To misquote the old joke, Haas have two drivers, one is a world-beater, the other a bum. Question is, which one is going to be which on the day?
They’re getting competitive at Haas…
Gasly: “Magnussen’s the most dangerous driver I’ve ever raced against.”
Leclerc: “Magnussen needs to understand he’s not alone on track. Every time, it’s him.”
Grosjean: “Hey Kevin, hold my beer.”
Seriously, what the hell was Grosjean thinking? I’ve never seen anyone do anything like that. Lucky to get away with a grid penalty if you ask me.
😆
He is a massive liability, keeping the throttle buried during his escapades yesterday was mental!
But yes, otherwise pretty dull. I had high expectations, particularly when it looked like a) the track was with slippery and b) there was rain forecast. But no.
Liberty's F1 TV Access on demand streaming service is now available
https://www.formula1.com/en/subscribe-to-f1-tv-access.html
Only £17.99 to sign up for the year at the moment... BUT it looks like in the UK you'll only get access to archive race footage, no replays of current races etc.
https://f1tv.formula1.com/en/content-schedule
And there I was hoping it'd be a Sky killer. 🙁
Yup, what a let down. Do we know if this means the commentary is limited in those languages, or it’s limited to those languages, or.... it’s limited and only in those languages? 🤷🏻♂️
^^Limited commentary in French, German and Spanish.
Grosjean isn't without talent, but when he gets it wrong he's a total liability.
He deserved a lot more than a 3 place grid penalty for that stupidity on Sunday
Grosjean just shouldn't be making these sorts of errors - between them their drivers are costing them millions. Both of them are well past their rookie stage. This will be the last F1 season for at least one of them.
And then you have Leclerc dragging the Sauber into the points and keeping things clean.
On the BBC gossip page today,
"F1 driver Kevin Magnussen says he is eager to sample IndyCar oval racing and is keen to follow Fernando Alonso's lead by tackling the Indianapolis 500."
Jesus. Can you imagine the terror of oval racing with Magnussen anywhere near you?
Anyway, also:
"Formula 1's chief executive Chase Carey says Berlin could host the German Grand Prix in the future. This year's race takes place in Hockenheim but there is no deal in place for 2019."
This seems to be the latest in a long line of statements of intent to hold F1 races in cities at the expense of circuit racing. I dunno; this just doesn't appeal to me. There's no romance in a temporary track hacked out of streets that were never designed to test cars or drivers. (Monaco at least substitutes this with a ton of history, and I'll let Singapore off because it's actually quite good. But no more, please.)
This seems to be the latest in a long line of statements of intent to hold F1 races in cities at the expense of circuit racing. I dunno; this just doesn’t appeal to me.
Don't know about that - I'd rather go to the likes of Baku than have at race at the abomination that is the current Hockenheim circuit.
Yes Baku is pretty good but you can't beat a proper race circuit like Spa. Sadly there are not many of those on the calendar either.
For every Baku though, you've got a Valencia or an Albert Park. Singapore is just about okay but its no Spa or Suzuka (or even Monza or COTA or Interlagos)
Despite almost always watching Monaco, it really is a bit shit.
Any word on tyres and pit stop strategy for Monaco this weekend?
There's little doubt that it'll be a processional race, but what makes Monaco watchable is the attrition which throws up some interesting podiums on occasion. I expect that Bottas, Hamilton and Vettel will be at the top of their game, but there may be some "interesting" moments with Grosjean, Verstappen, Stroll and Hartley.
Also, the rumour mill seems to be suggesting that this could be Hartley's last outing for TR as supplier Honda is very keen to put a Japanese driver in one of the cars.
It'll be a procession with everyone staying out as long as they can hoping they win the safety car lottery - track position is everything and you can lose a lot of tyre performance without being passed so the best hope is to have a safety car just before your tyres die. Any chance of rain this year?
Not sure Hartley will be gone so soon, but his fate may be sealed..
no rain in the forcast though is going to be quite warm for the race
Monaco = 1 stop even with the ultrasoft tyres. The new boys will cause chaos in the practise sessions though! The fun is in seeing who cocks up their qualifying or drops it during the race. Even though it s a really boring race I always watch it!
Monaco needs super hard tyre with just about enough tread to get you to the end (but marginal) and a super hyper soft tyre which gives enough performance to overtake the super hard.
Might not improve the race but it can’t be too much worse.
Igm - with that setup every lap could be like the epic mansell/Senna finish, though even that didn't result in a pass. (Though some of the defending would probably result in a trip to the stewards these days)
Back in the day, I used to date a girl who's mum was a motor racing fan (apparently she used to be an amateur rally driver), I remember us watching the 1996 race and screaming at the television in disbelief when Damon Hill's engine let go with him way out in front.
Of course, what happened next was an extremely popular victory for Olivier Panis and Ligier Mugen. I live in hope that Leclerc somehow finds himself the lucky recipient of a race win in an Alfa Romeo, or that Alonso pulls something out of the bag and podiums in a McLaren.
I nearly always end up being disappointed by Monaco, but, in the spirit of optimism:
Firstly, qualifying is one of the best. There's opportunity for the "best of the rest" to get to the front of the grid front and for a frontrunner to stick it in the wall. (Or park it, eh Nico.)
And then, there are a few young guns like Gasly and Leclerc with the potential to shake up the race a bit. The Red Bulls are likely to be opening some cans of energy whupass, and while Ricciardo's got to be a good punt for a victory you never know What's Gonna Happen Verstappen 🙂
If the bubblegum tyres run fast for a few laps and then fall off pretty quickly then strategies could be fun.
Or they could all just go round in circles until someone cocks up a pit stop or Grosjean brings out the safety car.
Here's my predictions: Grosjean in the barriers at Ste Devote on lap 1, Magnussen takes someone out at Rascasse, Max pulls off multiple passes, Hamilton spends the weekend looking like someone kicked his dog, Alonso gets his best result in three years, Ricciardo for the win from Vettel, both Williams on the back row, three safety cars, Susie Wolff wears something utterly ridiculous. I'm off down the bookies.
Meanwhile, this just in from trackside reporter Finbarr Saunders…
https://twitter.com/sauberf1team/status/998937392173211648?s=21
The teams are going all in on the hyper soft - most drivers have the full 11 sets, with hardly any ultra or super softs, so fingers crossed we may actually get a race, or at least some very fast laps on Playdoh tyres before they grain and people spin off into the wall.
Sure it'll be a procession, but I'll watch it hoping for more. Like always.
Pirelli should have brought hyper, medium and hard; that would have made for a bit of 1992-style fun 🙂
Also, the rumour mill seems to be suggesting that this could be Hartley’s last outing for TR as supplier Honda is very keen to put a Japanese driver in one of the cars.
Honda's preferred Japanese drivers don't have superlicences just yet.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/toro-rosso-wants-japanese-driver-with-honda-1039972/
Thanks hols2, I stand corrected on that.
Am looking forward to seeing the practice times tomorrow, it'll be interesting...
Remember, it's Monaco, so practice is today - a Red Bull 1-2 first time out...
Ouch. McLaren are very slow so far...
Vandoorne 8th & Alonso 9th in FP2? So not as "Very slow" as half the grid...
That was my thought, seems like a good result for them.
Haas on the other hand...
At the restart of FP2, Vandoorne was ahead of Alonso but in 16th place.
Im pleased to see that they’ve moved up the timing sheet, but I would’ve expected Monaco to be one of their stronger circuits.
Nice lap from Danny ric, broken the track record.
Almost forgot that all of my fantasy f1 contracts had expired. New line-up sorted for this weekend, let's see if I can move up from 6th place!
Looking forward to qualifying (if I can avoid the result while at work)
Has Max crashed at every round?
should be a good test for Maxanaldo Crashstapen starting from the back in the fastest car (for this circuit) on the grid, a chance to prove himself!
How many corners before he's due for an Isopon makeover and he'll still be claiming it's not his fault/nothing learned/nothing needs changing in the ice cream/warm down interview. 20 year olds, tssk. Yoot is wasted on em. 😉
Has Max crashed at every round?
One of them was clearly Ricciardo's fault. Honestly, did he really think Max would just let him past the way other drivers do without swerving at him?
Except for Max’s two decisive moves in the braking zone. He shares responsibility on that one. Clearly the team agree.
Stupid crash in FP3 though, throwing away probably his best chance of victory all year.
£5 says he repeats his antics from 3 years ago and spears into someone at Ste Devote. Maybe a Haas, for irony.
If he learns to stop crashing before RB sack him then he will be devasting, Snoopy and the Red Baron will really have somebody to worry about.
Vettel: Kvyat's a menace. Never seen anything so stupid in my life.
Max: Hey Danny, hold my beer.
If he learns to stop crashing before RB sack him
does anyone ever have their Super licence pulled ?
Well Maldonado and Grosjean both managed to avoid outright bans despite serious silliness so my guess is the little Dutch boy will be OK.
Good win for Ric with him being so down on power for most of the race.
Agreed, not sure how it did that! Vettel didn’t even seem to have a go, all a bit odd. Dull race on the whole
A hard win but only made possible by Monaco. Max must be gutted he threw it away in FP3. That's an extra couple of million on his next contract.
Zzzzzzzz
I really can’t stand Monaco, even the TV lot sell all this ‘Jewell in the Crown’ bollocks, it’s an F1 race on Cart Track for a piss up for the sponsors.
The Indy 500 is currently making Monaco look like the race of the century.
Bit gutted for leclerc, would have been another good result for him. Also Hartley, hope he's not given the chop just yet.
think lewis should be pretty happy only losing 3 pts to vettel on a track where they were 3rd best (and Dan will be on his last mgu-h for canada)
sorry amend that he'll need a new MGU-K for canada and he's already on his last so grid penalties await Ricciardo in canada
I'm sorry but even in the vintage racing it was almost impossible to overtake the car in front even in the all conquering lotus... most of the races ended in the grid formation or were decide on reliability (though fat rich blokes driving their investments round might not be the best indicator 😉 )
Boring. That shouldn’t take anything away from Ricciardo’s drive, but I switched off when Alonso’s car failed. Apparently he was just as bored as I was.
Monaco has seen some awesome qualifying laps and reliability and weather has thrown some great results in the past, I think that it’s time to shift it to a point earlier in the season when there’s a greater chance of rain.
Here’s how you fix Monaco - all drivers are to be issued a Mk2 Vauxhall Astravan, with a compulsory copy of the Sunday Sport on the dashboard. Pit stops consist of a tyre change while the driver rolls a tab, which must be balanced on their bottom lip for the duration of the race.
What about changing the massed start to individual starts with a 2 second gap between cars. The pole sitter would be right on the start-finish line so would cross at fairly slow speed, but the cars further back would cross at higher speed, so the field would bunch up on the first lap. But, the pole-sitter would need to beat the car behind by more than 2 seconds to be classified the winner, so he would need to drive quickly instead of just cruising around saving his tyres. Same for the guy in second, he would need to beat the guy in third by at least two seconds, and so on.
Also, mandate two tyre changes, with the cars having to finish the race on the same compound as they started on, but with a different compound for the middle stint. They would therefore finish on the hypersoft qualifying tyre, but timing that final pitstop would be the crucial strategy call.
You could make the cars have to do a lap with 3 wheels, or get the drivers to push their cars down the pit lane when they come in for new tyres. But that's not F1. The problem is the track, and that's not going to change, or be dropped.
We just have to turn F1 over to celebrities for one race, and look forward to Canada.
I always like to see Danny Ric get a win, but it just highlights what a ridiculous track Monaco is.
Attrition used to add some "excitement" but the cars are generally so much more reliable that there are only a couple of retirements. Tyre management means they aren't "on it" for the full race either so there are less mistakes and fewer crashes too.
So its just a procession, it says a lot when qualifying is more exciting than the "race"
So its just a procession, it says a lot when qualifying is more exciting than the “race”
Yep, it's like back in the early 2000s when a single on-track overtake was sensational. Ironically back then Monaco was a better race relatively thanks to the increased chances of crashes.
I'm probably thinking about 10 years ago plus, but I remember one race when the weather was so bad only 7 drivers finished and it was won by a mid-pack driver, possibly his only F1 win.
IMHO there needs to be a rival tyre manufacturer in F1 along with Pirelli just to spice things up a bit.
I remember one race when the weather was so bad only 7 drivers finished and it was won by a mid-pack driver, possibly his only F1 win.
Back in the 90s. Olivier Panis in a Ligier. I think only four cars finished.
I read that Lance Stroll was 5 seconds a lap quicker than the front runners after he rejoined into clean air after one of his punctures. Given the pace of the Williams car, that's really saying something about how little they were pushing.
GIven how difficult it is to overtake I do wonder if vettel and hamilton just turned the engines down once they knew their places were secure. Its not like either of them were going to be able to pass each other or Daniel because of the track. Might as well look after the engine.
We just have to turn F1 over to celebrities for one race, and look forward to Canada.
Yep.
I read that Lance Stroll was 5 seconds a lap quicker than the front runners after he rejoined into clean air after one of his punctures. Given the pace of the Williams car, that’s really saying something about how little they were pushing.
Also yep.
A solution could be to make it a mandatory 3 stop race with 3 different tyres compounds to be used.
Yes, all the over taking will be done in the pitlane but at least drivers will be pushing to the the limit on occasions and it will be interestingly tactical.
Start last, come in on the your first lap *fresh* tyres and pray for a safety car?! Ha.
Might as well look after the engine.
it was probably it's last race anyway all new engines for fast canada & france
it was probably it’s last race anyway all new engines for fast canada & france
Yes, but still nice to have intact spares for practice or in case of problems later in the season.
They will all have been babying the engines during the race as no-one knows how long these engines will last. Expect to see a few of them grenading during pracitce over the next few races as they try and put as few miles on their remaining two engines outside of qualy and race.
I wonder how many teams will take a tactical extra engine over the next few races where overtaking isn't as much as an issue? Surely RedBull would take one in Canada as they don't have a hope of keeping up powerwise with Ferrari or Mercedes but can easily overtake the midtield. This 3 engine rule is really denting on-track action but may deliver a few shock results later in the season.
I still reckon taking the hard and hypersoft compounds would have been an improvement. No tyre management issues on hard, but having to drive nearer the limit not to be overtaken by the HS. And vice versa for the HS.
The tyres they had were too similar for the differences to be of use.
Yes, but still nice to have intact spares for practice or in case of problems later in the season.
Don't see it (not for the front runners), these next two engines will be used for 5/4 races and they will take a new engine (and the grid penalties that implies) for the final 4 or 5 races of the season.... 6 or 7th place finish is better than no finish and 6 or 7th place finish in the next race. I also think if one team does it the others will have to follow suit or you'll end up at a serious disadvantage in the next race.
The problem with the hard/hypersoft combo is that teams would just qualify on the hyper and then switch to the hard in the first couple of laps, then run to the end in a long procession.
Except the Q2/3 guys would start on the hard perhaps and run very long, mixing things up at the edges, and given a decent performance differential then HS/H/HS might become viable at the front end depending on the time gaps.
The hard would have to have little enough tread to make it marginal.
I see Williams have binned their aero chief after only a year or so. Hopefully they'll get better results on next year's car but expect its damage limitation for the rest of this season
Crikey, they ARE in a fix - that's sad news. 🙁 BBC reporting their aero problems related to turbulence from turned front wheels stalling the underbody - does seem a bit inexcusable.
seems like lewis & valtteri won't have a new engine for canada after all problems with the upgrades, "quality issues" apparently.... so half power for practise, minimum required in qual 1 & 2 and one full bore run in qual 3 and prayer that it doesn't blow in the race.
Not quite - the engines they'll use were intended for use at Hungary which is a less power dependent circuit - so they will be a little compromised (because Canada is harder on the engine so they'll turn it down/limit mileage) but it's not like the engines had reached the end of their lives.
it actually might turn out to be an advantage having an engine in it's final race, if you think it will get to the end of the race ragging the shit out of it then you may go for it, strat mode 4/party mode.... as opposed to having a new engine that will need to get you through 6 or 7 races.... remember lewis turning every down with 10 laps to go in Melbourne.
Those Mercedes engines are very reliable.
The competition have caught up on power but Mercedes are streets ahead on reliability. It's a very boring way to score (well, not concede) points but highly effective.
I've got a feeling that Ferrari and especially Renault will see many points frittered away on penalties towards the end of the season.
I wonder if the renault upgrade includes a party mode ?
FFS Stroll. Don't you know I've just drafted Hartley into my fantasy team?
Watching that I think I'm now pro halo. Kind of got used to them, they've got them integrated more aesthetically, and glad they're there in a shunt ...
I thought Canada was meant to be an exciting race?
BORED!!
This race is terrible
Sorry, too busy watching my paint drying, it’s edge of the seat stuff compared to that race.
That was absolutely dreadful. Apart from a smash on Lap 1, nothing happened.. sweet FA.
I was really looking forward to the race with the mixed up grid but it was crap.
That race was worse than Monaco, really disappointed that 3/5's of eff all squared happened after the first lap