Monaco 2018

[lipstick79 0]

A strong FP1 from Red Bull IS actually GOOD news for Mclaren.

They are BOTH running the SAME Renault power until (PU).

It is now time for Alonso to DELIVER what is expected from  the double world champion

[Ruslan 0]

Practice one results:
 

Thursday Practice Session 1
POS	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	ENTRANT	TIME
1.	Daniel Ricciardo	Autralia	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	1:12.126
2.	Max Verstappen	Netherlands	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	1:12.280
3.	Lewis Hamilton	Britain	Mercedes	1:12.480
4.	Sebastian Vettel	Germany	Ferrari	1:13.041
5.	Kimi Raikkonen	Finland	Ferrari	1:13.066
6.	Carlos Sainz	Spain	Renault	1:13.456
7.	Valtteri Bottas	Finland	Mercedes	1:13.502
8.	Sergio Perez	Mexico	Force India-Mercedes	1:13.717
9.	Romain Grosjean	France	Haas-Ferrari	1:13.943
10.	Sergey Sirotkin	Russia	Williams-Mercedes	1:13.962
11.	Esteban Ocon	France	Force India-Mercedes	1:14.000
12.	Brendon Hartley	New Zealand	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	1:14.034
13.	Nico Hulkenberg	Germany	Renault	1:14.134
14.	Pierre Gasly	France	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	1:14.240
15.	Stoffel Vandoorne	Belgium	McLaren-Renault	1:14.291
16.	Charles Leclerc	Monaco	Sauber-Ferrari	1:14.521
17.	Fernando Alonso	Spain	McLaren-Renault	1:14.637
18.	Lance Stroll	Canada	Williams-Mercedes	1:14.782
19.	Marcus Ericsson	Sweden	Sauber-Ferrari	1:15.206
20.	Kevin Magnussen	Denmark	Haas-Ferrari	1:18.801

[Ruslan 0]

Practice 2 results:

Thursday Practice Session 2
POS	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	ENTRANT	TIME
1.	Daniel Ricciardo	Autralia	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	1:11.841
2.	Max Verstappen	Netherlands	Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer	1:12.035
3.	Sebastian Vettel	Germany	Ferrari	1:12.413
4.	Lewis Hamilton	Britain	Mercedes	1:12.536
5.	Kimi Raikkonen	Finland	Ferrari	1:12.543
6.	Valtteri Bottas	Finland	Mercedes	1:12.643
7.	Nico Hulkenberg	Germany	Renault	1:13.047
8.	Stoffel Vandoorne	Belgium	McLaren-Renault	1:13.077
9.	Fernando Alonso	Spain	McLaren-Renault	1:13.115
10.	Carlos Sainz	Spain	Renault	1:13.200
11.	Brendon Hartley	New Zealand	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	1:13.222
12.	Sergio Perez	Mexico	Force India-Mercedes	1:13.370
13.	Esteban Ocon	France	Force India-Mercedes	1:13.382
14.	Pierre Gasly	France	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	1:13.410
15.	Sergey Sirotkin	Russia	Williams-Mercedes	1:13.547
16.	Kevin Magnussen	Denmark	Haas-Ferrari	1:13.572
17.	Charles Leclerc	Monaco	Sauber-Ferrari	1:13.575
18.	Romain Grosjean	France	Haas-Ferrari	1:13.763
19.	Lance Stroll	Canada	Williams-Mercedes	1:14.011
20.	Marcus Ericsson	Sweden	Sauber-Ferrari	1:14.173

[Ruslan 0]

A few observations:

1. It looks like Red Bull is the team to beat this weekend. It has been a few years since we have said that.

2. The tier 2 teams appear to still be second slower than the top teams.

3. Renault and McLaren appear to have secured their position at the top of the tier 2 teams.

4. Williams is not sucking as bad as it has been.

[Publius Cornelius Scipio 0]

5 hours ago, Ruslan said:

4. Williams is not sucking as bad as it has been.

I'd say that stroll has been rather rubbish yesterday, despite the fact that he has had the advantage of a massive testing regime, the fact that he has been there once (a huge advantage in Monaco) and the fact that his dad is bankrolling his team, despite all this he's behind his rookie team mate  I presume that by tomorrow they will make sure that Stroll is at least in front of Sirotkin but still it doesn't look great for him, I think that he's not devoid of any talent but there seems to be something missing... (brain? experience? a bit of both?)

[Publius Cornelius Scipio 0]

22 hours ago, lipstick79 said:

A strong FP1 from Red Bull IS actually GOOD news for Mclaren.

They are BOTH running the SAME Renault power until (PU).

I wonder if Red Bull and McLaren (or Renault for that matter) use the same amount of fuel

[lipstick79 0]

The general rule of thumb is, the MORE fuel that U chuck at the PU the FASTER U go.
 

[lipstick79 0]

There is a LOT more physics to it than that, but at a low-level the physics ARE TRUE.
MORE fuel = MORE speed

[Ruslan 0]

11 hours ago, Publius Cornelius Scipio said:

I'd say that stroll has been rather rubbish yesterday, despite the fact that he has had the advantage of a massive testing regime, the fact that he has been there once (a huge advantage in Monaco) and the fact that his dad is bankrolling his team, despite all this he's behind his rookie team mate  I presume that by tomorrow they will make sure that Stroll is at least in front of Sirotkin but still it doesn't look great for him, I think that he's not devoid of any talent but there seems to be something missing... (brain? experience? a bit of both?)

Well, the time differences between the two in both practice sessions are significant, so I suspect Stroll was struggling with some problems. So far this season Sirotkin has out qualified Stroll 3 times to 2.

I think Stroll's father did him a big disservice by moving him into F1 so early. I would make the same argument for Verstappen. Stroll seems like a nice enough kid (unlike Verstappen), but there is a lack of consistency.

On the other hand, Sirotkin could be an exceptional, if not raw, talent. Given that they are both rather inexperienced drivers in what is clearly a very difficult car, this is not a good situation for either them or the team. It could take the better part of the season before we get any consistent performances from them.

[radical-one 0]

Third free practice results (FP3) for the sixth round of the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship, the Monaco Grand Prix at Circuit de Monaco

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	TIME	GAP	LAPS	Tyre
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RED BULL	1:11.786		23
2	33	Max Verstappen	RED BULL	1:11.787	+0.001	14
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	FERRARI	1:12.023	+0.237	23
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	FERRARI	1:12.142	+0.356	26
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	1:12.273	+0.487	26
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	MERCEDES	1:12.356	+0.570	27
7	28	Brendon Hartley	TORO ROSSO	1:12.752	+0.966	25
8	10	Pierre Gasly	TORO ROSSO	1:12.761	+0.975	23
9	55	Carlos Sainz	RENAULT	1:12.850	+1.064	24
10	35	Sergey Sirotkin	WILLIAMS	1:12.854	+1.068	23
11	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	MCLAREN	1:12.874	+1.088	25
12	31	Esteban Ocon	FORCE INDIA	1:12.940	+1.154	23
13	31	Sergio Perez	FORCE INDIA	1:13.025	+1.239	22
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	RENAULT	1:13.112	+1.326	26
15	14	Fernando Alonso	MCLAREN	1:13.279	+1.493	25
16	18	Lance Stroll	WILLIAMS	1:13.595	+1.809	26
17	37	Charles Leclerc	SAUBER	1:13.644	+1.858	25
18	8	Romain Grosjean	HAAS	1:13.881	+2.095	21
19	20	Kevin Magnussen	HAAS	1:14.192	+2.406	20
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	SAUBER	1:14.221	+2.435	28

[Ruslan 0]

Watched qualifying this morning. A few observations:

1. Shame that Verstappen was not in the top three. Would have made the race a whole lot more interesting.

2. There is still over a second between the top cars and the tier 2 teams.

3. How is it that the two Finns are always outqualified by their teammates? I think they both need to be replaced.

4. Lots of up-and-coming drivers I think highly off were showing their stuff (Perez, Ocon, Gasly, Leclerc). One of these guys (or all of them) deserve a top ride.

5. Sirotkin shows what the Williams is capable of. Stroll shows what he is not capable of. He was very whiney.   

6. Not sure what happened with Magnussen. They interviewed him after the session and he really didn't say anything.

[Ruslan 0]

The qualifying results:

session at the Monaco Grand Prix at Circuit de Monaco.

Pos	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:12.013	1:11.278	1:10.810	17
2	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:12.415	1:11.518	1:11.039	21
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:12.460	1:11.584	1:11.232	22
4	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:12.639	1:11.391	1:11.266	22
5	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:12.434	1:12.002	1:11.441	25
6	Esteban Ocon	Force India	1:13.122	1:12.188	1:11.061	27
7	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:12.657	1:12.269	1:12.110	26
8	Carlos Sainz	Renault	1:12.950	1:12.286	1:12.130	28
9	Sergio Perez	Force India	1:12.848	1:12.194	1:12.154	23
10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:12.941	1:12.313	1:12.221	29
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	1:13.065	1:12.411		22
12	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:12.463	1:12.440		19
13	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	1:12.706	1:12.521		19
14	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	1:12.829	1:12.714		20
15	Romain Grosjean	Haas F1	1:12.930	1:12.728		21
16	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	1:13.179			12
17	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:13.265			11
18	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:13.323			10
19	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1	1:13.393			12
20	Max Verstappen	Red Bull				0

[Sakae 0]

28 May 2018, 13:46 (CEST)

Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon was subject of team orders from the Silver Arrows to benefit Lewis Hamilton at the Monaco

Luxury not available to Vettel, when much slower Stoffel Vandoorne was blocking road to him for the distance of 1.5 laps.

[Publius Cornelius Scipio 0]

13 minutes ago, Sakae said:

28 May 2018, 13:46 (CEST)

Mercedes junior Esteban Ocon was subject of team orders from the Silver Arrows to benefit Lewis Hamilton at the Monaco

Luxury not available to Vettel, when much slower Stoffel Vandoorne was blocking road to him for the distance of 1.5 laps.

Vettel aside, the fact that Ocon was asked twice to let Hamilton and  Bottas through wasn't great, I felt sorry for him

Other than that Ricciardo drove well and it was very boring. I'm amazed at how incompetent Williams is becoming, they might have scored some points with Sirotkin yesterday but unbelievably they didn't fit his tyres at the 2 minutes threshold, not even club racers are so silly. The car mustn't be too shabby, I think that Sirotkin is a reasonably decent driver but not the next Lewis Hamilton, with a good driver they would probably acieve much more than now. I was suprised that Versbatten didn't hit anyone yesterday, but it seems as if the pit wall was reminding him to keep it easy every time he got anywhere near another car 

[Ruslan 0]

Yea....not a whole lot to talk about this race. I was watching it with a friend, so we spent most of our time talking about the commentators (they are not bad, but the old team of David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Will Buxton were simply better).

A few more comments:

1. Ocon/Mercedes/team orders: This is what happens when we have all these B teams out there. Does anyone expect to see Haas or Sauber hold up Vettel or Toro Rosso hold up Verstappen? Anyhow, I don't think it influenced the race results.

2. Williams: Well, every team makes mistakes like that....but Williams used to be known for not making too many mistakes like that. No sure where the problems lies, but they may need to re-organize (which can mean a lot of things). Anyhow...the car is not a complete turkey and I expect to see them outperforming at least Sauber over time. We need to see more of Sirotkin. He may be good enough to be in F1, even though he bought his seat (but then...so to did Niki Lauda).

3. Ocon/Gasly/Leclerc: These guys all had good races, even though Leclerc hit someone in the rear.

4. Leclerc/Hartley accident: I gather Leclerc was having brake problems. Maybe if he had a few seasons under his belt, he may better dealt with the problem before going into the back of Hartley...but....I still think he looks very good.

5. Verstappen:  Actually, it was not a particularly inspired or good drive by Verstappen. He may have been under so much pressure from his repeated accidents that he tiptoed through the race to make sure he did not have another one. Unfortunately, there is sometimes a fine line between inspired and foolish, and Verstappen this season has clearly stepped over the line from inspired to foolish. But now he does not look inspired. Red Bull has to be careful how to manage this one. They need to keep up his spirit and only tame it a little bit.

Anyhow, Canada is a very different track. Not sure who it will favor, but it certainly will not favor Red Bull. Suspect they may have gotten their only two wins for the season.