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

The circuit is largely as it was when it was created by Anthony Noghès in 1929 but the sport has changed drastically since then. There is scope to alter the layout with land reclamation projects under way – one will extend the area on the outside of Portiers before the tunnel but, it is understood, will not be completed until 2025.

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