I'm perfectly prepared to back down in the face of those who are better educated in such matters than I am. It was my expectation that the Mercedes is only fast in a straight line, and they struggled to get away from the field even in China. That was all I was getting at.
But, why? Why bring in a rule to save costs and protect polar bears and then encourage drivers to bin a gearbox after one race? please log in to view this image
As Spain sector 3 is about traction, it should give us some idea of how strong the teams will be in Monaco: Race 1. Grosjean - 29.794 2. Raikkonen - 29.902 3. Maldonado - 29.933 4. Rosberg - 29.973 5. Alonso - 29.986 6. Vettel - 30.114 7. Webber - 30.170 8. Massa - 30.172 9. Kobayashi - 30.202 10. Vergne - 30.208 Grosjean and Raikkonen pitted later than the others which would explain why they were the quickest. McLaren aren't in the top 10 because Hamilton was in tyre management mode and Button was ****. Massa being 8th fastest proves that Ferrari have made big improvements in traction. Looking at qualifying: Qualifying 1. Maldonado - 28.321 2. Hamilton - 28.340 3. Alonso - 28.430 4. Vettel - 28.577 5. Perez - 28.608 6. Rosberg - 28.617 7. Grosjean - 28.677 8. Button - 28.680 9. Schumacher - 28.713 10. Webber - 28.714 If that's anything to go by, Hamilton, Alonso and Maldonado will be the guys fighting for victory, while Sauber, Mercedes, Red Bull and Lotus will be the other teams fighting for points.
The Inside Line on Daniel Ricciardo:http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2012/5/13364.html He's a funny one. He's won here a few times before in the lower categories and given that he's quite good at qualifying, I'd expect him to do quite well here. Fingers crossed.
I'm not saying he doesn't care about winning, I'm on about the WDC that he doesn't care about it at the moment. While the likes of Seb and Alonso, maybe even Hamilton know they need to be careful around here because crashing here could lose you the WDC at the end of the season.
Don't think the Toro Rosso is good enough to score more than a handful of points yet. But he's definitely in with a shout.
I dont think any of the TOP 7 or 8 can afford not to score big points in this race, because they are all in contention for the WDC.
[video=youtube;RZ6w5KJeT3U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ6w5KJeT3U[/video] Can I change my vote from Perez to Alonso?
Sky Sports F1 tomorrow: 9:00am: 1982 Monaco GP 9:40am: 1983 Monaco GP 10:20am: 2007 Monaco GP 12:35pm: 2008 Monaco GP 3:15pm: 2009 Monaco GP 5:30pm: 2010 Monaco GP 8:00pm: 2011 Monaco GP Looks as if they're finally starting to put something worthwhile on between races. You should be able to watch them on the streams in the OP if you don't have Sky.
I appreciate what your saying but I agree with modest matt, Raikkonen is just famously the best on the grid for keeping his emotions under control and not giving anything away to the media. I bet he is quite a different person in normal life to the one who has 4 microphones in his face. I bet If he had crashed at Monaco and Grosjean won, he would secretly care. Look at his face here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7623178.stm
Cant fault your optimism, but coming from someone who desperately wants good results for him he needs to sort out his qualy. This is not a track where race pace will be able to save it for him. Its also Pastors speciality. Can see a solid top 5/6 happening if everything falls into place though.
I know where you're coming from, but last year qualy was precisely where he shone; I think he's being let down by all the missed practice sessions, but I hope and also to an extent believe that he will be able to turn that around
Wacthed the 82 & 83 ones so far through the sky that I pay for, rather than steal off free internet streams
I'm so annoyed, it looks like Seb overtook both Piquet and Nakajima in the wet and not one replay lol!
