2015 Monaco Grand Prix - 21-24 May

[SilverArrow10]

I didn't see it open now you mention it, DRS doesn't work well in Monaco anyway

[Phil]

LH: The team said to stay out, I said “these tyres are going to drop in temperature,” and what I was assuming was that these guys would be on Options and I was on the harder tyre. So, they said to pit. Without thinking I came in with full confidence that the others had done the same.”

"Without thinking" are the key words from Lewis right there, and further support the point I just made.

...but what were the Merc guys doing out in the first place? Thes certainly werent thinking of pitting Rosberg and handing 2nd place to Vettel, so it either was a bluff or, as the team have admitted by apologizing, indeed thought it was safe enough to pit, which it clearly wasnt.

Hamilton had such a lead, he couldnt see and know where the others were. At the very leasty he would expect from a competent team to tell him "look lewis, if you pit, even with cold tyres, you are risking your track position. Do you want to proceed?".

This act of stupudity only happened because Mercedes thought he had a sufficient lead to pit without risking track position. Even if it was close, it is still pure stupidity because pitstops always include some risks. You always want some safety margin but in Monaco, you do not risk track position. Ever. Especially not when you are on the same fricking strategy, same tyres etc.

[wickedz50]

Jeez a lot of tears from the Hamilton fanboys, don't worry he will cry on Puff Diddilys shoulder till he feels better.

Rosberg a worthy winner, held off Vettel the whole race and didn't get involved in any strategic errors. Good win that spiced up a boring race.

I'm not a Ham fan, but I'll just put my opinion firmly that Nico was not a worthy winner. This is another sour controversy in Formula 1 when it's already near the scrap heap.

I guess you would have wanted Nico to move aside and allow Vettel and Lewis to pass after the SC came in and then Vettel to move aside to allow Lewis to win.
Did Nico play any part in this fiasco in any way? both Nico and Vettel got lucky and that is how things go in a Grand Prix racing.
Roman climbed onto Alonso in 2012 in Belgium and ruined his championship and by 1 point. Did Alonso hue and cry? it goes on. Leave apart this one example there are plenty of incidents on track in F1.
All in all it was Nico's lucky day... fortune favors the brave.. Lewis and his crew had different ideas altogether...they like things very very safe...

[Phil]

Lewis and his crew had different ideas altogether...they like things very very safe...

They dont have seperate strategists. Hence the discussion.

[henra]

I'm not a Ham fan, but I'll just put my opinion firmly that Nico was not a worthy winner.

Come on guys, there is no such thing as a worthy or unworthy winner. It is a Sport. And in Sports the results count. Everything else is moot. Yes, sometimes the results are heavily influenced by luck/bad luck and or mistakes. This was one such case. Nico and Seb were lucky because the Merc Team made a mistake which resulted in Lewis being unlucky. This is Sports for you. If you have ever competed yourself in any kind of sports you will know, understand and accept that. No whining and bitching on earth will change what happened so why all the fuzz?

[alexx_88]

Things are pretty clear. When the call was made (doesn't matter by who at this point), the decision seemed to lead to a win-win scenario. The gap that Merc were seeing on their screen suggested that there was enough time for Lewis to pit and come out in front of Rosberg. Unfortunately, Lewis caught up with the SC, thus slowing his in-lap by a couple of seconds, putting him behind Vettel. Such a scenario was incredibly hard to predict and faulting the strategist means simply searching for a scapegoat.

The guys at Sky were simply pathetic. Saying that track position was king, conveniently forgetting that Ricciardo passed Kimi on the track, with newer tires. Nobody could have known how +30 lap old softs, cooled and then re-heated, were going to fare against fresh supersofts. They took what seemed to be a no-risk option to cover all circumstances. Logical thing to do in those circumstances.

[iotar__]

Roman climbed onto Alonso in 2012 in Belgium and ruined his championship and by 1 point. Did Alonso hue and cry? it goes on.

Not 2012 one point urban legend again. No, Alonso was very lucky to be in contention only due to circumstances (long list) particularly extremely lucky Valencia win because of two DNFs, including Vettel's. He ruined it himself by driving into KR in Suzuka. Since it's Monaco it was a miracle that he survived start pile up he caused in 2012 and didn't get a penalty. The pile up that ruined other drivers' race. He got one for less yesterday and he learned the hard way that he's not driving for Ferrari anymore and his team mate is Jenson "I'm going to Charlie" Button (as Magnussen did last season ).

(Arrivabene about Ricciardo-Raikkonen): "I was determined to have a hard look at the rules, but then I was told that now the move is allowed when the driver in front opens up the line and the one behind manages to put at least one wheel inside."

? The line was not "open" at all, there was no way of making this overtake without colliding with the other car, it's a corner - you turn, not enough space and the move was too late, it wasn't 50/50. What about the rules about causing collisions? So you can dive inside where there's no place for two cars, put the wheels counting on luck and as long as you survive it's OK? Why was Alonso penalised then, yes he lost the car but at least he could make it in front. In Ricciardo's case it wasn't possible without Raikkonen disappearing.

There's no consistency, last season Button took out Perez, it was a much simpler situation than Ricciardo's, he was clearly in front had the right to turn and Button drove into him - nothing, Raikkonen drove into Magnussen and reversed into his wing - reprimand, Alonso - penalty, Ricciardo - nothing?

[henra]

Things are pretty clear. When the call was made (doesn't matter by who at this point), the decision seemed to lead to a win-win scenario. The gap that Merc were seeing on their screen suggested that there was enough time for Lewis to pit and come out in front of Rosberg. Unfortunately, Lewis caught up with the SC, thus slowing his in-lap by a couple of seconds, putting him behind Vettel.

Indeed. The real mistake I see was not to rethink the plan once it was clear he got caught by the SC and the gap reduced rowards the critical value. The Initial idea was OK and a seemingly safe and clever Option.

Such a scenario was incredibly hard to predict and faulting the strategist means simply searching for a scapegoat.

Yes and no. Difficult to predict: Yes. But could still have been corrected once the facts were on the table. Possibly they didn't have the real gap (hence the discussion about GPS) once he was close to the pit lane and they second- guessed and gambled. That is what probably happened.

[dans79]

Come on guys, there is no such thing as a worthy or unworthy winner.

This is Sports for you. If you have ever competed yourself in any kind of sports you will know, understand and accept that. No whining and bitching on earth will change what happened so why all the fuzz?

I have to disagree, having competed at a high level as a runner in high school & college , I have personally experienced loosing to an unworthy opponent several times in relay races because a teammate did a sub par leg, or because I was running multiple races at a meet. loosing is never an easy pill to swallow, but loosing to someone who is simply better, is a lot easier to swallow than loosing to someone who is not. If I lost a race, I would do everything possible to obliterate them next time, so they and everyone else knew exactly who the best was. The opponents who ran their mouths after beating me, became special targets.

A decade and a half later, and the only races I really remember are the ones I won against competitors at the top of their game, and the ones that I lost that I shouldn't have.

[Andres125sx]

Roman climbed onto Alonso in 2012 in Belgium and ruined his championship and by 1 point. Did Alonso hue and cry? it goes on.

Not 2012 one point urban legend again. No, Alonso was very lucky to be in contention only due to circumstances (long list) particularly extremely lucky Valencia win because of two DNFs, including Vettel's. He ruined it himself by driving into KR in Suzuka. Since it's Monaco it was a miracle that he survived start pile up he caused in 2012 and didn't get a penalty. The pile up that ruined other drivers' race. He got one for less yesterday and he learned the hard way that he's not driving for Ferrari anymore and his team mate is Jenson "I'm going to Charlie" Button (as Magnussen did last season ).

It was a long time since I didn´t read so much bs in this few lines, Alonso was very lucky in 2012, his best driving ever when he lost his third title only due to Grosjean mistake, but for you he was very lucky....

There´s a difference between you, or your team (car) failing (Vettel in Valencia for example), or you and your team NOT failing but some third driver ruining you championship (Grosjean Spa), but anycase this is way too OT, so let´s talk about Monaco 15

[Andres125sx]

I´m shocked reading this was Lewis fault, ok he could have stayed on track because drivers always have last decision, but on that situation when he was the leader and don´t know what are real differences or what are doing the rest, drivers need to rely on his team

This is even less excusable since it´s the same strategist who knew driver behind Lewis (Nico) was NOT stopping, so they don´t have a excuse, this was a HUGE mistake

Now his team twitted it was his fault, but some people still insist it was Lewis fault.... What else do you need to accept it was a team mistake? Toto must kneel in public and beg for Lewis pardon?

[wickedz50]

I´m shocked reading this was Lewis fault, ok he could have stayed on track because drivers always have last decision, but on that situation when he was the leader and don´t know what are real differences or what are doing the rest, drivers need to rely on his team

This is even less excusable since it´s the same strategist who knew driver behind Lewis (Nico) was NOT stopping, so they don´t have a excuse, this was a HUGE mistake

Now his team twitted it was his fault, but some people still insist it was Lewis fault.... What else do you need to accept it was a team mistake? Toto must kneel in public and beg for Lewis pardon?

Don't worry, Toto and team will pit Nico one more than lewis each upcoming race to show how apologetic they are. May be Nico needs to pit couple more times than Lewis each race as redemption...

[Andres125sx]

About Verstappen, he was doing a great race, but then that mistake.... I don´t care if Grosjean hitted the brakes a bit sooner, he can do it if, for example, his brakes are too hot, so this was Max responsibility no matter how you look at it

It was a great race ruined by a big mistake. That´s what happens when you´re too agresive, you can do a great race, or you can end up on the barriers.

Funny thing is he gifted one more point to his main rival, his team mate





And McLaren.... finally first points! =D> It was a shame Alonso´s gearbox failed, both cars on points would have looked as a much much better result than one car and the other retiring.

Alonso said they expect two big steps forward in Hungary and Austria, let´s see what happens there, but car perfomance at this point (reliability apart) finally looks a bit promising

[evered7]

I´m shocked reading this was Lewis fault, ok he could have stayed on track because drivers always have last decision, but on that situation when he was the leader and don´t know what are real differences or what are doing the rest, drivers need to rely on his team

This is even less excusable since it´s the same strategist who knew driver behind Lewis (Nico) was NOT stopping, so they don´t have a excuse, this was a HUGE mistake

Now his team twitted it was his fault, but some people still insist it was Lewis fault.... What else do you need to accept it was a team mistake? Toto must kneel in public and beg for Lewis pardon?

Lewis didn't tell the team that he wanted to come in because he 'thought' Rosberg/Vettel had pitted. Team didn't tell him that neither Rosberg/Vettel pitted. Team of the opinion that tires were not good (low temp etc) for Hamilton (as mentioned by Hamilton). They see that the gap is more than enough to get him out on time with fresh tires. Miss it by a couple of seconds because VSC changes to SC and picks up Hamilton and also because they wait for Manor to pass.

Why is this then only the team's fault? Mercedes never had an issue heating up the tires and it is pretty difficult to pass in Monaco. Hence one cannot totally absolve Hamilton of any blame for this incident.

Maybe Hamilton shouldn't have cared about Rosberg's race just like he said in China and continued running his own

[Andres125sx]

Lewis didn't tell the team that he wanted to come in because he 'thought' Rosberg/Vettel had pitted. Team didn't tell him that neither Rosberg/Vettel pitted. Team of the opinion that tires were not good (low temp etc) for Hamilton (as mentioned by Hamilton). They see that the gap is more than enough to get him out on time with fresh tires. Miss it by a couple of seconds because VSC changes to SC and picks up Hamilton and also because they wait for Manor to pass.

Why is this then only the team's fault?

Maybe because that´s exactly his job?

If they can´t calculate Lewis was catching up the SC so difference with Rosberg and Vettel will be decreasing, they simply don´t deserve that job

And the responsible of the action knew he was not going to pit Rosberg because he´s the same person (only one strategist in Mercedes) so there was no reason at all to stop Lewis.

As Phil said, pitstops have an inherent risk, it´s a nosense to stop the leader in Monaco with just 10 laps remaining, complete nosense