2023 Monaco Grand Prix - Monte Carlo, May 26 - 28

[AR3-GP]

Do you think Merc will be pleased about their quali performance? Difficult to tell how good with that monster lap from Ocon.

There seems to be more speed in the W14 B but they tried a special setting in Sir LH car and it didn’t work…

Not to mention they could have been much faster in the run lap but they didn’t have enough fuel…

could have, should have, would have. They had two bites at the cherry (Hamilton and Russell), and they finished 6th and 8th respectively. What if Perez didn't crash? What if Norris wasn't compromised? What if Stroll didn't have his Q2 issues. What if Gasly did the same lap that Ocon did? It's never good to go down the rabbit hole of what ifs.

[TNTHead]

I didn’t miss anything. He clipped the barrier T15, and then drove into the wall on the finishing line. The RB has been the best car in S3, and he was bailed out by the straight line speed advantage.

This is a technical forum so you are going to get people who are capable of using telemetry so you can't just make up facts without expecting them to be verified.

RB don't have an advantage on the straights here this weekend: https://www.f1-tempo.com/. There is not more than 1 km/h difference in top speeds between RB and AM with AM being ahead by 1km/h in one straight, and RB leading by 1km/h in another. Virtually indiscernible.

Yeah when I checked briefly, Max gained an enormity of time in T13 I think. Way faster than anyone else, other than that corner the lap was very similar to LEC. Straights don’t matter here.

I think VER just kept his tyres alive in S3 while AM were at the point of overheating in S3 -therefore- a difference combined with a superb T13 with a lot of traction.

[CriXus]

Verstappen vs. Alonso: Qualifying Laps Compared | 2023 Monaco Grand Prix

[KimiRai]

Aston's weakness in S3 is explained by Tom McCullough, on this article

https://the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hug ... -pole-yet/

“All weekend we’ve found that our weak sector was sector three which consists of two low-speed corners immediately after the high-speed stuff and there’s quite a lot of warp in the road at those two corners and mechanically we just weren’t good there. They demand a lot of traction and we just couldn’t get the power down. We were the eighth-fastest car in that sector.”

With a mechanically weak rear end, the last thing the Aston needed was an extra prep lap, which would have made the rear tyres too hot in its weakest sector, at the end of the lap. “We tried to save the tyres for that last sector,” says McCullough.

“Fernando, knowing that, surrendered a bit of time into the chicane on that final lap, and we need to analyse whether that gained us more than it lost. We’ve got such a different car aerodynamically to last year and the tyres are different too. We’re still trying to understand it all. Fernando said the car felt super-strong in the high-speed and it’s always a trade-off. Did we get that trade-off right?”

[Bill]

[Sieper]

Martin Brundle saw it on the spot, as we all did.

Max has crashed there in the past, and was provisional on P4 or so only but he went all in. To me, that is what Monaco is about. So many guys today put in fantastic laps, and no shenanigans either. Just super tense, wall scraping action.

[NAPI10]

Alonso & Ocon side by side at the start....I am super worried now

[hollus]

That math doesn’t add up.

[AR3-GP]

Alonso & Ocon side by side at the start....I am super worried now

Securing P3 for the team when they are under fire from upper management should be at the front of his mind.

[avantman]

That math doesn’t add up.

yeah, I think he meant 0.15 there.

[langedweil]

That math doesn’t add up.

From the side-by-side it is very clearly Rascasse where the difference is made.
Must have been mainly tire optimum combined with the shorter line, as Alo's traction seemed to be slightly better during the first halve of the lap.
Clinging that barrier at the swimmingpool
was almost a Sainzy that could have easily crashed him. The barrier on the straight not so much I think ...

[djones]

It must be Xmas in Monaco! W14 and RB19 floor shots for the win!

To be fair, Sergio crashed here last year and photos leaked. It hasn't made a lick of difference for the competition in 2023.

Agree. RB will even walk down the pitlane with their floor exposed. Still .750-1second ahead of the competition.

Wait....

So are you saying at worst the Redbull is 0.75 faster than the others (I agree by the way).

Therefore in this race, Alonso was 0.6 a faster driver than Max?

[Hammerfist]

Do you think Merc will be pleased about their quali performance? Difficult to tell how good with that monster lap from Ocon.

There seems to be more speed in the W14 B but they tried a special setting in Sir LH car and it didn’t work…

Not to mention they could have been much faster in the run lap but they didn’t have enough fuel…

What do you mean they didnt have enough fuel? I thought they parked hams car earlly because he didnt have any new tires left.

Anyways, on the downside they have been outqualified by an Alpine but on the bright side they are much closer to pole than they were last year so the progress is there i would say.

[PlatinumZealot]

RB should get pole. Quite a bit of overreacting. The shows been crap this year, so this was prob the best bit of the season. Says a lot. Russell nowhere

Car is inconsitent anytime you see Russell and Hamilton see-sawing thru the sessions.

[PlatinumZealot]

So. Perez strategy. Start him on the grid on hard tyres, and fish for a late red flag?

He might just bag a podium too. Slap on mediums, use the mega DRS on the straight, and wait for safety car.