Grand Prix 2016 Monaco Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

After the excitement of Spain, with a new Grand Prix winner added to the list, we now move to the French Riviera for the jewel in F1's crown. It would appear that Ferrari's place as the next best team after Mercedes has been taken by Red Bull. I suspect we will see a reaction from the red team but do they have the capacity move back ahead?

Monaco hasn't been a happy hunting ground for Lewis Hamilton with only a single win back in his McLaren days. Nico Rosberg has won the last three races at what is, in truth, his home race. Sebastian Vettel has only won here once as well which shows what a lottery this race can sometimes be. Kimi Raikkonen hasn't won since 2005, also in a McLaren.

Mercedes will continue to be the class of the field but Monaco can be a great leveler where fractions of an inch can be the difference between winning and sitting in a pile of carbon fibre wondering what happened.

Max Verstappen must be on cloud nine, can he take this confidence in to the race around the principality? Daniel Ricciardo will have something to prove after his teenage teammate's achievement in Spain. The Toro Rosso boys will also have something to prove; Carlos Sainz that he deserves a drive in the senior team and Daniil Kvyat to show he should have kept in place at Red Bull.

I'm sure Force India will be hoping for some serious points, Williams will continue to be poor and will probably be even worse round the twists on Monaco. Haas will have their first experience of French sunshine, Renault will have something to prove at the closest thing to a home race for the French team. They could well be battling it out for the minor points places.

At the back Manor and Sauber will battle for the wooden spoon. Sauber look to be working hard to ensure they get this as they continue struggle financially. Manor, at least in Wehrlein's hands, hasn't look too bad given their budget. I wonder if Haryanto will have to ask for a special dispensation as he hasn't got within the 107% time.

Fun in the sun? Monaco is always more exciting in the wet, I wonder if we will see a sprinkling of rain just to spice things up?
 
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Very interesting session seems this ultra soft tyre is really goading drivers into pushing the limits & outbraking themselves. Alot more incidents than I remember usual. Is it just me but im intrigued at how Red Bull managed to quietly move level & maybe overtaken Ferrari as Mercedes main challenger Is that red bull going forward or Ferrari backwards
 
Red Bull, Mercedes, Mercedes. Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso.

Not entirely expected, but it could be a portent for next season when the Renault engine is fully developed and Newey has loads of aero.
 
Grosjean crashed, and so did KM. Both Rosberg and Button had punctures. A messy FP (TP actually). Definitively this track is unforgiving.
 
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Bottas loses points for the obvious casino / cards helmet design - how long did that take to think of I wonder? Not only that, he's got two seven of hearts on the back instead of a heart and a diamond or whatever - dodgy pack mate you're banned!
 
Just put on a recording of FP2 and they are replaying an incident in FP1 when a drain cover came loose and JB ran over it. It then flew up and was clearly visible from the roll hoop cam. Very scary.
 
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