2013 Monaco Grand Prix

[Kiril Varbanov]

Totally unhappy about the race - it had more crashes than overtakes. That pretty much sums it up + the bored reaction of Mark Webber on the post-race conference.

[banibhusan]

Totally unhappy about the race - it had more crashes than overtakes. That pretty much sums it up + the bored reaction of Mark Webber on the post-race conference.

It's amazing that you could tolerate it up to the post race conference. I turned the tv off after that extraordinary "over the top" overtaking move by the "Race crasher" Grosjean. The race was the pinnacle of bore-fest.

[SectorOne]

Watch and learn Perez. Not all you can win but my god Webber and Hamilton are professionals.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H73kgM-EaQ[/youtube]


Also quite interesting contradiction here... Toto saying Hamilton mysteriously was off pace in last sector.
Hamilton saying he was told to hold a 6 second gap. And Brawn saying double-stops you can almost do one after another, no need for a 6 second gap basically.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad7v5J10Klg[/youtube]

[Dyanxx]

Watch and learn Perez. Not all you can win but my god Webber and Hamilton are professionals.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H73kgM-EaQ[/youtube]


Also quite interesting contradiction here... Toto saying Hamilton mysteriously was off pace in last sector.
Hamilton saying he was told to hold a 6 second gap. And Brawn saying double-stops you can almost do one after another, no need for a 6 second gap basically.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad7v5J10Klg[/youtube]

I was expecting Webber and Hamilton to make contact, those 2 have history in the past, where Webber would rather make contact, than lose the place to an overtake.

[max_speed]

Totally unhappy about the race - it had more crashes than overtakes. That pretty much sums it up + the bored reaction of Mark Webber on the post-race conference.

It's amazing that you could tolerate it up to the post race conference. I turned the tv off after that extraordinary "over the top" overtaking move by the "Race crasher" Grosjean. The race was the pinnacle of bore-fest.

completely agree, it ws boredom to death. i think in the name of heritage they are running such boring races. its a show for ultra rich not for racing fans. racing fans like spa, silverstone etc etc.

[iotar__]

Watch and learn Perez. Not all you can win but my god Webber and Hamilton are professionals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H73kgM-EaQ

Like hell they are, watch and learn Singapore 2010:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxynNbw9WO4[/youtube]

[WhiteBlue]

I think we saw an entertaining GP which is not a given for this track when it does not rain. We got a race winner who dominated every practise and qualifying session and won three restarts that had negated his safety margin. It was a victory well earned for Nico Rosberg and Mercedes. They were tipped as the favourites by Alonso and they duly pulled it of. A shame they messed up the first safety car call for both drivers and Hamilton had to suffer from this. Their loss was Vettel's gain. He drove without a mistake and deserved the second place for the team's canny pit stop call. Mark Webber also did well as he usually does in Monaco.

It was a great shame for Raikkonen who was pushed out of the race by an over ambitious almost rookie. Perez in my view is not mature enough for a top drive and so he deserves the below par McLaren that he enjoys this season. He got no points for the team which was fair considering he destroyed a championship contenders race.

We saw some nice moves by Sutil and I think he did a super job for Force India yesterday to finish fifth.

Ferrari were not were they belong this season and that is an indication that the unusual tyre situation of the track simply negated their usual tyre management advantage and showcased the inherent pace of the Merc. They simply suffered the penalty for getting it right on all the other tracks. Merc suffered on all other tracks so it was simply the reversal of the usual fortunes. The supspension failures on Massa's car are slightly worrying. The accident in the race was a virtual copy of the FP3 accident regardless of what Massa said before. Alonso did not do such a great job as we are used by him under the circumstances. He lost two positions and would have been down two more if Perez had not taken out Raikkonen.

A special word of praise should go out to the people responsible for the track safety in Monaco. They were brilliant as were the marshals. The accidents that happened could all have been very much worse if they had not provided ample state of the art crash barriers at many critical points. The removal and repair work was done professionally and swift. Well done for all and thanks for a nice race.

[SectorOne]

Watch and learn Perez. Not all you can win but my god Webber and Hamilton are professionals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H73kgM-EaQ

Like hell they are, watch and learn Singapore 2010:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxynNbw9WO4[/youtube]

Compared to all of their overtakes in their careers this is like a fart in space..

Look at Korea 2011, Malaysia 2009, Bahrain 2013 etc etc etc. They are much safer drivers then guys like Perez/Maldonado etc.

India 2012 another good example. Put Perez in that situation and he would have taken out the whole group at the start.

[raymondu999]

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

[OppositeLock]

Perhaps F1 should take a page from other sports and have the Monaco GP as a classic event with modern versions of classic 1950's type racing chassis.

[RB7ate9]

Perhaps F1 should take a page from other sports and have the Monaco GP as a classic event with modern versions of classic 1950's type racing chassis.

OT: I wouldn't mind seeing something like that. I would say go so far as to make cars similar to 1967 in regards to being bound by mechanical grip only, with the necessary safety features. Or, if not, have the cars without front/rear wings (like Riccardo, post-Chilton).

On-T: More or less what I expected from Monaco with trains, processions, SCs, and some brilliant moves (by Sutil in particular).

[Kiril Varbanov]

Totally unhappy about the race - it had more crashes than overtakes. That pretty much sums it up + the bored reaction of Mark Webber on the post-race conference.

It's amazing that you could tolerate it up to the post race conference. I turned the tv off after that extraordinary "over the top" overtaking move by the "Race crasher" Grosjean. The race was the pinnacle of bore-fest.

I did the commentary for the local national TV, so I had to be there, plus simultaneously translating the conference - that was the only reason to stay until the lights went away.
Mark Webber said: "Not much to discuss, really, just driving around, keep the tires, and that was it".
That's actually one of the races where you can easily slip to say some stupid stuff on air, because there's not much to discuss on the track.
Monaco is indeed an outdated race, which should belong to classic old cars, not to the aero-downforce monster chassis of 2013. Again, the race is more dangerous than entertaining or sport.
I know that Monaco lovers will hate me, but that's how I see it. Eagerly and impatiently I'm awaiting a real race track.

[beelsebob]

They deserve to be treated like racing drivers in a race, and that's exactly how they were treated.

Screw status.

Win your points or shut the hell up imo.

The fact of the matter is that Kimi was the only person who didn't defend Perez's attack in a way which didn't ruin anybody's race. Kimi lost points because he wanted to give Sergio the squeeze. I've seen so many people saying "he was taking the racing line." Kimi was nowhere near the racing line.

Both cars went for the space, neither backed out when they could, and both cars paid for it. Simple as that.

I'm also kind of tired of the Kimi stroking. He can say all kinds of crap on the podium like his curses couldn't melt butter, and he gets treated like a kid who just said something "adorable".

That Kimi just says the darndest things =D>

Imagine the backlash a person like Hamilton or Maldonado would get if they turned potty mouth with a mic in their hand, talked to their engineers like he were trash and threatened violence towards other people.

Furthermore, if Grosjean was sitting in that Lotus when it ended up squeezing another car into the barrier (especially when regs state that if a front wing is far enough up your car, that you need to leave space), there would be a million people questioning his "spatial awareness" and had he got up and said the things Kimi said, he'd be on a skewer.

Screw that. I have nothing against Kimi, but Monaco is a sham of a race and Perez was one of the only reasons it could be called a race that day.

Yes Perez ended up not finishing, but he did it at least trying to race at a track where most would just give up and I respect him for that at least.

+1

[andartop]

If you no longer go for a gap that exists you are no longer a race driver.
So, what are you if you let everyone overtake you because you are afraid to close the door in case you damage your car and lose some precious championship points? Does not sound like Senna either, does it?

I applaud Perez for racing hard, but the way he overtook Alonso and he tried to overtake Kimi does not comply with my definition of fair racing. Here's why:

The defending driver had one of three options:
a. let Perez pass, by breaking almost to a standstill, just because he managed to put his front wing next to your rear wheel, hoping Perez might not make the chicane and be forced to hand the position back.
b. crash.
c. cut the chicane and be forced to hand the position.
It's a most likely lose-lose-lose situation.

For Perez, on the other hand, the possible outcome could be:
a. get an easy pass.
b. crash.
c. either manage to make the chicane, in which case he would get the position, or follow the other guy across the runoff area, in which case positions would be maintained.
Arguably a significantly smaller risk, especially given the fact he tried to pull this off against his team mate (who, let's face it, is not the No 1 defending driver and would not risk taking both team cars out of the race) and two championship contenders.

Would have really loved to see Perez pull this move:
a. against the 2012 Grosjean, Maldonado, or someone else of the same "caliper".
b. to anyone, but while being in the hunt for the championship himself while the other guy was not.

I don't blame Perez for going for it, he is clearly trying to prove himself as the "racer" in his new team against the old and rusty Button. I certainly wouldn't give him a penalty for the incident with Kimi.

But I also cannot blame Kimi for closing the door to Perez's face, as the guy is just as much of a racer as any Perez. I'm sure next time they are in a similar situation Perez will think twice before just "going for it", as will other younger F1 drivers, and that may well pay off more championship points for Kimi than a wasted 5th (whatever it was) place finish.

The exact same incident might have looked much less exciting if it had happened in any other track where we would have enjoyed some actual racing and some nice, clean overtaking moves, and opinions about the quality of entertainment Perez provided us might have been somewhat different.

[cooken]

To clarify the other relevant regulation here:

20.4 Any driver defending his position on a straight, and before any braking area, may use the full width of the track during his first move, provided no significant portion of the car attempting to pass is alongside his. Whilst defending in this way the driver may not leave the track without justifiable reason.
For the avoidance of doubt, if any part of the front wing of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a ‘significant portion’.

Sorry to pull this back but there seems to have been something brushed over. All this talk of "alongside" etc, however as I have highlighted in bold this regulation does not seem to apply once they have entered a braking area, and actually the first bit about being on a straight supports this as well. So from my understanding, whether he was alongside or not is moot as it was already well into the braking zone. Regardless though, there still needs to be ample respect and space left for safe and clean racing. I won't go any further than that to condone or condemn either driver as it is clearly an exercise in futility, I just think that is a quite important and interesting part of the regulation that needs to be considered.