Monaco Gp - Pearl Of F1

[Insider 0]

Hi guys. I'm in my usually roosting spot at this time of year but with restricted privileges. I am staying with friends in Nice but I have a paddock pass and will be in and around the action. I have to play a gig back in Blighty on Thurs night but I shall return on Friday. hellishly expensive but it's what I work for. Will post what news I can.

[Angellica 0]

Oooh have a great time in Monaco. Look forward to hearing what you thought of the race from actually being there. At least it looks a bit warmer there than it is here in the UK!! Then again, wouldn't take much would it? Of course Friday practice is always a Thursday there isn't it? Just to confuse the issue.

It's a highlights only race on the BBC, better than nothing I suppose but not as good as live. *sighs*

[Quiet One 15]

You lucky old b#####d!

Enjoy it lots, drink, rock, then drink some more and, of you have the time, sleep.

[Massa 0]

Enjoy it!

Long day of racing for me, with the Indianapolis 500, another special event, a few hours after Monaco's conclusion. The NASCAR fans also have their demolition derby and subsequent brawls in the evening, though I think I'll pass on that.

I'm certainly looking forward to watching from the couch, which is probably maybe just a little less cool than being there. Still, it never gets old, for me, to see these cars on this circuit. Yeah, maybe it's a bit of a mismatch, but the mismatch is the appeal! These cars operate at such a high level of performance on a track that gives them such a small window to do so. Sure, there are other narrow street circuits, but they don't have the speed or the challenge. It's not Talladega, so if you want constant, in-your-face, over-the-top excitement, it's not a good race for you. But if you like to see the precision it takes to be in F1, or see Massa do something silly, I think it'll be a good one.

Small TV note for our U.S. readers: the race is live on NBC, the network, not NBCSN as it has been for the first five rounds. It is also live, ad-free, on UniMás.

[Insider 0]

You lucky old b#####d!

Enjoy it lots, drink, rock, then drink some more and, of you have the time, sleep.

I will enjoy it, always do. In days of yore, I would have a bottle or six! I've been 'dry' for 20-odd years now. I shall probably watch it in the Renault hospitality area, don't know yet.

[Argento Reloaded 1]

My worst envy to you!!!!

[The Shadow 0]

Great that you get to be there. I guess watching from that location you will probably be able to follow the race better than most

[Insider 0]

Yeah, I am lucky but I am pretty restricted in what I can do nowadays. I get fed and I can get around the Paddock Club environs and most of the circuit. Hoping for a Press Pass today too. Most of my old Renault F1 workmates are gone, though I have made new friends over the years and I'm down to favours most of the time now. Unfortunately, the days of 5* accommodation and free air tickets have gone. Nevertheless, I've had an unbroken run of 37 years now and I thank God for that. Light rain overnight in Nice and there were a few spots when I I left MC last evening but the forecast is good. I think if there is one main topic here this week it's about tyres again. RBR are banging on. McLaren are keeping a low profile and the fact that had they had originally stated that this year's car would seamlessly evolve into next year's car seems to be without foundation. With an engine change, the 2015 car will be quite different from what appears next year. With hindsight, a simple evolution of the 2012 car for this season would have sufficed - it would have certainly been more competitive - and development resources could have been concentrated on 2014 and 2014. There is a definite feeling this weekend that Whitmarsh may go. Off to La Regie for petit dejunér then!

[HandyNZL 1]

Macca should do OK at Monaco...car's not all there on the fast circuits, but Monaco can be favourable to the slower cars.

[Insider 0]

This may be of interest. It may surprise some to know the track is open to regular traffic after 19:00 hrs in the evening and 14:00 hrs on Friday after the first GP2 race.

Monaco GP Schedule

Le communiqué de presse

Thursday 23 May 2013

06:00 Closure of track to road traffic

08:30 to 09:15 Free practice session Formula Renault 3.5

10:00 to 11:30 1st Free Practice Session F1

12:00 to 12:30 Free practice session GP2

14:00 to 15:30 2rd Free Practice Session F1

16:15 to 16:45 Qualifying GP2

17:20 to 18:05 Free practice Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup

19h00 Openning of track to road traffic

Friday 24 May 2013

07:00 Closure of track to road traffic

09:30 to 10:15 Porsche Supercup - Qualifying session

11:15 to 12:15 GP2 - First Race (42 laps or 60 mins)

14:00 Opening of track to road traffic

Saturday 25 May 2013

7:00 Closure of track to road traffic

09:00 to 09:25 Formula Renault 3.5 - Stage A - Qualifying sessions

09:30 to 09:55 Formula Renault 3.5 - Stage B - Qualifying sessions

11:00 to 12:00 Formule 1 - 3rd practice session

14:00 to 15:00 Formule 1 - Qualifying sessions

16:10 to 16:55 GP2 - Start of the 2nd Race (42 laps or 60 mins max)

19:00 Opening of track to road traffic

Sunday 26 May 2013

07:00 Closure of track to road traffic

09:45 to 10:15 Porsche Supercup - Race start (16 laps or 30 mins max)

11:10 to 11:55 Formula Renault 3.5 - Race Start (44 mins + 1 lap)

12:30 Formula 1 - Drivers parade

14:00 Start of the 71th GRAND PRIX AUTOMOBILE DE MONACO (78 laps or 2h max)

19:00 Opening of track to road traffic

[Angellica 0]

So will the lack of passing allow Mercedes to get a decent result here if they get pole again? If they can do well anywhere I'm guessing this is one of their best shots at it you'd have to say.

You have to love Monaco, how they keep the cars out of the barriers for all those laps is amazing, well I know some don't manage it of course, but the majority do. It's the shortest circuit on the calendar as opposed to Spa which is in my opinion the best track by far and is of course the longest. Just because it's short doesn't make this circuit any easier does it?

Who do you think will be the first one to ping a barrier this year? I'm going to go with Maldonado.

[Insider 0]

When you walk the course, you realise just how tight it is. Even the best can have a scrape or two. Word is that Macca are putting every possible effort into enabling one lap performance for Button and Perez. I am quite sure everyone else is too. At Lotus, Grosjean under huge pressure to come to the party this weekend. Can't wait for quali!

[Quiet One 15]

When you walk the course, you realise just how tight it is. Even the best can have a scrape or two. Word is that Macca are putting every possible effort into enabling one lap performance for Button and Perez. I am quite sure everyone else is too. At Lotus, Grosjean under huge pressure to come to the party this weekend. Can't wait for quali!

I predict a gritty, clenched teeth race all the way, perhaps not spectacular, but tense as helll.

So, what do your former colleagues think of Lotus and Lopez? Is it what Renault should have been in its last years?

[BradSpeedMan 6]

I hate this flippin cicuit!!!!

[Massa 0]

So will the lack of passing allow Mercedes to get a decent result here if they get pole again? If they can do well anywhere I'm guessing this is one of their best shots at it you'd have to say.

It will be super interesting if we have a Mercedes front row. If they run nose-to-tail, bottled up behind them, it may come down to who can do the fastest pit stop (in which case, Red Bull, usually). I'd find that both tense and exciting, but I suspect if a race decided by tires gets people upset, a race decided by pitting would really make them boil.

I'm really looking forward to Sunday's race.

[Quiet One 15]

It will be super interesting if we have a Mercedes front row. If they run nose-to-tail, bottled up behind them, it may come down to who can do the fastest pit stop (in which case, Red Bull, usually). I'd find that both tense and exciting, but I suspect if a race decided by tires gets people upset, a race decided by pitting would really make them boil.

I'm really looking forward to Sunday's race.

It would be like Enrique Bernoldi and the 21 Coulthards.

[Angellica 0]

It would be like Enrique Bernoldi and the 21 Coulthards.

I remember that, Bernoldi in the Arrows, you could practically see steam coming out of DC's helmet but he just couldn't pass could he? Ahh the good old days

[LabradoRacer 2]

Mercedes for the pole, not for the win. Alonso has a good chance of winning this one.

[LabradoRacer 2]

I hate this flippin cicuit!!!!

+1

[Insider 0]

I predict a gritty, clenched teeth race all the way, perhaps not spectacular, but tense as helll.

So, what do your former colleagues think of Lotus and Lopez? Is it what Renault should have been in its last years?

Sorry, away from the scene yesterday. Are Lotus where Renault would like to have been? Absolutely. Boullier is Renault to the bone. He is a shrewd operator too. I feel the Viry-Châtillon vibe is omnipresent these days and I like that, not that I think it is deliberate. There is an air of defiance that we always had that went out of the window at the end of the last incarnation. I could crumble if the Iceman goes and then they will certainly be a target for Button and Webber with Macca in an almighty mess and the latter out of contract. I believe Mark was born unlucky but Jens is the kind of points banker they will need if Kimi is RBR-bound. After all, if you have the best car, you want the best drivers and with Vettel and the Kimster, you have it all. Grosjean is fast and he needs to get a little crazy again. After all, he is French.

[F1 FANatic 1]

If Mercedes does get pole again we might be in for the slowest Formula one race of all time. But I suspect even here you will hear the calls from the pit for drivers to just get out and push the car because that would be faster than trying to drive them slow enough to have the tyres last more then half a lap.

People were saying Monaco will not be bad on tyres. I think exactly the opposite. so far we have seen Pirrellis blow up going in a strait line. Think of the fun we are going to have when this happens in the tunnel.

[Insider 0]

They are talking up two-stoppers here but I have to agree that it will be more than that for some teams.

[Jean-Pierre 0]

Mercedes will hold them up for approx. 15 laps and then the more courageous drivers will try to pass and get out of there unarmed by the rails.

My two cents: I suspect Alonso will do well and may be di resta. If it rains,Perez should not do too bad.

[Quiet One 15]

Apparently Monaco is gentle enough to prevent any catastrophic degradation on the tires so far, but if Mercedes destroy their tires again, then I can't see how can they not be outbraked at the nouveau chicane and overtaken.

Of course, I made 1,456 assumptions in my previous paragraph.

[Insider 0]

The rain is falling as quail approaches. Romain is not looking good, may miss out and Massa get a five place penalty for sure. Wet quail? Looks like it.