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/
 
Click to expand
Apparently concerns about tire degradation have been a little premature.
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The supersofts seem to have some reasonable life in them; most of the top teams got 2 flying laps, with Hamilton and Vettel quicker on the 2nd lap.

The coverage seemed focused on the pit lane for some reason so we missed a lot of the action, and who was using which tyres for their long runs. Certainly Vettel got 22 laps without much drop off in times looking at the FIA numbers.

It will be interesting how teams go about the strategies; on hearing the supersofts would last only 10 laps pre-weekend, I presumed we'd see a split between Qualy tyres (Supersoft) and Race tyres (Soft), but there seems to be some convergence.

Looks like qualifying will be a proper shoot out
 
I must say I am very keen on this GP for the first time in a long while, past seasons Monaco has been a qualification decided race bar any mishaps, but in general with degrading tyres it could be interesting to see the strategy adopted this year.

#For the love of God it can't really get worse for Ferrari:unsure:
 
Once again Perez's times make interesting reading. He did 5 low fuel laps on the option, setting a 1.17.541, then on (presumably) the same set, he did 26 more high fuel laps, running consistently between 1.20.2 and 1.20.5 until the 19th lap of his stint, after which he seems to drop off the cliff by 1-1.5 sec / lap. This looks like a trial run at a one stop to me, but if nothing else indicates that 2 stops could even be option/option/prime
 
Sarinaide said:
#For the love of God it can't really get worse for Ferrari:unsure:
Click to expand

They're third in the WCC! That's not bad...

CTA.webp


The pressure is at times so excessive that it inhibits Ferrari!
 
Well they were even talking of the possibility for some teams to gamble on a one-stopper weren't they?
If one or two among the leaders did try pulling that one it could have a crucial impact on the race tomorrow, because even if their gamble didn't pay off, whoever is behind them will lose a truckload of time stuck behind them and in turn leave themselves open to attrack..
 
jez101 said:
Once again Perez's times make interesting reading. He did 5 low fuel laps on the option, setting a 1.17.541, then on (presumably) the same set, he did 26 more high fuel laps, running consistently between 1.20.2 and 1.20.5 until the 19th lap of his stint, after which he seems to drop off the cliff by 1-1.5 sec / lap. This looks like a trial run at a one stop to me, but if nothing else indicates that 2 stops could even be option/option/prime
Click to expand

It is good though that somebody is benchmarking, 3 is possible but suicide I think 4 will be the number. Qualification is key, can a side get through Q1 and 2 on perhaps only Hards, saving some good pace for the race.
 
Only just got on here to comment. After the first 2 FP's, i have to say i think this could be a big opportunity for Lewis. Seb could find himself well down the order considering this is not his track and could see Webber ahead of him. I reckon we will see a mix of 2 and 3 stops this weekend, with the people on 2 pushing it a bit. I think this could change though in reaction to safety cars. If your two stopping with a three stopper 20 seconds behind you on new tyres and a car hits the wall, it will be very interesting how people shall react. Reckon this is going to be an interesting GP for strategy.
 
I'm interested about how bad the tyre wear is after you hit 'the cliff'. We know that around Monaco you can have a great disadvantage but still retain the lead, and I want to know just how far someone will push that. I would love it if someone took the following strategy: optimal pit times (e.g. lap 17,34, 51) then look at the undercut e.g. 2 laps earlier, and try to undercut that. We could see someone sat out on track with their tyres rubbing through to the canvas over the last 5 laps clinging on for dear life at the front with those on a more conventional strategy queueing up behind. And maybe someone who pitted very late with a 3 second advantage over all others, due to really fresh rubber, cutting through the pack. I think I am being optimistic though. However, if ever there was a track to take our new tyre imbalanced overtakes and make them as thrilling as anything you have seen, it is Monaco. Or maybe not.

Oddly I think with the other races becoming easier for overtaking - Monaco regains its glory due to being a challenge. Before it was at the extreme end of a bad set, now it is at the challenging end of a good range of tracks (i.e. Turkey easy overtaking, Monaco still hard). I think many people seem to be looking forward to it just because it will be something different, before when it followed Spain, it was more like torture, having one tooth extracted after another, without injection, with rusty forceps.
 
The undercut will prove key, if someone is bogged up in traffic it could be quicker to pit and whack on a new set of tyres and gun it.
 
I think he is more likely to do a one stopper than a three, however a first corner collision can change it all and he's been a few of them :p
 
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