2016 Monaco Grand Prix - Monte Carlo, Thu 26 – Sun 29 May

[Vasconia]

I dont see why FI should be ahead of ToroRosso which has a better chasis and both drivers who can deliver on this track.

Toro Rosso should be slightly quicker but last season it was Perez that delivered and not Toro Rosso drivers. Since he doesn't have PR BS machine behind him it might have gone generally unnoticed. For those who watch NBA, Red Bull's version would be: "Adams hit Green's leg with his crotch" aka brake testing .

You are right, Perez loves this track so he should do a good race. But I think this year the TR is stronger, anyway, we will see.

[Kiril Varbanov]

Some prep stuff from Monaco - Too tight to pass? 9 mighty Monaco overtakes - http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-web ... takes.html

[iotar__]

Some prep stuff from Monaco - Too tight to pass? 9 mighty Monaco overtakes - http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-web ... takes.html

Driving past Maldonado who had a broken gear box and retired seconds later is considered not only an overtake but one of the "Monaco's 9 best" and one that goes on the photo to sell it ? This is your "official F1", in absence of real performance they really are trying too hard. What's next, gifted FP best time after cutting a corner will be in top 5 drives of the century?

Nice of them to include Perez on Button, bully move but with some car control. Perez about tyres

“In Barcelona winter testing, the gap between them [Ultra & SuperSofts] was very small. Warmup between them was very similar. It will be interesting how the warm up is here with the UltraSoft, whether it helps a bit.”

With the harder compounds usually unfavoured by the teams at each event, Perez thinks Monaco may be an anomaly due to the nature of the track: “Here might be a different story. Obviously, a lot of people will be trying for track position, it’s everything at Monaco. The less stops you can do, the better. We have three sets of Softs, lets see how they perform and we’ll see if people choose various strategies or not.”

So the weaker ultra S the better for the entertainment?

[GPR-A duplicate2]

It is most likely that Mercedes and Ferrari would want to remain on SuperSofts on Q2, so that they can start on SS. A short circuit, without a great long straight to show their PU grunt, it would be a risky strategy though, as everyone behind them would bolt US and the leading teams might just get blown out of Q2 with above strategy. Very interesting to see how this unfolds. You start on US, there is no way they can do a one stopper, IF (A BIG IF) US considerably wears out faster than SS.

[turbof1]

It is most likely that Mercedes and Ferrari would want to remain on SuperSofts on Q2, so that they can start on SS. A short circuit, without a great long straight to show their PU grunt, it would be a risky strategy though, as everyone behind them would bolt US and the leading teams might just get blown out of Q2 with above strategy. Very interesting to see how this unfolds. You start on US, there is no way they can do a one stopper, IF (A BIG IF) US considerably wears out faster than SS.

They risk getting undercut during the race. Ultrasoft seems to be the best option in most if not all situations.

[Godius]

I dont see why FI should be ahead of ToroRosso which has a better chasis and both drivers who can deliver on this track.

Toro Rosso should be slightly quicker but last season it was Perez that delivered and not Toro Rosso drivers. Since he doesn't have PR BS machine behind him it might have gone generally unnoticed. For those who watch NBA, Red Bull's version would be: "Adams hit Green's leg with his crotch" aka brake testing .

IIRC the TR pit crew messed up Verstappen his first pitstop big time. He lost over a minute waiting for the crew to get the job done. If it wasn't for that he could have easily overtook or preformed the undercut to Perez who he was catching quickly. But because of that messy pit-stop he was forced to make his way through a lot of cars.

[WaikeCU]

Any chance of one stopping and hoping for a safety car? Second half of the race on Softs making car as wide as possible and becoming a mobile chicane?

[Vasconia]

Any chance of one stopping and hoping for a safety car? Second half of the race on Softs making car as wide as possible and becoming a mobile chicane?

You can always try it when you are Perez or Kimi. It depends on the temperatura but I think it could be possible. My biggest doubt would be how many laps can the US last.

[Nuvolari]

Vettel did a 7 lap stint on the Ultra Soft in Barcelona pre-season testing. I found part of the lap times:

1:29.0
1:29.7
1:30.2
1:30.8
1:31.6

The degradation rate in barcelona was 0.65s/lap...seems similar to the deg rate observed with some other teams on the Soft tyres. Don't know whether anything can be drawn from this, but I'd guess they should be able to do a high 19/low 20s for 20-25 laps on US, given that Vettel was doing average of 1:20.6 on SS for 34 laps in last year's race. Let's see what they can do in Practice!

[Henk]

I dont see why FI should be ahead of ToroRosso which has a better chasis and both drivers who can deliver on this track.

Toro Rosso should be slightly quicker but last season it was Perez that delivered and not Toro Rosso drivers. Since he doesn't have PR BS machine behind him it might have gone generally unnoticed. For those who watch NBA, Red Bull's version would be: "Adams hit Green's leg with his crotch" aka brake testing .

IIRC the TR pit crew messed up Verstappen his first pitstop big time. He lost over a minute waiting for the crew to get the job done. If it wasn't for that he could have easily overtook or preformed the undercut to Perez who he was catching quickly. But because of that messy pit-stop he was forced to make his way through a lot of cars.

And a lot of people here are still thinking Sainz will outpreform Max in a TR. Max messed up in Q3 but was really quick in the race. If he doesn't mess up again he will be right behind Ricciardo.

Rain is very hard to predict around Monaco, almost impossible, that said it's probably to be changing conditions. Dry qualifying I see Mercedes dipping into the 12's, Mclaren will do a high 13. Also the hottest race of the season thus far, the ultra soft may not be a good race tire.

I'm predicting half a second quicker than you think because that seems to be the trend with your predictions.

[SR71]

My first prediction....

This doesnt make me a fanboy of a particular team or driver, just a gut feeling:

Mclaren Top 5 Race Finish.

[giantfan10]

My first prediction....

This doesnt make me a fanboy of a particular team or driver, just a gut feeling:

Mclaren Top 5 Race Finish.

based on what exactly? because mclaren says they are on par with Ferrari because they were less than 2 tenths faster in one sector in Barcelona?
this is not directed towards you but its amazing watching some fans of F1 being led by the nose like sheep by some teams nonsense press releases.
Now the Mclare drivers are backing away from the nonsense their team principal said earlier this week.

"We have to be realistic," said Alonso. "And to have the feet on the ground first, put the car on the track tomorrow and see how competitive we are."We came here last year with some expectations as well, it being a very low power effect, and we were not very competitive. We were still 10th or 11th last year in qualifying.
"I think Mercedes will be very strong, Red Bull very, very strong, Ferrari will be also competitive.
"We need to make sure that we are close to that group of cars, and if we can be somewhere there or right behind them, it's a good result for us. But that means seventh, eighth, ninth or whatever, it's still not a magic position, I think we're still not that competitive."
Button:
"We do have a good car but still, there are a lot of good cars out there – the Red Bull, the Mercedes, the Ferrari – it is going to be very difficult to beat any of them.

[SR71]

My first prediction....

This doesnt make me a fanboy of a particular team or driver, just a gut feeling:

Mclaren Top 5 Race Finish.

based on what exactly? because mclaren says they are on par with Ferrari because they were less than 2 tenths faster in one sector in Barcelona?
this is not directed towards you but its amazing watching some fans of F1 being led by the nose like sheep by some teams nonsense press releases.
Now the Mclare drivers are backing away from the nonsense their team principal said earlier this week.

"We have to be realistic," said Alonso. "And to have the feet on the ground first, put the car on the track tomorrow and see how competitive we are."We came here last year with some expectations as well, it being a very low power effect, and we were not very competitive. We were still 10th or 11th last year in qualifying.
"I think Mercedes will be very strong, Red Bull very, very strong, Ferrari will be also competitive.
"We need to make sure that we are close to that group of cars, and if we can be somewhere there or right behind them, it's a good result for us. But that means seventh, eighth, ninth or whatever, it's still not a magic position, I think we're still not that competitive."
Button:
"We do have a good car but still, there are a lot of good cars out there – the Red Bull, the Mercedes, the Ferrari – it is going to be very difficult to beat any of them.

Well as long as we're calling fans sheep it's hilarious that some fans still haven't picked up that team principals say outlandish things for various reasons (media hype, sponsor appeasement, team building) and drivers say conservative things because they are coached to say such things.

Both are a bit obvious so it's pretty much pointless when fans- not pointing fingers at you - use the items quoted above to justify thier positions. It's basically taking one of the most useless statements a driver or team principal can make and then using it back of a random position a fan has.

I'm not a fan of Mclaren though so I do agree that it's hilarious to take a Mclaren staff members statement about performance for its word.

I still predict top 5 race position and I stated my reason: my gut. Maybe you missed that (not pointing fingers).

[dr.chaos]

Sure,

But what's interesting is this:

I’d be surprised a Merc, Ferarri, Red Bull (or any other fast car) on SS wouldn’t keep behind competitors on US if the SS cars have good traction out of the last corner, and into the tunnel. How much work can the US withstand, before equalling the SS, and falling off dramatically afterwards? Nobody knows..

Don't count McH out, McHonda have 5 sets of SS (Merc: 2; ScF: 2, RB: 2)

[bill shoe]

Do you think McLaren could have a go at pitting after the first lap, taking on SS tires, then going the rest of the way with no more stops? All they need is a safety car after lap 1 and they're in business with this strategy.