The Official 2017 Monaco Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**
Discussion
Dr Z said:
Hmm, agree that Merc had problems with warm up under low fuel conditions, but not sure it was that much of a problem compared to RB in the race. If Merc were sure that overcut was the way to go, it doesn't explain why they immediately went to cover Verstappen in the next lap, that risked getting bottled up behind Sainz (which is what they both did in the end)?
Exactly. A very strange strategy call.LaurasOtherHalf said:
You musk get yourself there Derek, I can't put into words how special it is for a true fan.
Thanks for that. A couple of the lads went to a classic F1 race a couple of years ago and said it was the closest they'd been to race car at full chat. Next year probably. I've got an insurance coming out and I might nip over before my kids find out.
It does seem strange though. The dullest race: the one we all want to go to.
Derek Smith said:
Rubbish race but a must see live.
This is why it prevails.I went in 2005. Had seats over looking the pits but spent most of the race standing on a TV camera flight case under the grandstand watching the cars come round the swimming pool, completely and utterly transfixed at what I was seeing. You could have Super Ultra Bells and Whistles HD TV and would still get nowhere close to the actuality of what you witness.
StevieBee said:
This is why it prevails.
I went in 2005. Had seats over looking the pits but spent most of the race standing on a TV camera flight case under the grandstand watching the cars come round the swimming pool, completely and utterly transfixed at what I was seeing. You could have Super Ultra Bells and Whistles HD TV and would still get nowhere close to the actuality of what you witness.
Been every year bar one since 2009. It's now a permanent fixture on my summer calendar along with Le Mans. Like Le Mans it's so much more than just a race. The carnival atmosphere all weekend and the after party are probably even better than the race. This year I got back to my hotel room 3am Monday morning! Also lots going on up the coast in Nice and the Cannes Film Festival so loads to see and do.I went in 2005. Had seats over looking the pits but spent most of the race standing on a TV camera flight case under the grandstand watching the cars come round the swimming pool, completely and utterly transfixed at what I was seeing. You could have Super Ultra Bells and Whistles HD TV and would still get nowhere close to the actuality of what you witness.
Crippo said:
I don't understand the jewel in the crown thing regarding Monaco. It's a dire circuit, the cars are not suited to it and it produces zero overtakes..... every year.. there is never any over taking. It's not racing and it is dull. It is nothing more than a time trial and to get excited about a pit lane strategy shows how rotten it is. As predicted it was watched by me in my normal way asleep by lap 30 woke up with a start around lap 40 fast forward to see if anything happened watched the restart after the only interesting incident and then fast forwarded to the end again.
I watched every lap of the Monaco GP this year. As I have done every year since I started watching F1 in the mid-80s (apart from the Sky only ones). Every single lap. And I don't watch from the sofa, I need to sit on the floor to get closer to the TV.I guess I'm a fan of F1.
Dr Z said:
.................... Kimi didn't seem to have the pace to respond at that time to keep Seb at arms length, and unlucky for him, Button and Wehrlein pitting the 1st lap meant that he'd come up on them earlier on in the race to lap them than if they'd have ran a normal race strategy. This was a critical time during the race for me, as Kimi seemed to take an awfully long time to clear Button/Wehrlein which allowed Bottas/Verstappen/Ricciardo train to catch up, and more importantly if I put on the race strategist hat, the nice 21 second gap Kimi had to Sainz so he can pit into clear air had come down to 19 seconds.
Then RBR rolled the dice with Verstappen and Bottas/Merc responded the very next lap, but kept the positions. I don't think pre-race it was a given that the overcut would definitely work. I think the old ultra softs were just about as quick as the new super softs came up to temp, but again, not a given. The Bottas/Verstappen strategy play gave some important info to the front running teams in that the it wasn't a given that the undercut would work. Verstappen, Bottas and Raikkonen pitted on consecutive laps and by the time Kimi pitted they had enough of a gap to not get stuck behind Sainz. So, no foul play but whilst Kimi had some traffic on his out lap he was much faster on the new super softs than he was in the old ultra softs. So again, it didn't seem to have disadvantaged him much.
However, Vettel was going a bit quicker, I think a detail that's missed was that Ricciardo was also going a hell of a lot faster in clear air and was closing down Vettel, having now overcut both Bottas and Verstappen. In normal circumstances, Ferrari would have pitted Vettel the very next lap after Kimi. I believe Ricciardo's pace meant that they had to hold on for longer, and not surrender track position in case RBR were planning to keep Ricciardo out for longer and overcut both Ferraris. I think Ricciardo was unleashing some serious pace to have Ferrari worry about that possibility. It was then that Vettel put in some monstrous laps dipping into the low 15s. It was no coincidence that Ferrari pit Vettel immediately the lap after Ricciardo was pitted. I suspect they were waiting for Ricciardo to pit, so that they can be sure of no more funny business from RBR.
Of course, the side effect of this was Vettel jumping Raikkonen, which to my eyes is just pure racing and how the different circumstances played out as it wasn't simply a race between team mates that decided who won in the end, as it so often happened with Mercedes in the previous years.
.......
Ahhh, at last - someone comes along to this thread who actually watched and analysed the race for the outputs, rather than just finding a narrative to fit their own fears.Then RBR rolled the dice with Verstappen and Bottas/Merc responded the very next lap, but kept the positions. I don't think pre-race it was a given that the overcut would definitely work. I think the old ultra softs were just about as quick as the new super softs came up to temp, but again, not a given. The Bottas/Verstappen strategy play gave some important info to the front running teams in that the it wasn't a given that the undercut would work. Verstappen, Bottas and Raikkonen pitted on consecutive laps and by the time Kimi pitted they had enough of a gap to not get stuck behind Sainz. So, no foul play but whilst Kimi had some traffic on his out lap he was much faster on the new super softs than he was in the old ultra softs. So again, it didn't seem to have disadvantaged him much.
However, Vettel was going a bit quicker, I think a detail that's missed was that Ricciardo was also going a hell of a lot faster in clear air and was closing down Vettel, having now overcut both Bottas and Verstappen. In normal circumstances, Ferrari would have pitted Vettel the very next lap after Kimi. I believe Ricciardo's pace meant that they had to hold on for longer, and not surrender track position in case RBR were planning to keep Ricciardo out for longer and overcut both Ferraris. I think Ricciardo was unleashing some serious pace to have Ferrari worry about that possibility. It was then that Vettel put in some monstrous laps dipping into the low 15s. It was no coincidence that Ferrari pit Vettel immediately the lap after Ricciardo was pitted. I suspect they were waiting for Ricciardo to pit, so that they can be sure of no more funny business from RBR.
Of course, the side effect of this was Vettel jumping Raikkonen, which to my eyes is just pure racing and how the different circumstances played out as it wasn't simply a race between team mates that decided who won in the end, as it so often happened with Mercedes in the previous years.
.......
Although none of the C4 commentators noticed it (despite it happening over several laps, and the broadcasters showing the graphic many, many times), Kimi took far too long to lap Button/Werhlein. He moaned on the radio but he never got close enough to them to activate the solid blue for them.
This is where Kimi lost the race, as he brought the Red Bulls and Bottas back into the race. Had he passed the backmarkers quicker then then there'd be less reason for him to pit to cover off BOT/VER and just as importantly RIC would be no-where near VET so VET would not have stayed out so long to cover the possible overcut from RIC.
Kimi lost the race on the track, not in the Ferrari strategy tent.
StevieBee said:
This is why it prevails.
I went in 2005. Had seats over looking the pits but spent most of the race standing on a TV camera flight case under the grandstand watching the cars come round the swimming pool, completely and utterly transfixed at what I was seeing. You could have Super Ultra Bells and Whistles HD TV and would still get nowhere close to the actuality of what you witness.
This I went in 2005. Had seats over looking the pits but spent most of the race standing on a TV camera flight case under the grandstand watching the cars come round the swimming pool, completely and utterly transfixed at what I was seeing. You could have Super Ultra Bells and Whistles HD TV and would still get nowhere close to the actuality of what you witness.
I went in 2013 and while the race was actually exciting that year it was just the views, sound, atmosphere I will never forget.
I was transfixed at what I was watching too
Every F1 fan needs to go to Monaco.
I did call it on lap 1 when Vettel immediately let Kimi open up almost two seconds...
HustleRussell said:
Vettel preserving tyres in preparation for overcut?
It doesn't make me any less disappointed that Kimi didn't win. Kimi was asking for the stop but Ferrari didn't seem to be protecting his interests when it came to looking out for traffic. Supersam83 said:
StevieBee said:
This is why it prevails.
I went in 2005. Had seats over looking the pits but spent most of the race standing on a TV camera flight case under the grandstand watching the cars come round the swimming pool, completely and utterly transfixed at what I was seeing. You could have Super Ultra Bells and Whistles HD TV and would still get nowhere close to the actuality of what you witness.
This I went in 2005. Had seats over looking the pits but spent most of the race standing on a TV camera flight case under the grandstand watching the cars come round the swimming pool, completely and utterly transfixed at what I was seeing. You could have Super Ultra Bells and Whistles HD TV and would still get nowhere close to the actuality of what you witness.
I went in 2013 and while the race was actually exciting that year it was just the views, sound, atmosphere I will never forget.
I was transfixed at what I was watching too
Every F1 fan needs to go to Monaco.
We had the stand that over looked the lots and it was a great place, every driver who walked the pits we simply shouted hello across to them and they waved-brilliant! But you're right, seeing the cars exit swimming pool is just mind blowing, getting down to the catch fencing you can feel the suck the air past you as they go and smell the brakes and clutch as they dive into the final complex. Magic stuff!
Ok the tickets aren't cheap but the food and drink is peanuts in Monaco, so you can make the most of the weekend there.
Next year I think we'll do casino for the Saturday as it's much cheaper than the Sunday and that same stand for the Sunday. Pitch in a week in a nice villa (in Nice) between friends and I bet it's not all that expensive per head.
Can't wait
Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff