Monaco “still a daunting place”, says Webber

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Mark Webber says he is “comfortable” at Monaco having won there twice but still finds it “daunting”.

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Webber hoping to get back on familiar track (The Telegraph)

“I’m comfortable on street circuits, although I can’t translate it to Singapore yet. I don’t know why. As for Monaco, it’s still a daunting place, a very challenging venue. I’m not saying you are on holiday there.”

Di Resta dreams of finishing on the podium in Monaco (The Sun)

“During the winter testing we were a bit confused as to how quick we were. We were a bit shocked to be in front of McLaren and that’s been an improvement.”

Raikkonen: no surprise to be second (Autosport)

“We wanted to win more races already, but it hasn’t happened. Looking at it afterwards, you’re never happy – even if you win all the races, you’re probably not 100 per cent happy.”

McLaren needed deal with major carmaker – Whitmarsh (NBC)

“We’re going to be doing all we can to win races with Mercedes this year and next, but inevitably moving to Honda in 2015 gives us a bedrock of being one of the big teams.”

F1 Online: The Game Service is closed (Codemasters)

“The decision to discontinue the game’s development and operation was taken as the service did not attract the required number of active players during its beta phase to make it a viable ongoing project.”

Thanks to Mike for the tip.

The Art of Driving (McLaren)

“Even though I was wearing a fireproof balaclava and a helmet padded with fire-retarding padding and sound-proofing material, and even though my Cosworth V8 was revving at high decibels just a few inches behind my back, I could still hear the sickening impact of Clay’s Ensign smashing into that concrete barrier.”

Tweets

https://twitter.com/MarkGallagher62/status/336922898805702657

Comment of the day

@William-Brierty almost believes Lewis Hamilton will win in Monaco:

Just because Rosberg has out-qualified Hamilton in the past two races, don’t think he enters the Monaco Grand Prix as Mercedes’ best chance for victory. Do not underestimate Hamilton, especially at a track that he was unbeaten at until he found himself in a seat next to a certain Spanish chap.

Hamilton will be on pole, that to me is a certainty, but the victory? Well, I personally don’t see why not. Historically, Mercedes have been quick in a straight line so they cannot be overtaken regardless of how bad their tyre issues become.

So only a bad start or the undercut will allow another car past a Mercedes, but this is Ross Brawn we’re talking about, and not the clowns that invited the undercut on Hamilton by both Alonso and Vettel last year.

For me, the ingredients are all in place. Its a track that is very special to Hamilton, a track where Mercedes were quickest last year in the woeful W03 and its a track where degradation is minimal.

For me that makes Lewis Hamilton the favourite for the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix… which probably means Alonso will win.
@William-Brierty

From the forum

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On this day in F1

Following a 13-year absence, Formula One returned to a shorted Spa-Francorchamps circuit on this day 30 years ago.

Alain Prost started from pole position, lapping the 6.9km circuit in 2’04.615. He won the race, the opening stages of which were led by Andrea de Cesaris for Alfa Romeo.

Patrick Tambay finished third for Ferrari ahead of Prost’s Renault team mate Eddie Cheever.

The original start of the race was abandoned:

Here’s the restart:

Image © Red Bull/Getty

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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117 comments on “Monaco “still a daunting place”, says Webber”

  1. I reckon that even if Kimi won every single race by a minute, won the Euromillions ten times over, had his pick of a perfect wife and owned every Vodka Factory in Russia… He still wouldn’t be 100% Happy.

    1. You forgot the ice cream, that’s why :P

      1. He likes it in his vodka.

      2. The ice cream jokes deserve some award for being the least funny comments to be found on F1 websites. We’ve all seen and heard them by now, we get it. Ice cream. Shame Lotus keeps repeating the same thing over and over on social media as well.

        1. Nick.UK (@)
          22nd May 2013, 3:32

          @roald I think they come in as 2nd least funny. I still see ‘Hamilton’s fault’ far too often. Old and unoriginal now.

        2. @roald Yay! Im not the only one :)

          1. Aussie F1 Fan
            22nd May 2013, 5:22

            You seem a bit worked up, did you guys want an Ice Cream to cool off, perhaps? he he..

        3. Icecream is faster than you @roald

          1. And funnier.

        4. @roald we know, hence why I commented it in the first place with the “:P”

    2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      22nd May 2013, 2:29

      yep… see video footage of the moment he became world champion… the same face as always

      1. Kimi’s face

        F1 Debut = :l
        Pole position = :l
        Win = :l
        Win the title = :l
        Car Broken down = :l

        1. Hamilton DNF = :)

        2. +1 LOL, that is soo true!

  2. I don’t think this will be a weekend in which Ferrari win or Lotus due to the fact tyres hold much less of an influence now (yay!) so for me it’s looking to be Merc’s weekend, but I think Red Bull could be a spanner in the works. It all depends on how strategies play out come race day really as they will be very important now with the expected two stops.

    1. I don’t think this will be a weekend in which Ferrari win or Lotus due to the fact tyres hold much less of an influence now (yay!)

      Are you confusing Ferrari with Lotus by any chance? Because they are not similar. Lotus are very good at making the tyres last a long period of time, that’s why the E21 can often do one less pitstop that its rivals. Ferrari are not that good at making their tyres last, no better than Red Bull as a matter of fact. However, what Ferrari are good at, is going very fast on a set of tyres before it wears down.

      There’s a big difference between the two. ;-)

      1. response to @vettel1

      2. @kingshark very true, nonetheless I expect this to hopefully be a weekend not solely influenced by who’s the best at conservation. Now I’ve said that though it will turn out the SS will last 10 laps and the S 15!

      3. Don’t make me laugh. With that kind of pace and tire wear rate, you trying to play down Ferrari ‘s easiness on tire??? Look at onboard video, both massa and fernando drove superb aggressively and the tire managed to hold on well.

        And so far, only Kimi looks great on those tire, Grosjean had yet to show similar potential, i doubt is the car alone that’s easy on tire. Hungary 2012 spring to mind when Kimi set consecutive fastest laps on worn out soft compound while others pit for new tires allowed him to jump 3 cars and finished 2nd.

        1. Yes, because you’ve overlooked in your comment this is the easiest circuit on the calendar on tyres, unlike Spain which is probably one of the hardest.

    2. @vettel1

      I ‘d like to see Hamilton winning in Monte Carlo. I think Mercedes can win if they manage to lock the front row on Saturday and survive the attack of the likes of Ferrari, Lotus and Red Bull early on the race on Sunday, so the car running in P2 can hold the pack allowing the one in P1 to build a lead good enough to avoid pit stop passes, otherwise it will be: (1) Webber, (2) Alonso, (3) Kimi, (4) Vettel, (5) Hamilton or Rosberg

      1. @jcost I think Vettel will still have the measure of Webber: he’s been faster in every qualifying session so far this year and that will probably equate to better race pace with Monaco’s tendency to bunch the field up. I also think unless Lotus can one stop they’ll suffer because of qualifying.

        1. Don’t make me laugh. With that kind of pace and tire wear rate, you trying to play down Ferrari ‘s easiness on tire??? Look at onboard video, both massa and fernando drove superb aggressively and the tire managed to hold on well.

          That’s exactly my point. Unlike other cars, Ferrari can go very fast on a set of tyres before it wears down.

          Both Ferrari and Red Bull went for a 4 stop in Spain, so the tyre wear was equal.

  3. I dont like how Di-Resta is constantly comparing himself to the McLaren cars. Its a bit like he is trying to make them jealous just cause he didnt get hired by them.

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      22nd May 2013, 2:33

      haha… now McLaren has a midfield-class car, probably it’s time to hire a midfield-class driver.. oh wait, they have Perez already.

      1. @omarr-pepper
        So Perez is a midfied driver but di Resta isn’t?

        Perez showed more potential in 2012 alone that Di Resta has done in his 3.25 seasons in F1 thus far.

        1. Perez showed more potential in 2012 alone that Di Resta has done in his 3.25 2.25 seasons in F1 thus far.

          Fixed.

        2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          22nd May 2013, 3:33

          The pun is to show Perez is better than DiResta, of course (my jokes are bad today… everyday probably :( )

      2. @dpod @omarr-pepper jokes aside, Force India is ahead of Mclaren and Sauber not only because they screwed up, but because they have a genuinely faster car this year, also it’s a shame Sutil has had bad luck, I always like to see midfield teams doing a better job than their richer rivals.

        1. @mantresx As you said McLaren and Sauber have done no favor to themselves with their cars and this coupled with the fact that Force India has a genuinely faster car in VJM06 has put them ahead of both McLaren and Sauber at this point in time. But I somehow feel that Di Resta is over-cooking his meal by repeatedly claiming like this. Either he wants to irritate McLaren or he wants to motivate his own team. That said, it is really disappointing to see the way Sutil’s races are getting ruined; otherwise we can have a realistic measure of Di Resta’s performances.

    2. This Di Resta is clutching to anything he can get his mouth on.

      Nobody wants him so he now resorts to self promotion which again nobody will care less.

  4. My reply to CotD.

    Just because Rosberg has out-qualified Hamilton in the past two races, don’t think he enters the Monaco Grand Prix as Mercedes’ best chance for victory. Do not underestimate Hamilton, especially at a track that he was unbeaten at until he found himself in a seat next to a certain Spanish chap.

    Rosberg isn’t a slouch around Monaco either. He had great pace but no track position in 2007, 2008 and 2010, out-qualified Schumacher by half a second in 2011 despite missing FP3, and of course the 2nd place last year.

    For me that makes Lewis Hamilton the favourite for the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix… which probably means Alonso will win.

    I lolled.

    1. @kingshark has your avatar just reverted back to an old one or have you taken the opportunity to change it?

      I agree though: Rosberg definitely has a chance here and he’s the one on form of course. I reckon this’ll come down to tyres, tyres and more tyres though!

      1. @vettel1
        I never changed my avatar, and I can’t even see anyone else’s avatar apart from a few. For whatever reason, the avatar’s either no-show or the old ones are portrayed.

        I have no idea what’s going on with this site, or it could be a gravatar problem.

        1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          22nd May 2013, 2:36

          The site was off for 16 hours (Keith already apologized for it) and it was a glitch out of anyone’s plans. I had to manually change my avatar (using Gravatar, seems like the ones posted directly in F1F are gone, which doesn’t mean I can’t have fun here, just for my “ID photo” being gone).

          Good to have the page back @keithcollantine, with or without avatars!

          1. @omarr-pepper
            Cheers man, I’ve tried to change my avatar back to the stunning La Ferrari despite its ridiculous name.

          2. Yea it’s back to usual now @kingshark. @bascb I am still without one as it was refusing me permission to upload one a whie ago but I shall try again.

            Thanks for getting the site back up though @keithcollantine and all else involved, that’s the main thing (my avatar isn’t really important)!

        2. I see your La Ferrari avatar @kingshark, as well as Omar, but Max is without Avatar for me so far.

    2. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
      22nd May 2013, 17:40

      @kingshark @vettel1

      Rosberg will be a factor, have no doubt, but if you want a perfect, no holes barred lap around Monaco, a lap that is ultimately probably going to be 80% of the weekend, Hamilton’s your man. He just absorbs all of the pressure of having just one lap and having to get it perfect and channels it in a manner that seemingly just converts into raw speed. Rosberg is handy at Monaco, but he just isn’t the specialist Hamilton is. This is Hamilton’s best chance to win the Monaco GP for some time now; he won’t waste it.

      1. @william-brierty absolutely this is Hamilton’s best chance at winning this year likely, so he’ll have a huge amount of self-motivation to pull it out of the bag. By the looks of it he won’t have wet weather to help him anyway, so he’s going to have to do it the hard way (which I’m sure he’s capable of). I think for once though qualifying isn’t going to be absolutely essential (still a big part, but not as much as previously) purely because of the lifespan of the soft and supersoft tyres likely making one stopping a non-viable option!

        1. @william-brierty
          How is Hamilton a specialist around Monaco?

          2007 — Out-qualified and outraced by Alonso.
          2008 — Hit the wall, very lucky with the pit-stop timing to win.
          2009 — Crash in qualy and lost a clear chance of victory.
          2010 — Finished 5th. Average but nothing special.
          2011 — His drive was a laughing stock.
          2012 — Finished 5th again, solid but nothing spectacular.

          How does that mark a Monaco specialist?

  5. The codemasters F1 game failed because you had to drive the car, if you want to do an f1 management game why would you want to drive it? Sadly this could put any future F1 management sim back 10 years (again).

    GPRM was progressing well. i did some testing for them when it was in the 2007 format as a pay back for doing some graphics work. It had fantastic potential, I hope one day it gets completed.

    1. Also the way to control the car was just awful. The whole mouse thing was undriveable, and having a pretty good machine and internet speed, it was laggy as hell! Personally that’s why I stopped playing after a week or two. And I reckon many others left because of this. A real dissapointment coming from such a great game maker as CM.

      1. The biggest complaint that I have about the game by far is that the AI is a joke. It took me about four months of practice on the F1 2012 game to beat Legend mode. Also, the AI are pathetic at wheel-to-wheel racing. They brake way too early for many corners, and give a position away far too easily. Before anything, they need to make the game a lot more challenging, and the AI a lot tougher and harder to beat.

        1. Nick.UK (@)
          22nd May 2013, 3:41

          It took you four months to beat legend and you want it harder?

          I didn’t play 2012. I ‘1000G’d’ 2010/2011 and decided that they were not different enough to warrant a third purchase, likewise there were too arcadey for my liking.

          Games AI in racing titles has always been terrible to be honest. It’s very hard to programe genuine intelligent cars. They would need to track the players position and react accordingly; with the player being totally random there would be too much scope for the AI reacting bizzarely. Games like Forza are the worst for AI, they just run a train around the circuit on a set line and never racing each other. You go up the inside on one of them and they just turn in on you no matter what, since its on a pre-determined path for the most part. The best racing I’ve had in a game was on F1 2010 online with 10 friends for pre planned full distance races. Single player, the best AI I’ve seen was on Shift 2.

        2. @kingshark +1
          The AI was crap. Unless you are struggling you can’t see AI fighting with you.
          I hope it changes this time.

        3. The AI of f1 2011 was crap .. the AI of 2012 was less crappier for sure. But I agree.. still a lot of scope for improvement on AI.

      2. Yea codemasters is great, they never make terrible games, oh wait, I forgot about every f1 game they’ve ever made…

        1. Well, can’t really have an opinion on those because I’ve never been able to play them, but what people say is pretty mixed. Still, CM has made games that IMO are really fun, like CMR and the TOCA series.

        2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          22nd May 2013, 3:48

          i have F1 2010 at home, and I’m just fed up of the penalties “marshal” decisions… a car stomps against yours when you are defending, and you get penalised!!! It’s like penalising Alonso and Hamilton at Spa for blocking Grosjean!

          1. Lol poor Grosjean was off to a flier before they got in his way…….

          2. Aussie F1 Fan
            22nd May 2013, 5:40

            Unfortunately you could have written F1 2012 and and the same would all still be true. No development work on this or lots of other sim aspects of the game in the last two releases at all. They seem to focus on making it LOOK like F1 racing, rather than FEEL like F1.

    2. I stopped playing eventually as well due to the frustration of the control scheme. However I also started playing iGPmanager (through ads on this site :D) as well and as a mangement game I find it to be quite fun.

    3. I just couldn’t get my head around the point-and-click driving style. It is a shame though that it didn’t take off, a team somewhere had obviously put in a heck of a lot of effort as it looked fantastic for a browser based game.

      Of course, Codemasters can do top-down racers – I happened to dig out a copy of Micro Machines V3 last weekend! Great fun with relatively simple controls, but still quite challenging racing. I don’t know why they didn’t just lift the engine from that – maybe they lost their copy or something :)

      1. Yeah i used to love v8 supercars (toca) race driver, cmr and micro machines games, but since they got the f1 licence they seem to have lost the plot

    4. oh my god, someone actually play-tested GPRM?! i thought that project was a hoax, what with years of little to no updates on the progress. it’s like Duke Nukem of Racing Manager games.

      1. It was real and it was brilliant. Yes it had bugs and you couldnt (in the version i tested) get beyond 6 races without it crashing. But the potential was massive.

        Sadly i think they spent to long to try put bits in it that were ahead of their time but the time its took to get it right it was no longer ahead of its time, but which point they had new ideas to add it and iron out. Never ending circle. I tested it in 2010 i think. Only for a month or so.

  6. Thank you for your wishes :D.

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      22nd May 2013, 3:09

      happy birthday then!!!

      1. Thank you, then!

    2. Happy Birthday @theseeker

      1. Thank you, sir!

  7. I’m rooting for Hamilton to win but Rosberg shouldn’t be underestimated, he’s very quick and he’s had more experience with how the Mercedes operates. With any luck it will be a Mercedes 1-2!

  8. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    22nd May 2013, 3:51

    Which car model is that Susie will drive? I remember arrows and Minardi used to have 2 or 3 seaters to give a ride to journalists… ridiculous thing, thee 2 Minardies crashed each other in the demonstration (I think Nigel Mansell and Alonso were driving them, really!)

    1. Yeah, please if anybody knows, put it up.

      McLaren used to have one, didn’t they give the king of Spain a ride once?

    2. The one in the image isn’t an F1 car, Its the 2 seater that was designed for the GP Masters series. That chassis actually started off as a Reynard been run in Champcar.
      I’ve uploaded all of the GP Masters stuff here:
      http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbM7X17wy_htf21hTJBtLzPkEwaRE96qP

  9. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    22nd May 2013, 5:14

    “…even if you win all the races, you’re probably not 100 per cent happy” – Kimi

    Even though this is kind of the “racer’s mentality”, I still think it’s an incredibly poor attitude and really… selfish, if anything.

    These guys are getting paid millions of dollars to race the most expensive and technologically advanced cars on earth, around the best tracks, all over the world. And to see guys like Kimi on the podium not even cracking a smile because they didn’t win, makes my blood boil.

    Look at the poor people who just lost everything in the OKC tornadoes. THAT is a real reason not to be happy.

    If you’re getting to do what you love, and getting drastically overly paid to do it, then there is no reason not to be happy regardless of where you finish.

    lol, sorry for the ethical rant, but geeze, Kimi gets on my nerves sometimes with some of the stuff he says.

    1. And to see guys like Kimi on the podium not even cracking a smile because they didn’t win, makes my blood boil.

      Look at the poor people who just lost everything in the OKC tornadoes. THAT is a real reason not to be happy.

      And to comprehend tragedies of that kind makes us realise that there are far, far more important issues in this world than whether a formula one driver celebrates race victories the way you would have him do so. Blood boil? Really?

      1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        22nd May 2013, 6:37

        Well, not boiling blood, but I do get annoyed when they come 2nd or 3rd, and dont even smile.

      2. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        22nd May 2013, 6:38

        It’s the fact that they act as if they dont appreciate coming anything other than 1st.

        1. It’s like Kimi treats F1 racing as a job! He’s been doing it for a long time and wasn’t very excitable even at the beginning of his career. There are plenty of people out there who are great at their jobs but don’t really get excited when they are performing at their average level. And if you’ve already earned a 100 million, money is not likely to make a difference to your enjoyment of the sport.

          I enjoy his grumpiness, and think he will have more reason to be grumpy after Monaco. Still hoping he manages to improve his qualifying.

          1. improves his quali?? he been qualified beautifully. Outqualified both faster ferrari in both occasions so far and 1 front row in China leaving the much faster rosberg in 4th.

          2. People are so shallow nowadays.

            They can only read people’s mind from his looks rather than from his inner side.

            He’s not happy meaning that he IS HUNGRY FOR SUCCESS. He is racing for himself, not for you guys. No reason for him to fake a smiles just to please lots of you. LOL

        2. Just like most professional sportspeople at the absolute top of their game. C’mon man, which of the 22 best drivers in the world wants to come anything but first?

    2. I feel sympathize with Kimi.

      Everyone been slating him for not being motivated enough, when he show hunger of dissatisfaction, people were slating him for not expressive enough….really???

      When we complaint F1 is lacking personality and we finally got 1….stop complaining, they aren’t racing for your sake.

      1. Was on a plane seated behind Kimi and i got his autograph via a request thru the airhostess as he seemed very aloof. No more a fan as the guy didnt bother replying when I wished hiim luck for the grand prix that weekend. Seemed very rude

      2. Omg the Kimi stuff is even more boring than the Pirelli rubbish, Kimi is Kimi move on…

      3. Manished – Kimi, personality? Pah! That’s the one thing he exactly lacks!

        1. That is a personality, and the kind that you don’t see too much in F1, with maybe Webber (and stretched Button) being only other personality, all other 19-20 drivers are just from same PR-mold with smiles and same “I hope next time we can unleash the potential of the car…, I hope I can continue as well in next race, blaablaa”. Yes, on very rare occasion some of the 19/20 driver lot might sometimes say something that was not prescripted for them in the ‘mold’. To me, *any* type of personality is a welcome bonus for F1 (PR-mold type not being personality for me, since it’s ‘standard).

          1. @vettel1 response to him

          2. I personally could care less about the personality of the drivers. Sure, if they are unique then its a bonus but in general I watch F1 for the thrill of seeing cars go flat-out around a circuit not post race interviews.

            I’m sure the drivers themselves can’t be bothered with them either.

          3. @lari no he doesn’t have a personality as such, that is why he is applauded! He literally doesn’t care about anything which is somehow refreshing as he doesn’t engage in all the media crap.

            James Hunt was a personality, Kimi Räikkönen isn’t!

          4. @vettel1 As from my pov, personality is something else than standard pr-molded driver. Being neutral is one form it. That’s just how I see it, be it good or bad. Personality is something that stands out from the standard (=pr-mold type), and Kimi stands out with his emotionless, couldn’t care less about media style. Never said all should like it, but IT IS personality. Even your boy likes Kimi the best out of them all ;)

    3. I’m not trying to be offensive but that point of view just says “loser” to me. Having the desire and drive to win and be successful’s an important part of a person’s makeup. It’s that desire to be excellent that forces people to improve themselves and I know I’m speaking very generally but without it we’d still be swinging through the trees eating bananas. There’s room for all types of people although those with your presented point of view are far less likely to get anywhere in life if they’re too busy thinking that they should be happy because life could be worse if they were born somewhere else.

      1. @alec-glen agreed on that: drivers are incredibly competitive and aren’t really happy unless they are winning once they’ve tasted the champagne. Besides, the champagne is of course always sweeter on the top step because you aren’t standing in anyone’s shadow: as Senna always said “being second is to be the first of the ones who lose”!

  10. I had a question: if a driver wishes to not talk to the media for an indefinite period of time, will he be allowed the privilege of being exempted from press conferences? Or is it obligatory for them to do so, otherwise their Super Licence will be cancelled?
    Some drivers really need to shut up.

    1. No, its obligatory to be in the press conferences staged by the FIA, not sure what penalties are given (i guess reprimands and hefty fines) @wsrgo

    2. Vettel being a classic example. THe guy just goes on harping about stuff not even conneccted to the question.

      1. @todfod it’s a way of stalling to avoid answering the question – quite a good tactic if you ask me (unless he happens to be talking about something boring like sand)!

      2. @todfod I actually had di Resta in mind when I asked that question.

        1. @wsrgo yes Di Resta is about as interesting as a piece of carboard, hence why I refer to him as carboard! This is even from a Scottish national who supports him somewhat…

          1. @vettel1 that’s a quite interesting analogy..who’s the Scotsman? Coulthard? Stewart?

          2. @wsrgo oh no I’m the Scotsman – I kind of support him for that reason but I’m still more of a “Germanophile”! ;)

  11. Hm, @William-Brierty, in the COTD you mention

    So only a bad start or the undercut will allow another car past a Mercedes, but this is Ross Brawn we’re talking about, and not the clowns that invited the undercut on Hamilton by both Alonso and Vettel last year.

    But Rosberg has certainly suffered from bad timing at the last 2 races for his qualifying run, and strategy at the Mercedes team has never been a good one. Just think of how often they have now stopped Hamilton at least a lap too late, making him lose a lot of time. And a lot of not all that clever strategy in the 3 years before that too, so I am afraid this won’t work for them!

    1. The whole matter boils down to this: Pirelli are predicting a 2 stop race, so I can expect Red Bull to stop twice, Ferrari also, Lotus will have to also as I don’t see the Supersoft doing 1/3 or more of the race. So presumably these guys have to do 2 stops; can Mercedes manage 2 stops; competitively? That’s the main question: if they can push throughout, they can win, Hamilton or Rosberg, both can because they are not separated by much.
      A three stopper for Mercedes will complicate things and get them out of contention unless they can go insanely fast on all stints.
      Somehow (but with less intensity) the same goes for Red Bull. They could not push in Spain and Ferrari/Lotus destroyed them in race pace, if Red Bull suffer from “tyre management” in Monaco, then we can be sure Alonso is running away with the championship, if they don’t and bounce back, it’s on.

    2. bad timing at the last 2 races for his qualifying run

      – just to be clear, I meant in the last 2 races in Monaco,

    3. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
      22nd May 2013, 18:39

      @BasCB @makana – Strategically, all Mercedes need to do is avoid the undercut. That’ll happily coincide with their higher tyre degradation which’ll mean they’ll probably be the first cars to pit. Following this theory, Mercedes will be under pressure in the final stint, of that I have no doubt, but if you’re running 1-2 on the grid you’re looking over your shoulder anyway, so Mercedes will get themselves nice and highly ranked in the speed traps, which should essentially eliminate any chances of being overtaken on track. I know Mercedes have made some rather odd strategic calls, such as trying to do a three stop last race, but they’re not idiots either. They know they will be on pole, and they know that if they can maintain the all important track position they will win. Expect fast Mercs in the speed traps and an aggressive strategy this weekend.

      What we will see this weekend I’m pretty sure is a uniform two stopper, with one stop being too hard even for the Lotuses and three stops is utterly out of the question on a track where track position is king. On that basis Mercedes only need to make sure they pit first at each stop so to avoid the undercut, which I’m sure they’ve already thought of. This will, of course, leave them vulnerable in the final stint, but I’m sure Mercedes have also thought of this, so expect the W04 high up in the speed traps, and with their inherently good exit traction, there will be no on track passes of a Mercedes this weekend. The only real issue for Merc is if say Raikkonen chooses to run the prime in Q3, extend his first stint and then get the undercut that way, but even that has its problems, with a prime lap-time likely to qualify you well into the second half of the top ten, so being able to pit after a prime stint and come out into the lead seems highly unlikely. No matter how you look at it, Mercedes are looking excellent this weekend.

      1. Thorough analyses @william-brierty!

        I agree with you that its highly unlikely someone would try qualifying on the mediums, its more likely that they would not run in Q3 instead, or that one of the cars right behind the top 10 would try something, but the last couple of races showed that does not really work in the end with the current tyres, but it might still be worth a try for some.

        I am not as sure as you are about not going to see 3 stoppers, If you remember 2 years back it almost was viable, so I can imagine that a team would try to go split strategy with that, or even on both cars, if they think the degradation will be to severe.

        1. off course that should read “… try qualifying on the mediums softs …”

  12. Hamilton will be on pole, that to me is a certainty, but the victory? Well, I personally don’t see why not. Historically, Mercedes have been quick in a straight line so they cannot be overtaken regardless of how bad their tyre issues become.

    Not so sure that Hamilton will be on pole, Rosberg is also good in Monaco…but yep i think the pole is between them.

    1. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
      22nd May 2013, 12:28

      Rosberg simply doesn’t have that ultimate level of speed that Hamilton has. When Lewis gets a bit lost on strategy, like in Spain, he can look somewhat average, but Monaco isn’t a hard track for setup so that isn’t a factor. With Hamilton on pole I only see a poor start or a hair brained strategy as possible reasons for him to loose.

      1. Lets see William, I certainly would not say Rosberg is not that great in qualifying, although he certainly showed several times last year that his nerves got the better of him when he had a good shot at pole, his last 2 poles should have gotten rid of that.

      2. @william-brierty

        I understand and i also see Hamilton very strong in one lap pace in Monaco…but the last two poles of Rosberg were impressive too…and it’s not guaranteed that Ham will be on pole…bahh maybe a 50/50..
        Although i’ll be shocked if the pole sitter is not a Mercedes AMG.

      3. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
        22nd May 2013, 18:52

        @bascb @nomore – Let’s not let context exaggerate Rosberg’s skill beyond actuality. Last year at Monaco, he had a car good enough to take pole and the win; he didn’t. Last year at Bahrain, he had a car good enough to take pole and the win; he didn’t. Last year at COTA, Hamilton had a car slower than Vettel’s for 2/3rds of the lap; but he won. Historically, Hamilton is the driver that squeezes a larger percentage of the car’s raw potential than Rosberg, although this arguably hasn’t been the case for much of this year, with Hamilton still bedding himself down in a new team, getting lost on setup and not getting to grips with the tyres. All of these factors will be of lesser influence around Monaco, with its low tyre degradation and uniform maximum downforce setup. Bearing this is mind, I’d express Hamilton’s chances of taking pole more as 70/30, and don’t think I am remotely a die-hard Hamilton fan…I support Ferrari!

        1. Historically, Hamilton is the driver that squeezes a larger percentage of the car’s raw potential than Rosberg, although this arguably hasn’t been the case for much of this year,

          – exactly what I meant to say @william-brierty.

          Lets not forget that Rosberg was trying to get his first pole with Mercedes last year, he clearly stuffed it several times (I would add Australia last year where he made several crucial errors after being fast in qualifying), but its well possible that he is now over that insecurity and has improved. Hamilton could just as well mess up from feeling the pressure on him to get the upper hand after the last race.

          I think its not yet clear that Hamilton really is clearly better currently than Rosberg.

  13. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
    22nd May 2013, 12:11

    @keithcollantine – Thanks for my first COTD! This site rocks…

  14. “I’m comfortable on street circuits” – Webber

    Is he really? At Monaco he most definitely is. But Melbourne, Valencia (partial street tracks) and Singapore (fully street track), Vettel has the upper hand over him.

    The only tracks Webber is definitively good is Silverstone, Monaco. Spa and Barcelona are two tracks he excels at but as 2012 Spa and 2013 Barcelona showed, that is by no means a certainty.

    1. Yeah, I was a bit surprised by Webber’s comment. Apart from Monaco, the circuits where he’s strong (Silverstone, Nurburgring, and Barcelona) are all relatively flowing circuits. He generally thrives there in comparison to Vettel, probably because of the difference in driving styles.

      1. I think Vettel thrives on all tracks…. except at ones in Germany.

    2. “”It probably goes back to my street-racing experience in Adelaide in Formula Ford. I’m comfortable on street circuits, although I can’t translate it to Singapore yet. I don’t know why.” – Webber.

      Maybe you didn’t read that part. Webber himself accepts that not all street circuits suit him.

    3. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
      22nd May 2013, 18:58

      Instead of a “street specialist” I’d say Mark is just track specific. He’s often excellent at Monaco, Silverstone, Sao Paulo, Barcelona, Spa, Malaysia, Suzuka and the Nurburgring, but not many tracks besides. Its almost as if Mark refuses to go well at tracks that he disapproves of, such as Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Valencia and Bahrain.

      1. I read somewhere (can’t now find it) that it’s the brake-turn-squirt corners where Vettel is better (e.g. all the 90 degree turns at Singapore) while Webber is better at the controlled throttle corners (e.g. most of Monaco, Suzuka’s S-curves).
        A technical explanation was given – something to do with Vettel’s mastery of the exhaust blown/sealed diffuser. Wish I could find it again.

  15. ‘On this day on F1’
    Marvelous old film from Spa. I watched both parts and was amazed at the difference between then and now in the amount of information being given out by the commentators – James and Murray. They obviously had access to no other information feeds and could only commentate on what they saw with their own eyes. As a result, they had to flannel like mad every now and then to fill in the spaces between the action and the lack of information! And I don’t think they ever said why the first start was abandonned.
    Commentating legends, both of them.

    1. @timothykatz At the end of the race Murray was building up to talk about how Prost was beginning the last lap – and then the chequered flag fell. They stopped the race a couple of laps early because of the false start but apparently did not tell the commentators!

      1. @keithcollantine Oh, but they did! Towards the end of the second vid clip, Murray explains that the race will be over 41 laps instead of 42 etc, etc, so *someone* must have told him. Maybe the organisers then miscounted or Murray forgot – or maybe even the organisers cut another lap from the race distance and didn’t tell anyone . . .

  16. German AMuS report that Pirelli will only change the rear tyres, that means it will be a relatively small change to the tyres.

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