2013 Monaco Grand Prix Thread

[Koz]

Monaco is very easy on tires, so Mercedes could really do well here. They have exceptional traction out of slow corners. Ferrari haven't won here in the last 12 tries, but safety car is likely (80% chance), so anything could happen.

GoZo!

If they can maintain tyres anywhere close other teams, they will qualify and finish 1-2.
I figure they will qualify ahead of RBR by a margin of 0.5 seconds.

[odykas]

Forza Ferrari

[pino]

ody, since when you became a tifoso ? :

[odykas]

I have always been one.

Of course except 1996 - 2006 period when the was around!

[Koz]

Aside from fuel, what can be done to Parc Ferme cars that can be called "race trim"?

I've been assuming that the Mercedes is needing to be loaded up with more fuel than the others and that is the reason for the relative differences from qualifying time to first lap time. Heavy car producing extra load and wear on tyres, etc.. Is that not correct?

Yes, you are correct.
But is isn't only about about fuel. I don't think a fuel load of a few kg will make any major difference, we are talking somewhere along the lines of 1 second per 30-40 kg of fuel, if we are talking about that much fuel something is very wrong with the Mercedes engine. I think every team tries to use the least amount possible based on predictions from the FP sessions. And it probably isn't what is causing Merc's excessive tyre wear.
This could possibly be from the fact that they have far too much mechanical grip perhaps?

What I actually meant was the gear ratios, aero and balance of the cars are set up to suit their strengths, I am sure Ferrari and Lotus could easily improve their qualifying pace but it would end up in them sacrificing race pace.
For instance, if you look at the speed traps, you will see that RBR and Vettel in particular have the slowest times (on par or slower with the new teams, if not slower, 10-15km down on Ferrari and Lotus) in the speed traps. This is IMO, because they are set to dominate Qualifying and the race form the front. If Vettel doesn't break away from the pack in the first few laps before DRS kicks in, he is essentially a sitting duck. But while outside DRS, he will be consistently the fastest driver because gearing and aero are intended to deliver maximum performance with out DRS or overtaking. While other teams who aren't really challenging from P1 have much, much faster times and very good race pace and overtaking.

It is all a fine balancing act, with expectations set before qualifying even starts.
Which is why Abu Dhabi last year was so interesting in how Vettel demolished everyone. Pity we can't see speed trap times from races, I would say they would have been faster than everyone by quite a margin.

Although I must admit this is not very true for Monaco though, speeds are very consistent for all the teams, since overtaking is near impossible.

This is also why Mark is always slipping backwards in races, since he rarely gets P1, he is easily overtaken by those behind him due to his low top speed.

[truefan72]

my least favorite race of the year

[steveaki13]

my least favorite race of the year

One of my favorites.

Shows how we all have different views and ideas. And why some of the arguements in the threads are out of hand.

[N4D13]

The Monaco GP is probably the strangest race of the calendar for me. It's one of those races where I'm always expecting for pitstops to mean a change in positions or a safety car to come out, because I know for certain that if nothing strange happens, there aren't going to be any drivers switching position. And that's not what I'd call an entertaining race.

[webberf1]

People who don't enjoy monaco i just think 'it sucks to be you'. Its an awesome race, and actually sees a lot more overtaking than people give it credit. And you always see those epic 6-8 car chains forming, causing epic chaos.

CAN'T WAIT!

[webberf1]

Yes, which alternate reality are you from?

Don't discount it so quickly. Jules Bianchi is looking like he is the real deal, and monaco is a circuit where drivers can make a real difference. I'm sure there were times when Alonso or Webber in the minardis qualified a lot higher than people expected.

And as far as finishing in the points goes, remember Monaco '96 when only 3 drivers finished the race? Attrition is always high, opening the door to backmarkers getting good results.