2014 Monaco Grand Prix

[Cam]

I'll stick with the honest and upfront guys like Fernando...

Well, Alonso has done some pretty dishonest stuff. Did you overlook that or simply not know? FYI, he escaped sanction by turning dibber dobber and selling everyone out.

"The e-mails show unequivocally that both Alonso and de la Rosa received confidential Ferrari information," FIA said in a 15-page explanation of the World Motor Sport Council's decision to fine McLaren a record US$100 million and expelled it from this year's constructors' championship.

"Both drivers knew that this information was confidential Ferrari information," it said.

Funny how words such as 'great' and 'best' are used to describe a sports person sometimes.

[turbof1]

Let's refrain from going into 2007 spygate relatives in the 2014 Monaco Thread.

[Juzh]

..but don't forget the lying..

I'll stick with the honest and upfront guys like Fernando, Daniel and formerly Mark .... Heck even Kimi!

Am I reading this right? Mark?? Alonso

[thedutchguy]

If anything it's Hamilton giving himself that KO. There really is no need though, so Nico won a race it's no big deal, had to happen sooner or later. I wish Lewis could learn to practise what his father preached and do his talking on the track, I'm getting flashbacks of 2011 and I really don't want him to go there again.

Agreed!

Interesting quote from Rosberg from last week (before the Monaco GP): "Lewis' strengths and weaknesses have not changed. He is incredibly fast on track, but he can snap if something is not quite right for him." (http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns28097.html)

And that's exactly what we saw this weekend. I think Rosberg made the 'mistake' in Q3 on purpose and if so, it was brilliant. Lewis took the bait and has been whining ever since. Part of being a great champion is being great in defeat. Hamilton clearly isn't great when things don't go his way and his refusal to congratulate Rosberg after the race was the low point of the weekend.

[iotar__]

After re-watching: - I'm stupid I thought Bianchi's penalty was different but who would have guessed this: JB: "The first one I knew was because Gutierrez stopped in a position forward and Max did the same and when I saw that I wanted to do the same." "Everyone did it" excuse. Not knowing the rules is funny, that his RE didn't tell him is even more but then again Marussia doesn't know penalty serving rules either. IMO he was lucky they didn't call him for a proper penalty stop, first one was technically voluntary.

- Raikkonen on Magnussen was as clear a case of one-sided causing a collision as you'll ever get and one of the worst and comical overtaking attempts in recent F1 history. Magnussen had engine problem and tried everything to get out of the way after stupid dive and he still couldn't make a corner. How they spun it into reprimand is beyond me, it means (also Monaco and Monza 2013) they basically can decide to not penalise any collision, or of course penalise any meaningless racing incident instead.
- Chilton gets a reprimand but Button takes out Perez and nothing happens. His fault and similar to Magnussen-Raikkonen in Australia except K.R. was able to continue, friendly stewards conveniently closed their eyes on this one? Since it wasn't Maldonado no penalty, guaranteed if it was him.

[MercedesAMGSpy]

If anything it's Hamilton giving himself that KO. There really is no need though, so Nico won a race it's no big deal, had to happen sooner or later. I wish Lewis could learn to practise what his father preached and do his talking on the track, I'm getting flashbacks of 2011 and I really don't want him to go there again.

Agreed!

Interesting quote from Rosberg from last week (before the Monaco GP): "Lewis' strengths and weaknesses have not changed. He is incredibly fast on track, but he can snap if something is not quite right for him." (http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns28097.html)

And that's exactly what we saw this weekend. I think Rosberg made the 'mistake' in Q3 on purpose and if so, it was brilliant. Lewis took the bait and has been whining ever since. Part of being a great champion is being great in defeat. Hamilton clearly isn't great when things don't go his way and his refusal to congratulate Rosberg after the race was the low point of the weekend.

Oh? Is Vettel or Alonso being great in defeat? I don't think so, but they are great champions. Nico can do the tricks he wants to do, raw speed/talent will always win in the end. And Hamilton's backyard Canada is coming up.

[thomin]

Räikkönen was a bit unlucky that his car jumped over the kerb, otherwise he would have gotten around without a problem. So a reprimand makes sense to me. It wasn't a comical attempt, but one with a real chance. But as it turned out, he slightly misjudged. Not enough to penalize him harshly, but enough to not let him get away in penalized.

Also, I didn't see how Button was at fault regarding his collision with Perez. It was a racing incident that can always happen in those crowded streets of Monaco.

[timbo]

Can someone tech savvy to explain the difficulties of driving with only one brake, Alonso was driving only with thre right brake in the last part of the car.

It's a bit of exaggeration, if he lost left brakes fully he'd crash, there's no way around that.
When the braking is applied with different forces between sides of the car the turning moment immediately appears proportional to the force difference. So he likely had some disbalance and it should have been hard, but no way it was all brakes on one side.

[thomin]

Oh? Is Vettel or Alonso being great in defeat? I don't think so, but they are great champions. Nico can do the tricks he wants to do, raw speed/talent will always win in the end. And Hamilton's backyard Canada is coming up.

TBH, I can't see how Vettel is being terrible in defeat. Granted, his mood isn't the best when losing out, but he doesn't attack his team or his team mate. He always congratulates Ricciardo for example and acknowledges his superior performance. And while he surely doesn't like that, he's not engaging in any mind games either but focuses on himself.

Or when in Monaco he immediately appeased the team by acknowledging that they work as hard as they can after his rash complaint over the radio.

Fernando of course is a slightly different animal. Though even if he is a sore loser, he's certainly more clever about it than Lewis, not presenting his emotions on a silver platter.

[MercedesAMGSpy]

Oh? Is Vettel or Alonso being great in defeat? I don't think so, but they are great champions. Nico can do the tricks he wants to do, raw speed/talent will always win in the end. And Hamilton's backyard Canada is coming up.

TBH, I can't see how Vettel is being terrible in defeat. Granted, his mood isn't the best when losing out, but he doesn't attack his team or his team mate. He always congratulates Ricciardo for example and acknowledges his superior performance. And while he surely doesn't like that, he's not engaging in any mind games either but focuses on himself.

Or when in Monaco he immediately appeased the team by acknowledging that they work as hard as they can after his rash complaint over the radio.

Fernando of course is a slightly different animal. Though even if he is a sore loser, he's certainly more clever about it than Lewis, not presenting his emotions on a silver platter.

Showing or not showing wasn't the point I made. Being angry finishing second is actually a sign of a world champion. For sure when you think the winner cheated.

[komninosm]

BTW what exactly did happen to Hamilton's eye?

The tears obscured his vision.

Is that sarcasm?
/Sheldon

[komninosm]

Oh? Is Vettel or Alonso being great in defeat? I don't think so, but they are great champions. Nico can do the tricks he wants to do, raw speed/talent will always win in the end. And Hamilton's backyard Canada is coming up.

TBH, I can't see how Vettel is being terrible in defeat. Granted, his mood isn't the best when losing out, but he doesn't attack his team or his team mate. He always congratulates Ricciardo for example and acknowledges his superior performance. And while he surely doesn't like that, he's not engaging in any mind games either but focuses on himself.

Or when in Monaco he immediately appeased the team by acknowledging that they work as hard as they can after his rash complaint over the radio.

Fernando of course is a slightly different animal. Though even if he is a sore loser, he's certainly more clever about it than Lewis, not presenting his emotions on a silver platter.

Do you forget how Vettel treated Mark?

And LOL at the guy above who said Alonso is honest
I mean he and Briatore made his teammate crash to give Alonso a chance to win... =D>

Oh? Is Vettel or Alonso being great in defeat? I don't think so, but they are great champions. Nico can do the tricks he wants to do, raw speed/talent will always win in the end. And Hamilton's backyard Canada is coming up.

.

Showing or not showing wasn't the point I made. Being angry finishing second is actually a sign of a world champion. For sure when you think the winner cheated.

Not to mention a certain video where Senna talks about Prost right after a race.

[thomin]

Showing or not showing wasn't the point I made. Being angry finishing second is actually a sign of a world champion. For sure when you think the winner cheated.

I know, and I agree. My point was that it goes deeper than that, which also goes to your point about the quickest driver always prevailing. In a season like this you certainly have a point, but going forward, other qualities also play a big role. For instance, if you alienate your team, you may find yourself without a drive sooner rather than later. F1 is a team sport, so merely being quick is not good enough in the long run. It's a necessary prerequisite and Lewis is blessed with an amazing natural talent there, but in the long run, there's more to being a champion.

[thomin]

Do you forget how Vettel treated Mark?

.

I cannot remember Vettel saying anything bad about Mark or the team, certainly nothing that is even close to what Hamilton has said in recent weeks. No mind games or dicey interviews or anything. In fact every time Seb spoke of Mark, he was very respectful.

Sure, we've had the famous Multi21 incident, but then that's just being competitive. Mark has tried the same with Vettel before several times and as we've now heard, so did both Nico and Lewis in Bahrain and Spain.

[SiLo]

Personally I like it when they bitch and moan and complain. It shows emotion and that's what I want to see. His comments about the Merc strategist were maybe a bit harsh, but he wants to win, and currently it seems there is no opportunity to use strategy to do so between team mates, which I think is a little unfair.

Maybe if they let him pick his own strategy he would feel better, if it goes wrong they can tell him to shut up, if it goes right, they will likely still get a 1-2 and Hamilton will be happy.

I think there is a lot to enjoy about this year but Mercedes are slowly taking away from it. If they want to turn up the engine, let them. If they want to make their own strategy, let them. The problem here is the drivers championship is way more fun to follow than the constructors, and Mercedes are SO far ahead they should let them do what they want.

I'd rather have the drivers show their emotion than bottle it all up and play happy families. Imagine what 1988 would have been like if they had done that? Nowhere near as exciting. Same goes for this year, let them fight, let them race and give the fans a show. We love the gossip and the fighting, the arguments and the complaining really, if everyone was best friends it wouldn't be half as exciting.

There will probably be a nice long, well constructed argument following up, where someone picks apart my thoughts and has a nice little factual retort or pedantic one liner, but I don't care. I want to see real competition, not muted competition.