2014 Monaco Grand Prix

[Juzh]

Merc gap to ric in barcelona was exacerbated by ric being stuck behind bottas and then just cruising home knowing there's nothing to gain or lose. Actual race pace deficit was probably something around 0.5s.

[iotar__]

Merc gap to ric in barcelona was exacerbated by ric being stuck behind bottas and then just cruising home knowing there's nothing to gain or lose. Actual race pace deficit was probably something around 0.5s.

Red Bull claim it was 0,6.
Renault was at 90% in Spain and should be better in Monaco, Total was late with magic fuel, top speed not a problem. Still not enough. Better traction or not I can't see Red Bull beating Merc. Slow corners are not their weakness, more stable, they know more about car's set-up and performance, faster drivers.

If anyone's looking for safety car it's not Maldonado that had first lap incidents in five races in a row. If it happens can they change on the second lap and finish the race on these tyres?
1. Rosberg 2. Hamilton 3. RB

[beelsebob]

The Power Unit advantage is still going to be huge. You guys need to remember that the PU is not just about power. It's about breaking the car in a stable way too. There's nothing more important than that at Monaco.

[MercedesAMGSpy]

Ah the Monaco GP, only saturday is interesting to watch. So glad when we are back in Montreal and the beautiful Canada again.

Hamilton vs Rosberg, I expect one of them will do a special lap.

[astracrazy]

part of me can see Nico binning it or making a big mistake in quali or something.

I just feel its so much in Lewis' favour at the moment and the low error for margin here something might give by him taking a bigger risk than normal to try and beat Lewis.

or of course Nico might shine.....i don't see the normal progression with this one

[NathanOlder]

Merc gap to ric in barcelona was exacerbated by ric being stuck behind bottas and then just cruising home knowing there's nothing to gain or lose. Actual race pace deficit was probably something around 0.5s.

I'd say its more like 1 second in race pace. I was under the impression that Mercs advantage is bigger in the race than in Qualt

[Hobbs04]

With the brake issues of late are we going to see similar crashes to Buttons in 04, Perez in 12, Rosberg in 12 as cars exit the tunnel and have to get on the brakes? These cars this year seem so unstable under braking and that wall is so close.

To those who think you can't pass ask Raikkonen he found a couple ways to pass last year. Unfortunately F14t won't qualify.

[beelsebob]

With the brake issues of late are we going to see similar crashes to Buttons in 04, Perez in 12, Rosberg in 12 as cars exit the tunnel and have to get on the brakes? These cars this year seem so unstable under braking and that wall is so close.

To those who think you can't pass ask Raikkonen he found a couple ways to pass last year. Unfortunately F14t won't qualify.

The problem is that while there are ways to pass, there's a good chance that the defending driver will punt you into the wall - just ask Raikkonen (and Perez).

[Hobbs04]

Forgot about Perez yeah he paid the ultimate price last year.

[myurr]

part of me can see Nico binning it or making a big mistake in quali or something.

I just feel its so much in Lewis' favour at the moment and the low error for margin here something might give by him taking a bigger risk than normal to try and beat Lewis.

or of course Nico might shine.....i don't see the normal progression with this one

I can definitely see them both playing it a little safe on the Q3 banker laps before one or other of them takes a bigger risk for the pole lap. Will be fascinating to watch. Hope they both arrive at good setups for the car so we get a really tense fight between them.

[kooleracer]

Quali predictions:

Hamilton > Rosberg
Ricciardo > Vettel
Alonso > Kimi
Magnussen > Button
Grosjean > Maldonado
Bottas > Massa
Vergne > Kvyat
Koba > Ericcson
Bianchi > Chilton
Sutil > Gutierrez
Perez > Hulkenberg

Top 10: Quali

1.Hamilton
2.Rosberg
3.Ricciardo
4.Vettel
5.Bottas
6.Alonso
7.Raikonnen
8. Grosjean
9. Maldonado
10.Massa

Mercedes and Red Bull will be really close in Monaco. I think it will be 0.3 - 0.4 between fastest Mercedes and fastest Red Bull. Its not about power so the Mercedes's advantage will be less ( i''m not saying that the Mercedes has worse chassis then Red Bull, but the track minimizes the power advantage of the Mercedes power-unit). Mercedes will have speed advantage in the first corner and in the tunnel and the straight after the chicane. But in Canada will see Renault 100% so that ought to be the first real comparison between Red Bull and Mercedes.

[Bredd]

I think the difference between mercedes and red bull in monaco will be about half a second. However much redbull claim to have closed the gap on mercedes I don't think the gap has closed at all. Barcelona was a track the gap was supposed to be negated at Barcelona due to the track characteristics but the gap was still there. I actually think once we get to canada the gap will be back to a second or more.

[Juzh]

Merc gap to ric in barcelona was exacerbated by ric being stuck behind bottas and then just cruising home knowing there's nothing to gain or lose. Actual race pace deficit was probably something around 0.5s.

I'd say its more like 1 second in race pace. I was under the impression that Mercs advantage is bigger in the race than in Qualt

66 laps and 49 second deficit for ric. Simple maths tells me this is not 1s/lap. Ric was also stuck behind bottas. 0.6s seems like a reasonable number.

[NathanOlder]

Merc gap to ric in barcelona was exacerbated by ric being stuck behind bottas and then just cruising home knowing there's nothing to gain or lose. Actual race pace deficit was probably something around 0.5s.

I'd say its more like 1 second in race pace. I was under the impression that Mercs advantage is bigger in the race than in Qualt

66 laps and 49 second deficit for ric. Simple maths tells me this is not 1s/lap. Ric was also stuck behind bottas. 0.6s seems like a reasonable number.

Who said Merc were pushing the whole race ? There is more chance Ric was pushing his car harder than either Merc. The Mercs were battling each other but it doesnt mean that both cars were turned up to the full. Both Mercedes were never in danger of using their fuel usage per lap, not like they did in Bahrain after the safety car.
On the basis of gap to the front between Merc & Red Bull

Austr was 24s
Malay was 24s
Bahra was 24s (even with safety car)
China was 27s
Spain was 49s

So my simple maths tell me Merc are getting further infront. Ricciardo spent 15 laps behind Bottas as was 20 seconds behind at the time he stopped. Even if you say Ricciardo was on Rosbergs tail at the first stop, he still lost 29 seconds, and this with him pushing harder than the Merc boys as he needed to clear Bottas and gap him after. In Spain the gap between 2nd and 3rd was alot bigger than before. So I just cant see the Red Bull being closer than 1 seconds to the Mercs.

[user001]

the Mercs have been nursing their cars almost all the time at almost every race so far. they just mostly maintain the gap for a safety extra pit stop.

it was also said, that the w05 has just astonishing mechanical grip compared to others.

merc will kick ass in monaco. maybe the bulls will be closer but they won't win simple as that.