How many stops in Monaco

How many stops will the Monaco winner make?


  • Total voters
    37
  • Poll closed .
I think it also depends on the running order after the first 10 laps or so. If we've got a fast package caught behind someone who's taken too much out of their tyres, or qualified beyond normal potential, then sensible race craft and a more progressive throttle application could easily see a big jump when those going for it are forced to pit.

In the highly likely event of a safety car then the higher placed team mate will also get 1st choice to pit, so I would almost guarantee that people will be forced to re-think on the spot if they don't want to line up and drop position.

One think is for sure, the masterminds on the pit walls and command centres will have their work cut out for them.
:thinking:

Oh please sir can I have some of that cake!:D
 
I think three will be best choice.The tyre scares all proved groundless and the supersoft option held up well for 23 laps on Vettels car.
 
23 laps on Supersofts? Does that mean 32 laps will be possible on Softs? If yes then the answer is 2 stops if not then it will be a 3 stop race. Plus there will be the 1st appearance from a safety car this year which will hopefully extend the life of the tyres.

2 stop's is my choice btw!
 
I'm probably clutching at straws here but I reckon Sauber might try a one-stop strategy on at least one of their cars. If they get into trouble late in the race it'll still be tough to pass them.
 
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91728 World champion Sebastian Vettel says Pirelli's super soft tyres are working well, despite fears that they could degrade too fast in Monaco.
The softest of all the compounds raced by Pirelli so far is making its grand prix debut this weekend, and there were concerns that they would degrade too quickly.
Vettel, however, completed 23 laps with them in the second Friday practice at Monte Carlo, and admitted they were lasting well.
"I think not bad, it's been positive so far," said Vettel, fifth quickest today, of the tyres. "Both tyres are working and that is most important thing, and lasting pretty well.
"We will see how the conditions are on Sunday. If it's similar to today then the super soft seems to be preferred tyre for qualifying. You can extract most time from it, so no dramas today."
 
The one reason i chose 3 is i expect that safety cars might lead to teams bringing in drivers early to make sure they are on the right tyre for the restart.
 
I'm not sure if it's the winning strategy, but I'm sure that some drivers will try a one-stopper.

I struggle to see that happening. It'd mean going 39 laps on each tyre or some kind combination of that.
 
My guess is two stops based on pitting laps 15 and 45 and doing option/prime/prime.
 
I'm willing to stick my neck out and say that the teams will run 2 stops, and those with a conventional strategy will stop on lap 18 to change from supersoft - soft, then will run 30 laps on the softs, before stopping for a fresh set of softs at the end.... The gaps required to run a (good) 3 stop would be too high, as there will inevitably be someone who the drivers get stuck behind, costing them the race....

Even if there is a safety car, it is not necessarily a no-brainer to stop immediately for tyres.... Just imagine Vettel (say) stops after 10 laps, because of a safety car... He then comes out behind Maldonado, who hasn't stopped, but was lapping 2 seconds a lap slower than the front cars.... This being Monaco, there's nowhere to overtake, so the cars at the front who didn't stop can start to pull away very fast...

The only way that this race can turn into a 3 stopper (Or a 4 stopper) is if there is enough of a differential between the front and the rear of the field to allow the cars to slot into empty space ahead of the mid-field....
 
Methinks three if it's a dry race. Monaco is almost constantly accelerating, braking accelerating. This will take a lot out of the tyres and considering the race usually runs for nearly two hours as well as the choice between soft and supersoft. There's a pesky volcano kicking smoke particles into the atmosphere so the weather predictions are not going to be a certainty. If they get something like the conditions we had today in the southeast of the UK it'll be wet, damp, dry, damp, wet and pitting for the right tyre at the right time could be all over the place. I've voted for three in the hope that it will be a dry show.:)
 
I struggle to see that happening. It'd mean going 39 laps on each tyre or some kind combination of that.

It is possible that someone like Perez could do 1 stop and finish top 10 because of it. He did 31 laps over 2 stints on supersofts and it was really only the last two or three laps where he went off the cliff. I would think that if he can do 30 on the supers, he might be able to do 48 on the primes. Didn't he do 1 stop in Melbourne?
 
I don't think we have seen any evidence that a Pirelli tyre could do 48 laps in my dads road car. Plus, didn't Perez's supersofts go off the cliff after 20 laps? I think whoever said lap 15 and 45 above will probably be not far off. I can see a few split strategies happening though, but whoever is leading will surely want to keep track position and has i've already said safety cars will play a huge part. Three stopping is cancelled out if we have a safety car at a certain point.
 
And it could be more when there is a safety car than if, the same for Montreal in a few weeks time.
 
I honestly think that the least amount of stops is the way forward here and naff to the loss of pace as the tyres go off.

The undercut is not going to work in Monoco because of the traffic and the difficulty in passing. The only way it'll work is if you manage to pull out a 30 second lead before your pitstop. You can't find clear air in Monoco and how many races have we seen destroyed by getting stuck behind a slower car - lets label it the Enrique Bernoldi effect. You only have to look at Alonso's race last season to see getting the pitstops out of the way and being on track is the best option.

I honestly believe we'll see the front runners thinking its a normal race and pitting 3 or 4 times and we'll see some others further back taking track position and making their cars as wide as possible and seeing if they can hold on. I can't wait.
 
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