Grand Prix 2011 Monaco Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

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Well how about that then, in a similar case in 2010 the doom and gloom merchants have vanished with a cracking grand prix in Spain. With the champagne still flowing we move on to Monaco a week later.

Mclaren will be a lot happier after running Red Bull all the way to the finish at a circuit where Red Bull normally run out of sight and could be favourites going into the Monaco race. Red Bull, however, will be the team to beat after 4 wins out of 5 races with Vettel looking unbeatable at the front but Spain showed that he wouldn't have it all his own way with Hamilton chasing him all the way to the end, even if Vettel extended his ever growing lead at the top of the championship

Ferrari seemed to have dropped back again after a superb start in Spain and eventually Alonso wound up 5th. But no doubt the Scuderia will be challenging the Mclarens and Red Bulls come the Grand Prix on Sunday. Felipe Massa's early season promise has vanished and he's back to his 2010 level and his seat will be back under scrutiny if he continues this lack of speed

Michael Schumacher will have reason to be optimistic after a strong race, beating his team mate and finishing a strong 6th as he best of the rest behind the Ferraris,Mclarens and Red Bulls. Mercedes no doubt have become the 4th fastest team over Renault who are now fighting over the lower points with Sauber and Force India.

However the big question on everyones lips will be DRS which didnt help overtaking in Spain (which is better) but more importantly where it will be placed on a circuit where straight track is at a premium so safety is a concern.

HRT continue to improve and are taking the fight to Virgin which for them is a massive achievement and its not long before they overtake them while Team lotus's optimism on Saturday didn't replicate on Sunday with a DNF for Kovalainen. But on a track where they would be weak, to get into Q2 is a massive achievement.

Hope seems to have returned to F1 after a surprisingly exciting race in Spain and it seems as if the feared Red Bull domination has been alleviated by the charging Mclarens and while Monaco is never a classic due to the nature of the track, it's certainly a spectacle

For Galahad's superb write up see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/circuit-de-monaco/
 
He definitely put Kamui in the shade today.

Was there any reason why Kamui had such a relatively poor qualifying?

Or was it just that Sergio had a very good day?
 
I think it may have been mentioned already, but does anyone know where Hamilton stands with regards to tyres?

Officially he hasn't set a time in Q3.

I've read the rules but I can't work out if he is free to choose his tyres or not :unsure:
 
I've not heard anything and I can't find anything about it anywhere so I honestly do not know
 
I've read a lot of strange comments on 606 and elsewhere. A lot of people think Button is going to jump Vettel into the 1st corner because McLarens KERS are better.

This is nonsense in this context as both units give the same amount of power, also its a short run to turn one and Vettel has the clean side
 

Fairly obvious why his time was deleted.
What's odd is he was going to make the chicane no problem and then changed the angle to cut it.
 
Lewis is going to have to adopt an aggressive strategy and go for the undercut. He needs to decide to pit one lap earlier than his opposition would dare to pit. He has to strap on that hardly used set of options and drive like the clappers.

This is why i am never that upset when Lewis doesn't qualify well. When he has nothing to lose, this is where he shines. I think he'll pull off a few surprise manoeuvres and end up in a solid place. The whole race is yet to be played out and i can't wait for it. Those walls will look even closer tomorrow, after what happen to Perez.
 
By the way, i did mention earlier that it looks like Lewis shall get to choose his tyres, based on information from journo's on Twitter, although no one was sure. Lewis should strap on Softs, run a second a lap slower than everyone, then pray for a safety car to cancel out this advantage. He could also look at 1 stopping, but i don't think this type of strategy is good for Lewis.
 
I think it may have been mentioned already, but does anyone know where Hamilton stands with regards to tyres?
He has to hand back 1 fresh soft tyre for swearing at a competitor on track and 1 super soft tyre for cutting the chicane(2 very old monegascan rules)
They can be picked up at the steward's office after the race:twisted:
 
Vettel will scamper off into the distance and win comfortably.

I never like to make out there statements like that. I prefer the anything can happen approach to life. Mclaren's race pace in spain and Quali today suggests Jenson could have a good day.
 
Lewis should strap on Softs, run a second a lap slower than everyone
His Q2 time with the softs was just 0.278 seconds slower than Jenson's Q3 time on the super softs...
I'm not sure how that will translate over 10+ laps though.
 
Taking tyres as punishment in Formula 1 would be a brilliant way to punish drivers. Fresh tyres are like gold in F1 these days.
 
His Q2 time with the softs was just 0.278 seconds slower than Jenson's Q3 time on the super softs...
I'm not sure how that will translate over 10+ laps though.

Even better. :p The great thing about the new rules is you just never know how it will play out. Lewis to win from 9th? :whistle:
 
I think it may have been mentioned already, but does anyone know where Hamilton stands with regards to tyres?

Officially he hasn't set a time in Q3.

I've read the rules but I can't work out if he is free to choose his tyres or not :unsure:

As far as I can tell, it's clear as mud!

(As you may have seen on 606, I've had a few issues getting a rather enthusiastic Hamilton fan to see that things may not be so straightforward)...

The way I see it is that you start the race with the tyres you set your grid time on. So that's not the set of tyres he used when his laptime was deleted....

However, the rules talk about if you "start a flying lap" - which he did, but he aborted it - so surely that's the lap that he set his grid time with? As I say, I'm REALLY not sure based on the rules.....
 
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