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

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/

 

[FB]

That burning truck pictured above actually damaged the brand new tarmac at the turn in point to St. Devote, the first corner.

Urgent repairs are under way.
Let's hope it doesn't start falling apart during the course of the weekend.

Time for one of Brundle's "pikey" comments again?

 

[Jru]

Is there really such a huge difference between brand new soft tyres and soft tyres that have done a qualifying lap? Perhaps there is, I don't know, but it feels like maybe the case is being overstated somewhat.

There is also the out and in laps, could make a difference? Mark Hughes' column on the beeb suggested that the quali lap for RBR takes so much out of the tyre that they cannot go at that speed in the race ... Also could just going through the cycle of getting up to temperature and then cooling again have an effect on the rubber?

Going by length of stint in the race, a few laps worth of difference

 

[MCLS]

Well overall its 3 laps and it depends on how much the driver has pushed on the hot lap

 

[KekeTheKing]

That burning truck pictured above actually damaged the brand new tarmac at the turn in point to St. Devote.

What happened there? How did that truck end up in a blaze?

 

[downforce]

Must say I'm looking forward to this grand prix more than I have have looked forward to any other for quite a way back.

 

[RasputinLives]

Heidfeld isn't going to bother qualifying again.

In spain he started from the back and finished in the points while his teammate qualified in the points and ended up out of them.

Yeah but lets not forget he started right near the back in Australia and stayed there so it doesn't always work. I think Petrov/Heidfeld is one of the most interesting team mate battles we have this season. I think everyone, including Nick himself thought that Petrov would be a walk over and it hasn't turned out that way. Nelson Piquet Jr he is not! Can be a bit up and down though but Heidfeld has his hands full. Shows how good Kubica really was last season.

 

[MCLS]

Don't forget in Australia, Heidfeld's car was severely damaged

 

[johnnoble1990]

I really feel this could be the race to reignite Mclaren's season, if the last race wasn't. I think Mclaren look like they might have the better of Red Bull in the race and with a lack of opportunities to use DRS in quali, Red Bull could find themselves struggling there as well. This might be the race where we can find evidence for that being why they are superior in Quali.

 

[MCLS]

But on current form this season, it seems as if only one person is close to consistently challenging Vettel for the championship. Hamilton. I know it's early, but its hard to see other than a straight 2 horse race for the championship right now.

 

[johnnoble1990]

I have no problem with that. Seriously though, a Hamilton vs Vettel season could turn into a classic after that battle at the weekend.

 

[MCLS]

More probably it will be a Red Bull - Mclaren fight unless Ferrari perform a lazarus act similar to 2010

 

[johnnoble1990]

Anyone else think the new hard tyres were even more exciting at Spain? Pirelli keep saying that they want to get it down to 2 stop races but i've loved the 3/4 stopper races. I think 5 races in, it definitely hasn't proved too hard to keep up with. The DRS seemed the perfect left at Spain, looking back.

I think this could potentially be the best Monaco ever.

 

[Fenderman]

Phoenix and ashes spring to mind but maybe I should have used that one referring to Nick last weekend.

Edit: Blast, late yet again. The above (if you haven't gessed already) was in response to MCLS

 

[MCLS]

The problem is the hard tyres are rubbish for qualifying but brilliant for the race, (which is just like the rest of the rules really)

 

[Fenderman]

That!!!!!

 

[johnnoble1990]

The problem is the hard tyres are rubbish for qualifying but brilliant for the race, (which is just like the rest of the rules really)

They really need to sort out the tyre allocation or Qualifying could turn in to an administration task.

 

[MCLS]

If it hasn't already...... the amount of drivers starting last and getting points because of fresh tyres is rising which is proving a point

 

[johnnoble1990]

Yep. Will be very interesting to see if anyone in canada just sit in the pit lane for the whole of Q1, considering the tyre wear expected there.

 

[MCLS]

Or do a Schumacher and come out on primes for a lap

 

[ramilas1]

But on current form this season, it seems as if only one person is close to consistently challenging Vettel for the championship. Hamilton. I know it's early, but its hard to see other than a straight 2 horse race for the championship right now.

I know, as a Ferrari fan, a championship battle only including one RBR driver and one McL driver is never going to get me excited, and lots will say that the likes of the Prost/Senna, Hakkinen/Schumacher battles were the best ever F1 years....

I have no problem with that. Seriously though, a Hamilton vs Vettel season could turn into a classic after that battle at the weekend.

.... but a two-horse race is not an awful lot better than a one-horse race, so I always try to remove the rose-tinted glasses when looking back to those battles of the past.
Like looking forward to football's Premier League with "Yippee, can't wait to see if it's Man Utd or Chelsea wins this year"

As for the tyre choice at Monaco, I reckon the 2 variations of Soft/S-Soft could be brilliant or a wacky races disaster....
... so just the usual lottery in the Principality, then! still going to be glued to the telly Thu/Sat/Sun though!