Monte Carlo this weekend lads, tight and twisting.. it favoured the McLarens last year, can they repeat it this time?

Can we get a perfect 30 for the third race in a row? 

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Raikonnen
Hamilton
Kovalainen

Yes thats about as risky as it gets, but I think if anyone can do the monaco usual of putting an average car onto the podium, it'll fred in the Renault.

Hamilton
Kovalainen
Raikkonen

todayshorse wrote on May 19^th, 2008 at 11:42am:

the biggest problem with how Hamilton drove last year was the fact that he pushed hard the whole race, hit the walls on numerous occasions and still couldn't match Alonso's pace even when Fred was backing off. This was also the race where tensions started between fred and lewis because despite being told to back off Lewis kept pushing and ignored his teams orders. This is where I lost my interest in him as a driver, the team aswell as everyone else could see he was trying to push too hard and as evidenced by his wall collisions came close to wrecking it several times. They needed to bring both cars home safely and he could have thrown it away for no reason.
This years Mclaren has a longer wheel base and the Ferrari has a shorter wheel base, they are about the same now thus evening the advantage out in that respect. The biggest plus Mclaren has is the heating in the tyres, so they should aim to lock out the front row no matter what. Even if it means they have to pit a few laps earlier. It'll take the ferrari's at least 3 to 4 laps more than the mclarens to get their tyres up to temp, that will give mclaren 4 laps to build up the advantage they need to overcome the lack of fuel. The first stop should be used again to keep track position and keep an eye on the ferrari's. Kimi especially does his work before the second stop to pass the guy he's chasing afterwards. Mclaren should see that and as such have the guy infront of Kimi slow him down enough to allow the guy out front the chance to run off for a fairly easy victory.
That's just a personal point of view as to how I'm sure the macca guys would like it to work out in an ideal world.
I'd expect them to go harder tyres twice then softs to finish with, the ferrari's will probably go soft option twice then finish on the hard tyres.
Personally if I were the strategy guy at ferrari, I'd split the runs, soft hard then soft to keep up with the pace to begin, get the longer middle phase out the way on the harder tyres so they can push hard at the end of the stint, and then use the softs again to finish so as to keep the presure on if they are still behind that way aim to push possibly Lewis into making a mistake.

Interesting point of view Craig!

Whatever the wrongs and rights as to what happened at monaco last year, the way Hamilton took that car through the 'swimming pool' complex was simply breathtaking to watch. I like to see someone get hold of the car by the scruff of the neck and give it a damn good thrashing, rather than tootle around.

Yes he stuffed it in practice or qualifying (i cant remember which) but i dont think hes 'overdriving' like some suggest - its just the way he drives. I cant fault the bloke for 'giving it a go' and id fully expect fred to be quicker last year given the circumstances. That Hamilton ran him pretty close was not too bad an acheivement considering it was his first time there in an F1 car..

He drove similar at the last GP, the way he was going into turn one was quite somthing. Light on fuel or whatever, i dont care, it was great to watch

We were sat on the exit of becketts at the British gp last year, and despite Hamiltons 'go for pole' set up and strategy, it was massively satisfying to see him and him alone  come through that section with the back end dancing all over. You could visibly see it, and it was fantastic.  Certainly not every lap, i caught it maybe two or three times - and yes, he didnt win, and yes, he went the wrong way on set up, but it was still good to watch

I cant wait for practice to begin now they have no T/C - it should be spectacular!

I suppose its like prost v mansell - prost never looked spectacular, mansell always (usualy!) looked committed, spectacular and 'giving it some' and i know which i preferred - despite 'le proffessuers' greater sucess.

Hamilton
Raikonnen
Kovalainen

Hamilton
Kovalainen
Rosberg

My Ferrari Voodoo must start working sometime

Matt

Hamilton
Kimi
Kovi

well that wasnt expected...! Wonder if the ferraris are running a little lighter than the macs, just to get the pole?

Still, if they are, and the macs can hang on in the first stint, id still expect a mac 1-2, but i guess anything can happen, especially at monaco. If they are similar or indeed heavier, then i fear my prediction is totaly wrong

todayshorse wrote on May 24^th, 2008 at 9:31am:

I am thinking Kimi is the same or heavier than the maccas, The Q2 and practice times were simmilar so they cant be too differant. Massa though is the wildcard here. He was off the pace all weekend, if he is within 2 laps of fuel of the Mclarens or even Kimi, then its going to worry Ron and co.
The weather is the big X-factor in the whole situation. If it rains I could see both Kimi and Heikki doing very well, lewis would have to change his style because tail happy wont work round monaco in the rain. If it stays dry, I could see the usual Kimi Massa switch in the pitstops and then a fight between Lewis and Heikki for 3rd with Rosberg just behind waiting for a mistake.

at the moment it is a wet race.. But if the clouds and that clear then it'll dry out pretty quickly I think.

Poor Sutil, Raikkonen destroyed his chances. Great race though!

Not a good race on the points front, 15 seems to be the top with most of us getting 5 or 10

Great race, seeing as nearly everyone bar Sutil and Kubica had some sort of 'off' - Alonso was frankly terrible - I hope Hamilton and Mclaren went and gave him a huge 'V' sign on the way back to the garage

Luck or lucky doesnt get you a 40 second lead. Hamilton deserved that win on merit due to his stunning pace in the middle stint, and even after they switched to 'slicks' he was bloody quick.

I always thought Massa was the worse of the two in the wet, i guess not as he seemed quite comfortable at the start!

And as for poor Sutil, i dont really know what to say about that.

But still, great race. Well done Hamilton

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/67742

What might have been had the race gone the lap distance..

Craig. wrote on May 25^th, 2008 at 1:04pm:


There did seem to be rather quite a lot of punctures, but I think less than there could have been considering the amount of noses changed and carbon fiber that was spread all over the track as various drivers fell over each other (Fred bringing the show to a short stop in Rascas comes to mind). But as often happens in F1, a bit of luck plays a big part in the out come. Still, the first British driver to Monaco since Graham Hill 39 years ago, and a win is a win.

Matt

Quote:


And Jackie Stewart...

Craig. wrote on May 25^th, 2008 at 10:32am:


*cough*20*cough*

Missed this one due to an airshow, but heard the results over the PA system. Nice to hear of Hamilton's success putting him back on top for now

.mic

machineman9 wrote on May 26^th, 2008 at 9:44am:


My German wife was reading the paper and asked my yesterday if I had ever hear of a German pilot (with a straight a very serious face) called Manfred von Richthofen and then she told me he was better known as The Red Baron, maybe I had heard of that name instead.

Matt

I obviously missed the first couple of rounds because i wasnt here at all, so can someone explain the scoring system? I think i got two of the top three in my prediction...and i realise that if you get all three (in the correct order im guessing) you get 30 points....

Okay thanks for that

Quote:



A keyboard change that includes a wiped hard drive. Now that must be more that a little annoying

Matt

Better late than never..



Mic takes the lead from Duck  

Canada next