2012 Monaco GP - Monte Carlo

[nacho]

Luckily the teams didn't do it but I think there was a lot of opportunities for team orders at the this race. I think had Alonso let Massa through they could have scored a 3-4 and later on force Massa to give the position to Alonso.

Later on the race there was a chance for RB 1-2, had they told Webber to slighly lower his lap time to make a big enough gap for Vettel to pit in, it was pretty close at one point when the gap was around 18 seconds that it wouldn't have taken more than a few seconds more.

I felt almost quilty thinking of these things during the race.

[Chuckjr]

Wow. In case nobody has noticed in the midst of all the events transpiring today... the Ferrari in Alonso's hands just took sole possession of the WDC. Omg. Is there one person in this forum that can honestly say they thought that possible come Monaco after seeing that car in the first race??!

Absolutely incredible.

Gives an entirely new meaning to the phrase never say die.

[jamsbong]

I really feel Schumacher is the unluckiest in this GP. He has the car to win, mindset to do so as well and proved that in the Quali. Then the impending penalty from last race was applied, I think the last race was a racing accident, not worthy of a penalty. He has a good start but Grosjean wrecked his car.

After doing well in Quali, I find Grosjean lack of spatial awareness is costing him. I guess I'm not suppose expect much out of a n00b.

[Vitaterne]

After watching onboard, i feel that it would have been very difficult for him to keep an eye on the mercedes, considering the jolt Alonso gave him. Really bad luck on the Frenchman's part in my opinion.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x90zXuS1xKc[/youtube]

[raymondu999]

Wow. Amazing how things just nearly fell into place for Vettel and Alonso. Alonso could have won nonetheless, by staying out for one or two more laps on his supersofts while Rosberg and Webber struggled on their supersofts, but I guess the same could be said for Hamilton, and for Rosberg on Webber.

I think were it not for Raikkonen, Vettel would have won today. Raikkonen hit the cliff a la China, and he just held up the midfield, giving the leaders a gap. Had he not hit the cliff, or had he pitted as soon as he hit the cliff, then the leaders would have had traffic, and given Vettel that extra 3 seconds for his pitstop gap (I believe the gap at its peak was 17.2s over Webber).

I admittedly only watched live timing and through Twitter commentary, but it seemed clear to me that the cooler conditions weren't really conducive to the new softs heating up in the middle of the race, whereas someone like Vettel would have had the heat in his softs from earlier in the race, and by just pushing, and having the supersofts later on which are easier to warm up in cooler conditions.

Anyways - kudos to Mark for holding it together. I was hoping for a Vettel win to see someone come up from the back of the grid to win Monaco (I think the last time it was won outside the top 3 grid starters was Panis?) but hey... you can't have everything. Rosberg... I'm not sure what he's trying to pull here. He kept saying that he had the fastest car that weekend. I mean, he probably had, given that the twin car was fastest in qualifying - but he's just degrading himself with that comment IMO, in a "I had the best equipment, but I couldn't beat this guy in lesser equipment" way. Other drives of mention? Kovalainen, and Vettel's long strategy IMO. Nearly held it on for the win as I've said above.

Alonso just looked so content with 3rd. I think he's switched focus to the bigger picture, and understands that given any Tom, Dick and Pastor can win a race on any given day, it'll be the non-victories that will decide the bulk of the championship hunt, which after this race and last I'm utterly convinced will go to either Vettel or Alonso

Lotus were terrifically disappointing, of all places where they were supposed to shine or reported to do so, especially with the outright circuit record (not lap record - that goes to fastest "fastest lap of the race") holder in Kimi Raikkonen. In fact I think he broke it twice, once with his 2005 pole, and then again in 2006 with an even quicker lap. Vettel holds the quickest pole lap which is quicker than Raikkonen's 2005 lap, but it's not as quick as Raikkonen's 2006 lap.

Lotus were saying they had bad traction and so expected to struggle. I didn't really see that in the race to be honest. But it seems to me that they can't marry together rear conservation and good traction in a traction-dependent circuit such as this one. They weren't bad in Bahrain - but has to be said Kimi started every stint with new tyres, giving him the fresher grip and longer life. Worrying thing for them is it's another traction heavy circuit next.

[bhall]

Red Bull split the strategies of Webber and Vettel very early on in the race to maximize points. Webber was set up to win without rain, which he did, and Vettel was set up to win had it rained. That was the only chance he had.

[raymondu999]

I disagree. Even without rain, Vettel could still have won. Without the Raikkonen train clearing a gap to Vettel (It was up to 12s of free air between Raikkonen and Vettel at one point) then when the leaders pitted they would be stuck in traffic. Vettel at one point had 17.2s of a gap to Webber. Had he had 3 more seconds it would have been a victory for Vettel.

[jamsbong]

After watching onboard, i feel that it would have been very difficult for him to keep an eye on the mercedes, considering the jolt Alonso gave him. Really bad luck on the Frenchman's part in my opinion.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x90zXuS1xKc[/youtube]

Nice onboard. I've looked at it a few times. Grosjean adjusted the car twice after touching Alonso. Both adjustment was towards the left. Clearly, he was keeping eyes only on Alonso and trying not to hit him. On a different vid, i saw Michael evade Grosjean until he ran out of space. grosjean needs to be more aware of his surroundings, not just the front right. Hehehe...

[sknguy]

Massa ran a pretty decent Monaco race today. I was wishing he would've backed off when he was behind Alonso so that he could preserve his tires... but I understand his wanting to make the point that he was quicker. Unfortunately, I think Alonso was in tire management mode in that phase. You know, Massa was very smooth entering and going through the turns. But he can still be a little sloppy at times getting back on the pedal. All in all, good race Massa.

[Red Schneider]

After watching onboard, i feel that it would have been very difficult for him to keep an eye on the mercedes, considering the jolt Alonso gave him. Really bad luck on the Frenchman's part in my opinion.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x90zXuS1xKc[/youtube]

It certainly doesn't look egregious on Grosjean's part, but I still think he moved too far to the left after contact with the Ferrari. My pet theory is that these kids grow up karting aggressively from the time they're little kids and they never really learn what defensive driving is. We went over this in last year's Monaco's thread - learn to keep yourself out of trouble.

It is my belief that a more aware driver would have sensed there was a car on the left. Maybe he could have heard Michael's engine; maybe he could have seen him in his mirrors. I know when I'm driving I have a sense (from regularly checking my mirrors) of whether I have space to move to the left if something is encroaching on my space when I'm in the curb lane, e.g parked car door being opened, car looking to pull onto the road, etc. If I know there is no one in the way I am comfortable moving half-over into the next lane to give a wide berth, but at least I know whether there is someone there or not. Granted it's just street driving, but I have the mindset of paying attention to who's around me 360 degrees and importantly, desiring to avoid contact. Grosjean (and others) are sort of like "whoopsy daisy, guess there was someone in that space I tried to occupy after all..."

Besides, jeez, it's the first corner at Monaco. If there's one place you don't want to move about willy-nilly it's the first corner at Monaco. He should have stayed closer to Alonso IMO. Better to hug the devil you can see than drift over to the one you can't.

[jamsbong]

I like to new voting system on the upper right. It should reduce much of the stuff that i post. Sorry out of topic reply.

[ArchAngel]

...The start, though, was not Hamilton's only issue as the McLaren driver was heard telling his team over the radio that "someone's dropping something from the pit wall" and that it "hits me on the head."

Explaining after the race exactly what kept falling on his head, the Brit said: "The guys hold the pit boards over the track and two or three slips fell out and hit me in the front of the helmet.

"I was like 'guys this is getting ridiculous' as they kept dropping them and dropping them."

Surely by now Lewis has figured out that they were 'dropping him hints.' After the itchy nuts, kudos to his team for coming up with something new & imaginative. Nailing him on the noggin as he whizzes by the pit wall at over 200kph, their aim & timing must've been impeccable.

[FW17]

How come Massa did not get a penalty for ignoring yellow section in Q2. He almost tagged the back of one of the Torro Rosso.

[Teechnical]

How come Massa did not get a penalty for ignoring yellow section in Q2. He almost tagged the back of one of the Torro Rosso.

That was white flags showing, not yellow.
White means there's a slow car ahead or something like that, in those circumstances you don't necessarily have to slow down, just be careful.

[djos]

Beautiful drive by Webber for the win. Was the favorite all weekend for me.

Stunning tyre whispering from WC Vettel to take him from 9 th to 4th. Intelligent stuff.

Alonso in a dodgy Ferrari shows why he is a true champion.

Well deserved win for RB....especially in cars that are certainly not the best.

Both Mark & Fernando have shown a real ability to get good results with less than perfect cars this year, compare that with Vettel who only seems to win when the car 100% perfect for him (eg Bahrain and apparently that was Webber's setup he used).