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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.