2024 - Monaco

The media wants to push McLaren, and Ferrari is now in a position to put pressure. Other teams have to start consistently winning other than RB before I will believe it.

Monaco is forecasted to be dry.

On a side note, it is being reported that Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei butted into a conversation with Mario Andretti and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali at the Miami grand prix and told Andretti, "I want to tell you that I will do everything in my power to see that Michael never enters Formula 1."

The House Judiciary Committee is now opening an inquiry. Six bipartisan Senators are calling for the FTC and Justice Department to investigate whether F1 is promoting illegal and anti-competitive practices. It seems Maffei forgot Liberty Media is an American company. It might be interesting to see the Concorde Agreement get published in detail due to the investigation.

Data from the practice sessions show the following:

Qualifying
1. Ferrari
2. Red Bull +0.13
3. McLaren +0.20
4. Mercedes +0.55

Race Pace
1. Red Bull
2. Ferrari +0.01
3. McLaren +0.08

Well pressure builds cracks and this time Max got it wrong.

To be fair between Max being clearly unhappy and Sergio being out in Q1, it's clear the RB was hard to get set up well for the track. But I think Max brought it on himself, as the car was probably still quick enough to be in the top 3 if he didn't push his luck. He pushed, and his luck ran out.

Great to see Leclerc on the top step, and I hope this time he can convert it to a race win. With Oscar being on the second step for now, it appears the pace of both the McLarens and the Ferrari are real here, so it could make for an interesting race. Another good job by Yuki as well, along with Albon and Gasly. For a while there is looked like the Mercs might do even better, but at least they aren't too far back. Sucks to be Haas, but they owned it and will pay the price.

And I'll say it again this year.... As much as I love the history and setting of this race it's generally a boring ass procession and the real tests are in qually. Short of major surprises it's not much to watch. I honestly think it should at some point soon be taken off the calendar.

Dodgy Mercedes messing with Hamilton's qualifying. I think the Mercedes W15b in Hamilton's hand was good enough to challenge for the front row. At least the top 4 positions. It's 2016 all over again!

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Originally Posted by F1nKS

The media wants to push McLaren, and Ferrari is now in a position to put pressure. Other teams have to start consistently winning other than RB before I will believe it.

Monaco is forecasted to be dry.

On a side note, it is being reported that Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei butted into a conversation with Mario Andretti and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali at the Miami grand prix and told Andretti, "I want to tell you that I will do everything in my power to see that Michael never enters Formula 1."

The House Judiciary Committee is now opening an inquiry. Six bipartisan Senators are calling for the FTC and Justice Department to investigate whether F1 is promoting illegal and anti-competitive practices. It seems Maffei forgot Liberty Media is an American company. It might be interesting to see the Concorde Agreement get published in detail due to the investigation.

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I don't think the FIA would stand for that kind of behavior. This could be very bad for F1 if this is shown to be true. Bernie Ecclestone is probably laughing is head off whereever he is. :-)

I can see why people do not like this race. I'm now on my computer about to play games while they manage the race.

carlos off on the first start, but he could restart from his original position AND was able to change his tires for the restart. is that really allowed on the rules?
the race was boring but the strategy game was cool to follow

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Originally Posted by saco0o

the race was boring but the strategy game was cool to follow

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And that's absolutely the story of this race. Monaco is usually a snooze fest.

I know Monaco means a lot to this sport but it is a terrible race and always has been unless there is rain.

Absolute snoozefest.

I understand the reasoning why they allow changing tires (e.g. Sainz) and making repairs. But it shouldn't count for the required tire change.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

I don't think the FIA would stand for that kind of behavior. This could be very bad for F1 if this is shown to be true. Bernie Ecclestone is probably laughing is head off whereever he is. :-)

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Maffei has said that wasn't the conversation. So, there are two sides to this story.

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Originally Posted by Matthew

I know Monaco means a lot to this sport but it is a terrible race and always has been unless there is rain.

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I think the current cars are too wide, which makes overtaking very tricky on street circuits like Monaco. Also, the Red Flag sort of neutralized the race, l thought. After the restart,m it quickly became a procession, didn't it?

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

Dodgy Mercedes messing with Hamilton's qualifying. I think the Mercedes W15b in Hamilton's hand was good enough to challenge for the front row. At least the top 4 positions. It's 2016 all over again!

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Any conspiracy theories should require at least enough information so that people understand what you are claiming. :laugh:







The usual snoozefest, and short of the commentary trying to speculate when those strategy moves would comes, it would have been really easy to fall asleep.

As for the start mess, it was exactly that. Sergios car is toast. I haven't watched all angles in depth yet but it seemed to me that it was one of those "he will back out first" moments on the part of both Sergio and Kevin. In either case, some trashed hardware is the result, and it's not like they were racing for points, even though both acted as if they were already going for a podium spot.

Sainz got really lucky on that one, and being back on the grid in qually positions must have been a huge relief. But other than the ebb and flow of the gaps, nothing exciting to watch. I'm still not quite sure what Merc were thinking on George, playing hard with that gap maybe hoping to bait RB/Max to dive to the pits early? And then screwing it up when they did pit Lewis, not being sure if they should tell him to crush the out lap or not. But in either case, fresh tires didn't help either him or Max, and in the end it was just a game of who could go slow and protect. At a couple points it did look like Carlos or Lando might get close enough for a lunge, but then it never happened.

At least Stroll did make a couple passes after the first pit window strategy went to crap. :laugh:

Though hardly exciting to watch most of the time, Yuki, Alex, and Pierre did well to stick them in the points and make it count. Being a lap down but scoring points is better than being a lap down with no points.


And the curse has finally been broken for Charles. Complete control of the race, probably easier with the pace but still pressure to not get it wrong at some point. I think all the front runners did a good job of soaking up any potential threats, and it was great to see Charles pull a gap toward the end of the race. Not the most exciting race for sure, but a win at Monaco is big even for those that don't live there. And being from Monaco it will no doubt be a day that Leclerc doesn't forget any time soon.

I actually found this particular Monaco quite enjoyable with the end result actually being special for an entire country. It was a good race.

More than half of the race had a handful of seconds between the top 4. The slightest misjudgement would have ended their weekend but they never let up in their pursuit of the prize. LeClerc must have been under the greatest stress of his life. Marvelous stuff.

Stroll had a flat tyre through brushing a barrier and showed how knife edge this race really was. The tension in the last 10 or so laps was immense.

They must have been mentally exhausted by the end and showed why this is the greatest race on the F1 calendar.

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Originally Posted by Whyzars

I actually found this particular Monaco quite enjoyable with the end result actually being special for an entire country. It was a good race.

More than half of the race had a handful of seconds between the top 4. The slightest misjudgement would have ended their weekend but they never let up in their pursuit of the prize. LeClerc must have been under the greatest stress of his life. Marvelous stuff.

Stroll had a flat tyre through brushing a barrier and showed how knife edge this race really was. The tension in the last 10 or so laps was immense.

They must have been mentally exhausted by the end and showed why this is the greatest race on the F1 calendar.

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Quite!
Ocon showed why he is not in a Mercedes seat. Magnussen showed his F1 days is numbered. Perez is not looking great at the moment either. The 2026 cars woulD race better in Monaco l think.

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Originally Posted by Whyzars

I actually found this particular Monaco quite enjoyable with the end result actually being special for an entire country. It was a good race.

More than half of the race had a handful of seconds between the top 4. The slightest misjudgement would have ended their weekend but they never let up in their pursuit of the prize. LeClerc must have been under the greatest stress of his life. Marvelous stuff.

Stroll had a flat tyre through brushing a barrier and showed how knife edge this race really was. The tension in the last 10 or so laps was immense.

They must have been mentally exhausted by the end and showed why this is the greatest race on the F1 calendar.

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I completely agree .

The only issue I saw was that they chose a much too durable combination of tire selection for this one , as even the mediums were good enough to make it to the end of the race without a change from the second lap .
That said , we didn't know it until the race was done , so the drama was still there .


By the way , did everyone notice that Max made up 0.0 positions after starting from a grid position 5 positions lower than his usual grid spot ?
And , Sergio , poor Sergio , finished up with 0.0 points , and a bill for 2 or 3 million bucks .
Newey must have seen the commercials , too .

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

By the way , did everyone notice that Max made up 0.0 positions after starting from a grid position 5 positions lower than his usual grid spot ?

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Maybe Max has matured and just decided the risks where just not worth it. Or maybe he is not very motivated?

There are rumors of Ocon looking to go to Haas...that makes me laugh.

The ground level view with photographers near the Perez crash was crazy.

https://twitter.com/matthewkanniah/s...e-monaco-crash

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Originally Posted by F1nKS

The ground level view with photographers near the Perez crash was crazy.[/url]

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There were a number of times in my corner working days when I had to remove photogs from really dumb places. The street courses not only offer a chance to get hit by a car, but car parts and very hot liquids coming through the fences can do damage of their own.

While I realize that the history of Monaco is great, it has been a long while since the place was actually raceable by the likes of F1 cars.

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Originally Posted by Whyzars

I actually found this particular Monaco quite enjoyable with the end result actually being special for an entire country. It was a good race.

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G'day mate, or Bungiuno?

I guess a good day for both countries. I actually found it rather compelling near the end as Max, and to a lesser degree Osc' made a push for an overtake. 'los (Bon dia) super lucked out with the red flag.
Oc' (bonjour) gets Maldonado (Che) award for his move on Gas' (Ça fait longtemps, dis donc).I think he has earned a race on the bench. Give Jack (F*ck me dead) the seat for Canada....Eh!



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This race, boring as it was, did not help the case for racing at Monaco in this modern age. Great as it was for Leclerc, it was a bad showing for Monaco as drivers toddled along slowly around the track saving tire life.

That said, it was great to see a new race winner at Monaco, and a Monagasque no less. Redbull is looking like they are in a bit of bother at the mo. If they don't bounce back solidly at Canada, the championship will be thrown wide open. They still have the edge but has the competition closed the gap enough to cause an upset this season?

Ricciado's prospects are also beginning to look dire. Yuki has tamed him comfortably. I am beginning to doubt he would be on the grid next season.