2012 Monaco GP - Monte Carlo

[foxmulder_ms]

I'll put money on Hamilton for qual.

When it comes to race, Mclaren should messed up again so winner can be anyone But I am rooting for Raikonen, they come really close in last two races.

My qual order:

1) Mclaren
2) RB
3) Lotus

[bhall]

I'll go out on a limb and predict the following outcome:

1. Pirellotteri winner
2. Pirellotteri runner-up
3. Pirellotteri second runner-up

[Neno]

I'll go out on a limb and predict the following outcome:

1. Pirellotteri winner
2. Pirellotteri runner-up
3. Pirellotteri second runner-up

i dont agree, trafic will be the bigger problem, you have 24 cars on track, 22 if you dont count HRT. tyers are the smallest problem in monaco. maybe only in qualy.

[nacho]

Though off topic slightly, I feel it is not fair to mock Pirellis this year. They don't degrade any more than last year and none complained at the same level then, except for marbles.

I feel the loss of EBD has evened the game and is enablin the smaller teams to develop cars much closer to the top teams.

It's the drivers losing complaining and they would complain anyways for some reason.

When Schumacher puts Merc on pole in two weeks time we'll see how raw the eggs are.

[Hail22]

Qualifying:

1st. Alonso
2nd. Hamilton
3rd. Webber
4th. Button
5th. Raikkonen

[raymondu999]

Im touting Webber, hes in the car that won Monaco the last two years, therefore has the performance characteristics.

That doesn't mean j*ck I'm afraid. The Red Bulls dominated Spain GP qualifying by a second over the last two years too, and were nowhere last Saturday.

[bhall]

I think you're allowed to say jack without imposing any limitations on the expression.

[raymondu999]

I'm not limiting it. I'm just saying - the use of the past two years as a barometer has completely been thrown out the window.

Given Vettel's relative success last year on a 1-stopper in Monaco, I suspect, with the difficulty in Monaco overtaking, that maybe Red Bull could go crazy enough to attempt a PLANNED one stop. With safety cars at the right times, it could certainly work. If not, an option-option-prime certainly would.

Despite the races we've seen so far I'm convinced we will see a more "regular" winner prevailing - I think it'll be between ALO, HAM and VET though RAI could spring a surprise.

[Websta]

I think he meant you didn't need to censor j*ck with the asterix.

I expect the McLarens to be strong: good traction + two Monaco winners in Button and Hamilton could yield them a front row lock-out. I have my money on Hamilton for pole and the win, it would be nice to see after last year's horrific weekend for him.

[raymondu999]

Knowing McLaren's recent track record - even if they do have the quickest thing on four wheels in Monaco; I suspect they will keep on pushing to lose it in the pits. They seem intent on helping Bernie spice up the show of late.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say option-option-prime or option-prime-prime will be the strategy used by the majority. With some crazy guy (I think Vettel could very well be one) managing to pull off an option-prime one-stopper.

Safety car predictions anyone? I say 2 SC periods.

[f1316]

I actually think the Mercedes will be strong here. People put a lot of emphasis on their top speed, but Rosberg was getting great traction compared to the cars chasing him (Button, Kobayashi, Vettel) and that'll help them in Monaco. It's the fast corners they struggle with, which is why they were less competitive in Spain.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see MSC get the fastest time in Q3 and so start P6.

[ArchAngel]

A one-stopper might sound intriguing for someone who's all but guaranteed to drop out of the top 10 due to a 5-place grid penalty. Shame though, as I don't think Schu's got the patience & Merc's got the car nor Pirelli the inclination to give them the winning lottery set for Monaco to make it work. Nah, it's 1pt for Schu or bust!

I'm counting on any of Grosjean, Di Resta, Raikkonen, Webber, Kobayashi or Hulkenberg to carry out Act 6 of Bernie's script. Or... what an insane thought -- Massa??

[zyphro]

I actually think the Mercedes will be strong here. People put a lot of emphasis on their top speed, but Rosberg was getting great traction compared to the cars chasing him (Button, Kobayashi, Vettel) and that'll help them in Monaco. It's the fast corners they struggle with, which is why they were less competitive in Spain.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see MSC get the fastest time in Q3 and so start P6.

I agree, the Merc seems to have great balance on low speed corners. I won't be surprised to see MSC get P1, he was very good around here last year in the race. I remember his overtakes on Hamilton and Rosberg; epic .

[Steven]

I expect a Lotus victory at Monaco, although I hope Alonso's Ferrari is working is well this year as it was last year.

Also note that the bump in the track that caused so many problems last year at the exit of the tunnel has been levelled out after analysing the track surface with laser beams.

[finishline]

Look at how many different predictions there are already in this thread already, it should be a very entertaining race weekend!