2018 Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo, May 24-27

[siskue2005]

Drastic simplification of a sport which is complicated and extreme in its nature seems odd to me. Dumbing down stuff never works for the masses. It only attracts casual fans who then disappear soon after. Just look at the state of the video games industry right now.

The HS lasts 77 laps? Is that a typo or correct? Isn't it supposed to be the softest and least lasting of the range?

I agree in general, my favourite sports are F1, football and fighting. I tend to get caught up in the technical stuff of all 3, I love the tiny little details which make the difference.

However, the tyre thing seems like something that would help the casual, at absolutely no detriment to the more hardcore. We'd all see a list of tyres before the weekend, we'd see that they're taking Hyper as the soft, supersoft as the medium, etc. We'd join the dots and lose nothing.

Where exactly have u read this? There is no indication for such a strategy... if u have any source please enlighten me.

they will just bring these tyres with soft medium and hard label on it and we won't know if it is ultra or medium.. they are completely focused on casual fans.... remember how they stopped showing mini sector timings from 2017, labelling it as confusing

[Andres125sx]

'no danger'
https://twitter.com/tgruener/status/999622472449298432

"... in a manner that posed no danger to the other drivers"

So entering not only the track, but the racing line, in reverse, while a car is coming, is not dangerous??

Video of the incident
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/head ... ejoin.html

He could have turned left while reversing to avoid the racing line, then turning right he could have rejoin the track, but instead he reversed straight into the racing line. IMHO that deserve, at least, a reprimand, but it looks like FIA will never say a word to Max, no matter what he does

Yeah, I'll have to back you on this one Andres.. & its just so blatant..

The 'Golden boy' has it seems.. carte blanche to do as he sees fit.. esp' while operating under his colour, yellow..

This glaringingly permissive attitude to abuse of longstanding norms is - likely IMO - going to predicate a monumental crash..
& when that occurs.. why.. it'll be 50% Dan's fault.. ah no.. sorry.. I mean it it'll be on the stewards.. (& R.B.)..

Agree about your prediction, I´m afraid that may happen sooner or later

[Andres125sx]

speaking of tyres, I do feel its a bit silly when the slowest and HARDEST tyre for the weekend is the SuperSoft.

Can they not keep the colours (so we know what the real compound is) but just call the 3 tyres Soft , Medium and Hard. Surely this makes sense for new viewers too.

When a new viewer watching on TV hears Martin Brundle say "He pits and takes the harder tyre to try and get to the end" and see's the onscreen graphics say SuperSoft, it may be a little confusing ?

Agree on this, but then....

For the casual yes, but for us? Pirelli have, what? 7 different compounds? We know that certain cars favor certain compounds more than others. To keep the name as is helps us understand [technical minded fans] know what exact compounds they are racing on.

Perhaps Pirelli should have rather used "compound A, B, C, D... F" instead of "hyper soft, ultra soft" etc. Like this, they could name the tires soft/medium/hard, but still give us the opportunity to identify them by their compound spec (A, B, C). The casual fans won't care and for them it will just be hard/soft whatever, but we could still discuss them in more detail more accurately.

.... after reading Phil comment this looks even better, allowing technical minded fans to know what compound is each one as we know some teams are better on some compounds, but not confusing with supersoft tires (current name) that can make the whole race and/or are difficult to get into the operating window

[jk-27]

Oh McLaren, how the mighty have fallen. Apparently the Honda engine stopped them from fighting for podiums in the past 3 years, yet pre-Spain 2018 with Renault power they were maybe 3-4 tenths quicker than Torro Rosso. Post the 'real' 2018 car reveal they are still only 3 tenths up on a Honda powered Torro Rosso. The problem was never Honda, they just can't design a good car anymore. Bring back Ron!

[godlameroso]

They can, and they will, it just takes time, it's not easy either. Next batch of upgrades should be coming 1st week of July, I know that they're just scratching the surface of what that new nose is going to do for them. Little by little the car will shed it's old skin and everything will be optimized to the new one.

[Manoah2u]

Why was that again? i forgot why it's on a thursday instead of a friday.

I understand that the race weekends in Monaco were typically scheduled alongside a holiday in the principality in the early days of F1 (Ascension Day I believe). Initially the day was avoided by F1 to respect the holiday, but now it's a combination of both maintaining that tradition and not crippling the streets of Monaco on a busy Friday afternoon/evening.

That and I'm sure it doesn't hurt Monaco tourism to have another day/night of $$$ coming in!!

thanks for your reply!

[Just_a_fan]

Where exactly have u read this? There is no indication for such a strategy... if u have any source please enlighten me.

they will just bring these tyres with soft medium and hard label on it and we won't know if it is ultra or medium.. they are completely focused on casual fans.... remember how they stopped showing mini sector timings from 2017, labelling it as confusing

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13628 ... s-for-2019

[siskue2005]

Where exactly have u read this? There is no indication for such a strategy... if u have any source please enlighten me.

they will just bring these tyres with soft medium and hard label on it and we won't know if it is ultra or medium.. they are completely focused on casual fans.... remember how they stopped showing mini sector timings from 2017, labelling it as confusing

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13628 ... s-for-2019

No I was talking about the part bolded in the quote below....we're pirelli are going to tell us beforehand that softs are ultra for the race etc.

I agree in general, my favourite sports are F1, football and fighting. I tend to get caught up in the technical stuff of all 3, I love the tiny little details which make the difference.

However, the tyre thing seems like something that would help the casual, at absolutely no detriment to the more hardcore. We'll all see a list of tyres before the weekend, we'd see that they're taking Hyper as the soft, supersoft as the medium, etc. We'd join the dots and lose nothing.

My understanding from the official statement that they will just they will just bring these tyres with soft medium and hard label on it and we won't know if it is ultra or super softs.... it will be just soft compounds and we will never know it's real type.

This is simply wrong and just dumping down the sport

[Manoah2u]

Oh McLaren, how the mighty have fallen. Apparently the Honda engine stopped them from fighting for podiums in the past 3 years, yet pre-Spain 2018 with Renault power they were maybe 3-4 tenths quicker than Torro Rosso. Post the 'real' 2018 car reveal they are still only 3 tenths up on a Honda powered Torro Rosso. The problem was never Honda, they just can't design a good car anymore. Bring back Ron!

Mclaren went nowhere under Ron's 'return-reign' either. Though i must say, i was really curious about the VW guy coming in and then going out in a revolving door manner. Also wonder what would have happened if they were more open to Honda and less to their own? Then again, neither Williams or Renault is anywhere near the top either.

Mercedes and Ferrari simply are in a whole other level, with RedBull right on their heels but lacking in engine department.

Significant money needs to be invested, and many years of planning, preparing and again investment are needed in both the engine and the car itself, investing in a direction, idea, not trying stuff out and mixing stuff together that seemingly should work. Mclaren went the complete wrong direction around 2012, and then 4 years later, still paying the price, did a complete panic re-organisation which still is a year or 2 off from 'natural' results to start coming in - that is IF their decisions there were the right ones, which could still go anywhere.

I do believe Zak Brown is a stable and correct guy for the task at Mclaren. I also do believe Eric Bouillier is THE wrongest guy in there from the get-go he went there, and still is the wrong guy, and i'm surprised Mclaren STILL has him around. He needs to go, they need to replace him with somebody right for the task and the position. Alonso almost guaranteed will be out in 2019, and quite frankly, so should VanDoorne and again, Bouillier too. I think Bottas would be a good stable factor for them, and then have somebody like Norris or perhaps Perez again in there.
They've committed to Renault for the time being now, so should go and focus on that too and make it work.
Step away from their ignorant size-zero concept which is proving to making no impact in the end - kindof reminds me of the mesmerizingly small and ingenious Williams gearbox of a couple years ago that didn't do any good either.

It would be another restructuring @ Mclaren BUT they could manage to get sorted for the 2021 season, and have a better shot at things. By 2020, they could battle for the podium and either see Norris be the 'talent' he supposedly is, or snatch a then top-talent to sign for 2021 and go for it. Ricciardo, Vettel, Verstappen, Sainz. Hell, i'd be all in for a 2021 Sainz and Bottas combo at Mclaren.

If it's not Renault, then perhaps BMW or Cosworth, but for either of the two, they must have already committed and be working hard right now on -secretly- building an engine that will provide them what they need, and it'll need a gigantic amount of investment. Honda's work is impressive if you think of it, but it's severly lacking funding (willingly) and that has cut them short, whilst with Renault they are, after all, a customer, not a works team.

BMW Mclaren F1 Team
Carlos Sainz Jr
Valterri Bottas

sounds great to me.

Alonso is history for Mclaren. Sad, but true.

at best they'll have a chaotic race and get lucky with a spot just outside of the podium.
that just doesn't do. and like Alonso himself said, Monaco won't bring any surprises.

[Just_a_fan]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13628 ... s-for-2019

No I was talking about the part bolded in the quote below....we're pirelli are going to tell us beforehand that softs are ultra for the race etc.

[…]
My understanding from the official statement that they will just they will just bring these tyres with soft medium and hard label on it and we won't know if it is ultra or super softs.... it will be just soft compounds and we will never know it's real type.

This is simply wrong and just dumping down the sport

From the article:
"With three colours, the same colours and same names for all the races, but obviously different compounds, because you cannot use the same compounds in Silverstone or Monaco.
"On a second level we will have compound A, B, C, D, E, F or whatever, and we will tell you that for this race, the hard is B, the medium is D, and whatever.
"So for spectators it's probably more understandable, but you also have the possibility to go deeper in detail for technical information that we will continue to provide."

They will bring a hard, medium and soft and tell us that for this race the Hard is compound C (or whatever). That gives the hardcore fans the compounds whilst removing confusion for those less hardcore. That seems like a good compromise.

[siskue2005]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13628 ... s-for-2019

No I was talking about the part bolded in the quote below....we're pirelli are going to tell us beforehand that softs are ultra for the race etc.

[…]
My understanding from the official statement that they will just they will just bring these tyres with soft medium and hard label on it and we won't know if it is ultra or super softs.... it will be just soft compounds and we will never know it's real type.

This is simply wrong and just dumping down the sport

From the article:
"With three colours, the same colours and same names for all the races, but obviously different compounds, because you cannot use the same compounds in Silverstone or Monaco.
"On a second level we will have compound A, B, C, D, E, F or whatever, and we will tell you that for this race, the hard is B, the medium is D, and whatever.
"So for spectators it's probably more understandable, but you also have the possibility to go deeper in detail for technical information that we will continue to provide."

They will bring a hard, medium and soft and tell us that for this race the Hard is compound C (or whatever). That gives the hardcore fans the compounds whilst removing confusion for those less hardcore. That seems like a good compromise.

ok ok

[Mattchu]

Why even have the superhard tyre, are Pirelli trying to prove they can make the hobknobs of the tyre world The colour looks good though, wish they`d chose that for the HS.

[Edax]

Oh McLaren, how the mighty have fallen. Apparently the Honda engine stopped them from fighting for podiums in the past 3 years, yet pre-Spain 2018 with Renault power they were maybe 3-4 tenths quicker than Torro Rosso. Post the 'real' 2018 car reveal they are still only 3 tenths up on a Honda powered Torro Rosso. The problem was never Honda, they just can't design a good car anymore. Bring back Ron!

Mclaren went nowhere under Ron's 'return-reign' either. <snip>

Unfortunately I think you speak many truths. This is not an easy one to recover from. Mclaren has made a string of bad decisions, on car development, drivers and management hires.

Kudos to Hamilton for figuring that out and leaving when he did.

I think Mclaren needs to have a new management which are able to understand what is going on and are able to turn this around.
+ Get some drivers who can co-develop the car. Alonso is great for taking a car to its limits, but he is less capable of taking the limits of the car further. Sergio would be a good one but I don’t think he would be interested.
+ get the engineering sorted out. Too many compatibility, interface and correlation issues reeks of a an engineering department which works too fragmented and are unable to deliver around a common design (philosophy).

When I hear people at McLaren speaking I don’t think they understand the situation they are in. It seems that they still consider this a temporary lull, and that they are in essense still a top 3team. And that some magical trick, a new driver, a new nose, a new engine will bring them back. It is like going to the casino when you’re almost broke.

First focus on making a good solid car and then work your way up to making great cars again. It can be done, it has been done a few times in the past. But this sandbagging will not get them there.

[rscsr]

Why even have the superhard tyre, are Pirelli trying to prove they can make the hobknobs of the tyre world The colour looks good though, wish they`d chose that for the HS.

To have a bulletproof tyre, if all they other tyres are disintegrating due to unforseen circumstances.

[Phil]

On Autosport, they are reporting that some teams may be at an advantage if they can start on a harder compound, in other words, survive Q2 on the ultra soft. This would set them up better for the race in the sense, they could go as long as possible and wait for a late safety car and then pit for a shorter stint on hyper or SS (if a longer stint is required).

By starting the race on the hyper soft, it’s durability might be a bit of an unknown. The tire may force you to pit early or suspect to undercuts behind you.

I could well foresee the top 3 trying to use Ultra softs in Q2. Mercedes may not, if they have trouble getting heat into the US, so may need to use HS and start on them. Either way, if the pole setter starts on the more durable tire, they may have a strong strategy.

In monaco usually the overcut could be beneficial because the track may be difficult to get heat into the tires, especially if you are coming out on ultras.