle atm, it'll be today where the bad starts off PP in China and Spain is going to hurt.

[gm99]

Well done, LeClerc - spreading bits of his rear tyre all over the track.

[N4D13]

What the hell was that 5-second penalty for Verstappen?

Unsafe releases usually get a drive-through penalty, but here he gets released into another car, hitting it and causing it to go for a second stop, and he gets a smaller penalty. This is ridiculous.

[gm99]

Renault have screwed their drivers by pitting them early.

[steveaki13]

all these leaders just cruising around.

strange race. On the face of it looks exciting but i think the top 4 have excepted their positions.

[The Black Knight]

Lewis moaning more about his tires in this race than Grosjean moans in a season. Grow a pair man, you pit you finish 5th, you stay out you win. The team fucked up giving him the tires, I get his frustration there, but everyone knows track positions is king at Monaco. The race is his if he keeps it together.

[gm99]

Lewis' constant whining about the tyres is getting a bit tedious.

[Warriwa]

Why on earth would Mercedes do that to Hamilton? I'd let them know about it also. The Verstappen penalty is a joke. The powers that be want a Verstappen victory.

[steveaki13]

this race used to be dramatic when there were retirements all round as it seemed a test and a game of survival. These days it is a bit dead.

I think it is no longer that interesting as a race because everyone cruises around.

[Warriwa]

Renault fluffed that one completely

[Tazio]

Hang on the boss!:dork:

[steveaki13]

meh

another same old result.

[Warriwa]

Well done Lewis. Impressive.

[steveaki13]

Makes Lewis whinging all race look pointless as the tyres were clearly OK if a bit worn.

[steveaki13]

That said it is a good win for Hamilton

[N4D13]

Very good effort by Leclerc to stop Merc from taking another successive 1-2 finish with that safety car. :p

[The Black Knight]

Very good effort by Leclerc to stop Merc from taking another successive 1-2 finish with that safety car. :p

Tee hee - was thinking there was a touch of the Piquet about it alright!

[Nitrodaze]

After such a brilliant start to the season, Bottas' season took a dent from a reckless Redbull release of Verstapenn as they tried to steal 2nd place from Mercedes. Hamilton drove a canny and cagey race to a well deserved Monaco win. Putting 17 points between himself and a very unlucky Bottas.

What l find very unfair was that Redbull and Verstapenn have screwed up Bottas' championship fight with Hamilton and they only get a tap on the wrist; 5 seconds penalty. For a start, it is a decision that would prove to be inconsistent when they next levy a drive through to another team that does the same thing in the near future. I can see that they want a show of a Verstapenn versus Hamilton duel. Unfortunately, at the expense of consistency and a display of what seemed like an open and plain favoritism towards Verstapenn.

The job of winning the 2019 title just became harder now for Bottas. Bottas now need to ensure that he wins the next two races to be back in the fight with Hamilton. I hope Mercedes would still allow them to race each other, since Ferrari or Redbull are not really in the driver's title fight.

Mclaren slowly consolidate 4th in the championship. That is great isn't it?

[journeyman racer]

That Verstappen penalty was horrendous. You know what I reckon was the worst part about that soft decision?

It almost happened. But had Verstappen caused a collision with Hamilton that forced Hamilton out of the race, it would've occurred when a moment Verstappen shouldn't actually have been there.

Not that he might have posed much of a threat, but it then denies Vettel and opportunity to go for the lead.

A decisions made by a bunch of monkeys.

[zako85]

Yawn. Another Monaco GP.

If Red Bull did not release Verstappen unsafely at the pit stop placing him in the 2nd place, the top 5 most likely would have finished where they started, and probably without challenging each other. This and the previous race look really embarrassing compared to Indy GP and Indy 500.

[airshifter]

They need to find a better way to right things with these penalties they apply. To me personally a 5 second penalty at a place like Monaco is a severe enough penalty to the driver. But it just doesn't consider what it does to the drivers surrounding that issue. Even if Bottas didn't have to come back into the pits, he would now be behind the driver that ran into him.

I would suggest that they figure out a way to make the driver immediately give up the time on track, placing him back in the pack to wherever that 5 or 10 seconds places him in the field. I think Max had enough pace that if he was to get by Hamilton he might have been able to open up a 5 or more second gap within a few laps. And that would be a complete farce to the race.


As for the rest of the action, nothing much out of the ordinary for Monaco. Most of the position changes were made due to strategy calls, though there were a few good passes on track.



As much as I appreciate the prestige and history at Monaco, I really think it's time for a change. If they can't figure out how to make it a track with passing opportunity, then it should go.

[Nitrodaze]

They need to find a better way to right things with these penalties they apply. To me personally a 5 second penalty at a place like Monaco is a severe enough penalty to the driver. But it just doesn't consider what it does to the drivers surrounding that issue. Even if Bottas didn't have to come back into the pits, he would now be behind the driver that ran into him.

I would suggest that they figure out a way to make the driver immediately give up the time on track, placing him back in the pack to wherever that 5 or 10 seconds places him in the field. I think Max had enough pace that if he was to get by Hamilton he might have been able to open up a 5 or more second gap within a few laps. And that would be a complete farce to the race.


As for the rest of the action, nothing much out of the ordinary for Monaco. Most of the position changes were made due to strategy calls, though there were a few good passes on track.



As much as I appreciate the prestige and history at Monaco, I really think it's time for a change. If they can't figure out how to make it a track with passing opportunity, then it should go.

I agree, it is time for the track layout of Monaco to change. They have to find a way to make it more like Baku with a long enough straight for the effects of DRS to facilitate overtakes. I did not see enough to suggest DRS was effective during the Monaco race.

[Starter]

I agree, it is time for the track layout of Monaco to change. They have to find a way to make it more like Baku with a long enough straight for the effects of DRS to facilitate overtakes. I did not see enough to suggest DRS was effective during the Monaco race.
The only thing effective at Monaco is being in front.

[Nitrodaze]

And good to be watching on the F1TV service, where you can select what audio you want, including switching off the commentary but still having the sounds from the track. Makes a huge difference when you don't have to constantly listen to "Crofty's" inane blatherings.

Of late, l have to say l see your point. The point about commentary is to present an unbiased and objective view. Unfortunately, Crofty struggles with that concept sometimes. He appears to stir things up from a personal perspective sometimes which takes away from the better parts of his race time commentaries, which incidentally, he does very well most of the time. That said, l think he is still one of the best F1 commentators out there. I would prefer to listen to him above any other commentator out there.

But the possibility of switching all commentaries off and just watch the race with just the sound of the engine and the pit radio, is also a very desirable option. Hence, l envy you for that.

[Nitrodaze]

The only thing effective at Monaco is being in front.

https://www.monte-carlo.mc/static/images/circuit-de-monaco.png

I think if they get rid of the "Nouvelle" chicanes 10 and 11 and just have a straight from the tunnel to the Tabac corner, that would produce overtaking opportunities. At least DRS assisted overtakes which would make the race more lively.

[The Black Knight]

Anyone complaining about a lack of overtaking at Monaco needs their head checked. It’s always been that way since I can remember.

1988 the race where everyone claims Senna destroyed Prost in the race, conveniently forgetting that Prost was in third place behind Berger for 54 laps until he overtook him at Sainte-Dévote. That was 31 years ago. Prost couldn’t overtake then for 54 laps, Verstappen couldn’t overtake now for 67. So many examples of this, like Senna 93.

There had never been overtaking at Monaco. Watching Monaco and expecting much overtaking is a waste of your time and you should probably reset those expectations to something realistic.

[Duncan]

But the possibility of switching all commentaries off and just watch the race with just the sound of the engine and the pit radio, is also a very desirable option. Hence, l envy you for that.

The bonus is that you can crank the volume up and you really hear not just the engine noise but the tyre noise. At a lot of tracks, you also get the occasional echoing sounds of the local announcer over the PA. Feels much more like actually being at the track.

[N4D13]

Of late, l have to say l see your point. The point about commentary is to present an unbiased and objective view. Unfortunately, Crofty struggles with that concept sometimes. He appears to stir things up from a personal perspective sometimes which takes away from the better parts of his race time commentaries, which incidentally, he does very well most of the time. That said, l think he is still one of the best F1 commentators out there. I would prefer to listen to him above any other commentator out there.

But the possibility of switching all commentaries off and just watch the race with just the sound of the engine and the pit radio, is also a very desirable option. Hence, l envy you for that.
Spot on. I used to think that the Spanish commentators were biased because, come on, they are Spanish and were cheering for Alonso the entire race. But for the last few years I have been watching streams from Sky commentary and it's pretty much the same stuff with Hamilton, or even more exaggerated sometimes. It's actually pretty disappointed.

Sometimes they even make me miss the German streams, from which I could only understand separate words, but at least I wouldn't notice if they were so biased. :p

[Bagwan]

Anyone complaining about a lack of overtaking at Monaco needs their head checked. It’s always been that way since I can remember.

1988 the race where everyone claims Senna destroyed Prost in the race, conveniently forgetting that Prost was in third place behind Berger for 54 laps until he overtook him at Sainte-Dévote. That was 31 years ago. Prost couldn’t overtake then for 54 laps, Verstappen couldn’t overtake now for 67. So many examples of this, like Senna 93.

There had never been overtaking at Monaco. Watching Monaco and expecting much overtaking is a waste of your time and you should probably reset those expectations to something realistic.

There was some overtaking done at Monaco this year .
I like the fact that DRS is useless in the principality .
It makes a pass , often , into a breathtaking event , where both drivers must have talent to keep it from being a bone breaking event .

[The Black Knight]

There was some overtaking done at Monaco this year .
I like the fact that DRS is useless in the principality .
It makes a pass , often , into a breathtaking event , where both drivers must have talent to keep it from being a bone breaking event .

There’s actually overtaking every year but complaining about of a lack of overtaking there... expectations need resetting then as it’s never had lots of overtaking.

[Nitrodaze]

There was some overtaking done at Monaco this year .
I like the fact that DRS is useless in the principality .
It makes a pass , often , into a breathtaking event , where both drivers must have talent to keep it from being a bone breaking event .

I see your point, but it makes the race a procession of fast cars. That is not racing. Baku has shown that it could be better, even on street tracks like Monaco. They just need to get their thinking caps on and be willing to change the layout of this historic track. I think with minor changes, it could produce some great racing.

[Jag_Warrior]

Well that was interesting. And good to be watching on the F1TV service, where you can select what audio you want, including switching off the commentary but still having the sounds from the track. Makes a huge difference when you don't have to constantly listen to "Crofty's" inane blatherings; much more like the experience of being at the track, especially when you can turn up the audio. I watched the practice that way, but was watching the qualy on the TV. Might switch back to the streaming for the race.

Several people told me how much I would enjoy Sky's F1 coverage versus Speed Channel-->NBCSports. Well, we're in the second season of ESPN piping Sky to us 'Muricans and enjoy is not exactly the word that comes to my mind. To be fair, I'm sure that it's a world better than anything that ESPN would have cobbled together in their studios (probably with Eddie Cheever and Danica Patrick doing the commentary). But especially last season, there was many a time when I'd just fast-forward through any segment where Crofty Clown and Kravitz Clown would begin talking about whether airplanes could land upside down if the landing gears were on top, or why water swirls down the drain differently in Australia than in the northern hemisphere. I do appreciate Anthony Davidson - Paul di Resta not so much. I've all but lost hope, so I just ignore Chandock. He's not terrible... and I'm sure that he means well. But overall: :ohplease: Every race weekend just reminds me of how much I miss Diffey (really, more Varsha), Hobbs and Matchett.

As soon as the bugs are better worked out of the F1TV service, Sky F1 is leaving my living room. Have you had many issues with it so far this season???

[Starter]

My issues are the commentary. The actual TV product is better. As much as I loved the Speed coverage (and miss the talking heads) the actual picture product is better. Did you see Indy? Or should I say did you see most of the race as the minimal part of the screen as ads ran almost all the time (gee, thanks NBC). So F1 could have been worse for sure.

Nice to see you again Jag, you've been away for a while.

[Tazio]

Every race weekend just reminds me of how much I miss Diffey (really, more Varsha), Hobbs and Matchett.


Agreed! I especially miss McMatchett, and Hobbs. doing color!

[airshifter]

Wow... just wow. Saw this yesterday after not hearing anything about it. From the sounds of some of the audio tracks it really shook Perez up some, and rightly so.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--HQiF_bAq--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/an9qqxxmrn75ozebz5gd.mp4

Very surprising for Monaco, who has done this long enough to have their act together.

[The Black Knight]

Wow... just wow. Saw this yesterday after not hearing anything about it. From the sounds of some of the audio tracks it really shook Perez up some, and rightly so.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--HQiF_bAq--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/an9qqxxmrn75ozebz5gd.mp4

Very surprising for Monaco, who has done this long enough to have their act together.

Holy crap! That reminds me of Tom Pryce and the poor 19 year old marshall Jansen van Vuuren's at the 1977 South African GP which coinciding with his sad death last week was actually Niki’s first GP after his crash.

This video is not for the faint hearted:

https://youtu.be/q99k2r6GeS4

[Nitrodaze]

Vettel crashes again in Monaco FP3. Thank God he is not a 5 time WDC. It’s bad enough that he is out there making mistakes week after week with 4 WDC’s to his name. Him as a 5 time WDC performing at this level would be embarrassing to the sport to the point of nearly intolerable.

There was a time I rated him as a top driver but now I think Ferrari should drop him. He is making more mistakes than Albon, Norris amd Russel combined. It might be the one lifeline to Ricciardo’s career. Ferrari drop Vettel and Ricciardo moves to Ferrari- I can potentially see that happening now.

I seriously doubt Ferrari would drop a four times world champion and replace him with a driver with no championship title to his name. Impressive as Ricciado is, l think Ferrari would be gunning for Hamilton if they want to drop Vettel. The seat that Ferrari might consider Ricciado for is currently occupied by the brilliant Charles Leclec.

The thing about Vettel's mistakes is that, it is due to the car not being to his liking. I think the team is making just as many mistakes as Vettel anyway. Hence, why should they be penalizing their drivers if they cannot get their own act together. Taking a wider view of the situation, there is nothing embarrassing about Vettel's mistakes. They are consequential to Vettel trying to find the workable limits of the car. Vettel is quietly not comfortable with the Ferrari at the moment.

[Nitrodaze]

Wow... just wow. Saw this yesterday after not hearing anything about it. From the sounds of some of the audio tracks it really shook Perez up some, and rightly so.

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--HQiF_bAq--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/an9qqxxmrn75ozebz5gd.mp4

Very surprising for Monaco, who has done this long enough to have their act together.

Wow, that have would been a fatality without a doubt. It is crazy how really close the proximity of the car was to the marshall.

[denkimi]

Anyone complaining about a lack of overtaking at Monaco needs their head checked. It’s always been that way since I can remember.

1988 the race where everyone claims Senna destroyed Prost in the race, conveniently forgetting that Prost was in third place behind Berger for 54 laps until he overtook him at Sainte-Dévote. That was 31 years ago. Prost couldn’t overtake then for 54 laps, Verstappen couldn’t overtake now for 67. So many examples of this, like Senna 93.

There had never been overtaking at Monaco. Watching Monaco and expecting much overtaking is a waste of your time and you should probably reset those expectations to something realistic.
its not about being unable to overtake someone. if the difference is small, it's difficult to overtake someone on every track.
its about hamilton being close to 1,5 seconds a lap slower than the next 4 cars, due to the wrong tyres. thus slowing those down, and yet none of those even made an attempt to overtake.

it was not only verstappen that couldn't overtake a very slow hamilton, it was also a vettel that could overtake a very slow verstappen, bottas that couldn't overtake a very slow vettel and gasly that couldn't overtake a very slow bottas.
and not only could they not do it, none of them even tried anything because they know it can't be done.

that kinda like prost would be stuck for the entire race behind patrese in the williams.

[Starter]

Wow, that have would been a fatality without a doubt. It is crazy how really close the proximity of the car was to the marshall.
That's one of the things that makes being a marshal "interesting". Three possible causes for them being there at that moment: 1) Bad instructions from Race Control; 2) Bad instructions from the Station Senior; 3) Bad judgement on their part. We'll probably never know as that won't be published, and that's a shame as all the marshals around the world need that kind of info as part of their training and decision making process.

[Firstgear]

I still don't understand how Ferrari managed to screw LeClerc in Q1. Is there some other explanation for not sending him out again when they 'think' he'll get through, other than saving a set of tyres? I can understand how at some other tracks an extra, fresh set of rubber can be an advantage, but this doesn't really apply at Monaco. At Monaco, you make 100% sure you are getting through qually and as far up the starting grid as possible. An extra set of fresh tyres for later in the race means nothing here. You can be on an old set of rags, even the wrong type of rags (as Hamilton proved) and you can still defend. That fresh sets means nothing, so why risk it if you're on the edge in Q1?
Is there some other explanation that I'm missing?

[Nitrodaze]

I still don't understand how Ferrari managed to screw LeClerc in Q1. Is there some other explanation for not sending him out again when they 'think' he'll get through, other than saving a set of tyres? I can understand how at some other tracks an extra, fresh set of rubber can be an advantage, but this doesn't really apply at Monaco. At Monaco, you make 100% sure you are getting through qually and as far up the starting grid as possible. An extra set of fresh tyres for later in the race means nothing here. You can be on an old set of rags, even the wrong type of rags (as Hamilton proved) and you can still defend. That fresh sets means nothing, so why risk it if you're on the edge in Q1?
Is there some other explanation that I'm missing?

I think l have seen enough to say that Ferrari made a huge mistake getting rid of Arrivabene. This season the engine has stepped forward, but everything else seem to have either stepped backwards or has remained the same. Of course there is the argument to give Binotto a season or two to bed in his ideas. But at the same time, one wants to see obvious improvements in operational areas where repeat errors become obvious. They just seem to make the same mistakes over and over. And seem to find new ways to make the same mistakes.

[zako85]

Agreed! I especially miss McMatchett, and Hobbs. doing color!

These were likable people, but I think when F1 was on Speed and NBS sports, there were so many commercials that it was one of the lowest points in F1 history in USA. The current ESPN coverage is great because of exactly this issue.

[Tazio]

These were likable people, but I think when F1 was on Speed and NBS sports, there were so many commercials that it was ....During comercials I would switch to Univision,and or a pirated stream of the UK broadcast. Be that as it may, I really miss Matchett, and Hobbs!

[Duncan]

Every race weekend just reminds me of how much I miss Diffey (really, more Varsha), Hobbs and Matchett.

yes, I miss those guys too. Especially in the iteration with Bob Varsha.


As soon as the bugs are better worked out of the F1TV service, Sky F1 is leaving my living room. Have you had many issues with it so far this season???

Ok so far, but I very rarely watch anything live, and I always have the TV as a backup in case anything goes wrong. Not sure that I'd want to rely on it exclusively just yet, but it gets you a lot of additional footage (and they seem to be gradually adding more series) which is a nice bonus.

[Samouri]

These were likable people, but I think when F1 was on Speed and NBS sports, there were so many commercials that it was one of the lowest points in F1 history in USA. The current ESPN coverage is great because of exactly this issue.

I don't believe that anyone who was subjected to SPEED or NBC sports productions of F1 racing, could disagree with you. It's such a pleasure today to watch a race on ESPN, without any of those many constant commercial interruptions.

[Samouri]

Be that as it may, I really miss Matchett, and Hobbs!

For me especially The Clagman….Hobbs.

[Tazio]

For me especially The Clagman….Hobbs.
Exactly! I mean what a character! I met Matchett in Las Vegas at the BMW Pit Lane Park that ran in conjunction with the Consumer Electronics Show. A sincerely nice guy, and very informed!

[mr_swiss]

I met Hobbs at the Long Beach Grand Prix this year.
I have to admit, I was nervous talking to him, but he is a great gentlemen. It was an honor to meet you Mr. Hobbs

[airshifter]

If we could get the coverage from Sky, but with Hobbs, Matchett, and Varsha on commentary..... well they could charge me more for my F1 TV package. Seriously, I miss the exchanges that took place with those guys.