Today's GP was rather more interesting than others of late, possibly because Mr S......... didn't lead from start to finish.
Did any one else find it ironic that the cars, which in road use are reckoned to be extremely reliable, ie Toyota and Honda, blow up regularly; while the Renault which for normal motoring does not have a good reputation for reliability (Sorry RF) just keeps going!
Perhaps there is a logical explanation?
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Because all these tales of Renault unreliability is merde de taureau
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Good GP today BTW very enthralling
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... and didn't you just know that one of the diamonds on the noses of the Jaguars would go missing...
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Was rather good to watch Shumy chucking his toys out of the pram after Montoya took him out in the tunnel ;)
Well done Renault, and very well done B.A.R.
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The funiest thing was watching the BAR driven by Sato barging Schumie out of the way at the start. Talk about jump start he started so early it could have been Saturdays practise!
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Overtaking impossible - race effectively over from the first corner. History and tradition aside, what's the point of Monaco as a GP venue? The sooner the FIA can work out how safety and genuine racing can co-exist, the better.
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Thank goodness for Superbikes and MotoGP. Real machines, not too computer controlled with a crash test dummy at the controls. In the case of Superbikes, they are recognisably related to something you could buy in a showroom near you, and without a 2nd mortgage!
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"recognisably related to something you could buy in a showroom"
Indeed - a new R1 (180hp/380lbs) would be close enough for me! I have serious admiration for the guys on the track - watching them smoke the tyres while still leaned into the corners is awesome.
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"Sato barging Schumie out of the way at the start"
I enjoyed that, too. MS wasn't expecting to have to use his mirrors, presumably!
I did wonder, later, why BAR hadn't brought Sato in before his car blew up. Even TV viewers could see it smoking, and the telemetry must have shown more detail than that. DC would have appreciated it, I'm sure!
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BAR claim they had no idea that Sato's car was going to give up!
I wonder what that blue stuff coming out the back was? Anyway have to admit, when Hondas let go, they let go in a very entertaining manner.
And why is it always Sato's car that blows up? They both must have the same rev limit. Or are Honda trying to squeeze a bit more horsepower from his car?
My theory is that Sato's driving style kicks in the traction control more frequently and the engine does not like it.
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"Sato's driving style"
That start probably added a bit of wear and tear!
WRT to the team not knowing, perhaps that's the downside of the telemetry. They were too busy looking at the computers to notice what was visible to everyone else...
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"Toyota and Honda blow up regularly"
Didn't the London Rubber Company stop sponsoring cars (F3, I think) some years back because shots of their logos ending up in the scenery was sending out the wrong signals?
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"shots...was"
I know, I know! Back of the class...
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Didn't want to start another GP thread so am hijacking this one...
Wasn't there talk of there being a London GP, and Mr S bringing his Ferrari over to drive around Regent Street at some obscenely early time on Thursday morning to see if it would work?
Did it happen, or did I dream it?
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I've heard about the plan to have MS drive around, haven't heard that it's to check the feasibility of a GP there though. Thought it was just a PR stunt. Could be wrong though.
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Its all down to Mr B Eclestone (who makes Richard Hammond look positvely gargantuan). Silverstone's contract for the GP expires this year, and he is:
A: Drumming up interest for the British GP (now he owns a big chunk of it)
B: Putting pressure on the owners of the other big chunk of Silverstone to cough up more money or sell cheaply, by saying we could do this elsewhere.
A London GP could be interesting
1, Would they have to pay the CC?
2, How will they cope with the speed humps?
3, Would Ken re-phase the traffic lights to slow them down?
4, Would the drivers be able to claim they were not driving the car when the NIP from the speed cameras pops through the post?
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Wasn't there talk of there being a London GP, and Mr S bringing his Ferrari over to drive around Regent Street at some obscenely early time on Thursday morning to see if it would work?
I can just see Ken the Motorist's Champion backing that idea.
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The Monaco grand prix is a joke. Its the most stupid track I have ever seen. Its not motor racing. They should turn it into a festival like Goodwood, and keep grand prix racing to proper racing circuits.
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I think Monaco is one of the most interesting circuits - sure there's not much overtaking but the narrow track and sharp bends turn it into something like a destruction derby every year. and of course there's always the antics with drivers annoying each other and throwing a tizzy (how I laughed as MS's helemet hit the garage wall:)
I've got a slightly different idea on how to liven up F1 - they keep harping on about how there's so much downforce the cars could drive upsidedown over 60mph - so why not have a loop the loop down one of the straights to prove it!
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As it stands at the moment the tunnel is a hazard. I can't believe Schumacher decided to warm his brakes in the tunnel: a driver of his experience should understand the potential of locking his wheels on a track on cold tarmac which is out of the sunshine!
I also think the marshalling was particularly bad this weekend, with marshalls waving red flags at their own will and standing on the racing line to signal yellow flags!
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I agree. I was amazed at the marshals behaviour. The Monaco GP is arguably the most dangerous in the F1 season you would have thought the the marshalls at this one would have been the best of the bunch!
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spot-on mfarrow!
exceptionally poor driving by MS, considering he knew there is only one narrow line through there, and that Alonso had just previously come to grief in there, he must have had some "inkling" that there might have been debris or oil lurking.
billy.
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The flag marshalls were standing on the racing line to protect their colleagues who were assisting striken cars on the racing line. Without them Grand Prix cars would have been ploughing into other marshalls. Don't blame the marshalls. Its the venue which is at fault.
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A soft marshall standing on the track in order to use his body to protect the other marshalls doesn't seem particularly sensible to me - how is this supposed to be safer than waving the flags over the top of the barrier? Or am I missing something?
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Quite right - Shocking place. The only venue that has to date delivered an exciting, amusing, action packed, colourful spectacle
Ban it right away.
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If you call cars following each other in line astern until they crash, then yes it was "an exciting, amusing, action packed, colourful spectacle". I don't think I'll bother watching this race again.
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Motor racing is dangerous (it says so on the back of the ticket you buy). If it wasn't dangerous, then people wouldn't watch it, either as a spectator, or on the goggle box.
My opinion is let 'em crash - providing they don't harm themselves or others. It all adds to the excitement.
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The flag marshalls were standing on the racing line to protect their colleagues who were assisting striken cars on the racing line. Without them Grand Prix cars would have been ploughing into other marshalls. Don't blame the marshalls. Its the venue which is at fault.
Can't agree with this. There was one incident where a marshall was spreading sand over an oil spill and brushing away, with a marshall ahead of him waving his flag. Fair enough - a mite dangerous, but necessary.
There were however several incidents with marshalls standing on the racing line waving yellow flags which would have been just as visible waved from behidn the barriers. All it needed was for one driver error and they would have been in serious trouble.
The one that springs to mind was next to the crashed Jag on the hairpin - in hindsight, perhaps he was diverting attention away while his mates nicked the diamond! ;)
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I seem to be in a minority of one. I've got it on tape. I'll go away and have another look at the Jaguar incident.
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I seem to be in a minority of one. I've got it on tape. I'll go away and have another look at the Jaguar incident.
To see whether he could have picked a better standing place, or to check who half-inched the jewel? :D
I seem to remember another incident of a marshall standing on track and waving his flag so enthusiatically that he threw it away. He then turned his back on oncoming cars to pick it up again!
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I've had another look. I agree the Jaguar incident was stupid. The car was on the outside of Lowes Hairpin, off the racing line at the slowest part of the track. It was probably more visible than the marshall waving the flag.
I think I've let my dislike of this race cloud my view of the marshalling. I apologise.
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just a quick query whilst this subject is popular! am i mistaken, but did they used to drive this cicuit in the other direction?, i seem to have memories of alain prost running out of fuel coming up lowes hairpin on the last lap!! several years ago.
billy.
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Been clockwise since 1929
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i must have been wrong (again) glad there wasn't a pint on it.
thanks RF.
billy.
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I must admit this was the first GP I've seen in a long time that could hold a candle to a MotoGP race. Lots of thrills and spills, plenty of incident and some prima donna antics thrown in.
And Monaco wasn't bad either.
Superbikes and MotoGP so far this year as had me on the edge of my chair, mouth on the floor watching some serious daredevil racing.
But Schummy got shunted and that topped a perfect day's motorsport.
As for putting a £140,000 diamond on a car, on the nose cone, with a driver that hasn't got a perfect accident record.
Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.
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Pedant alert on -
The hairpin in Monaco is the Loews hairpin so named after the Loews hotel.
Pedant alert off.
I enjoyed the race - especially the helmet into the garage wall.
Why on earth wasn't Heidfeld penalised for ignoring blue flags???
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Errrrmmm...
The hairpin in Monaco is the Grand hairpin.
It USED to be the Loews but I guess the hotel changed hands...
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The Hotel has certainly changed hands but the hairpin is still known and referred to by all as the Loews hairpin. Imagine if the hotel changed hands again - would it became the Forte Travelodge hairpin (with a Happy Eater next door) - I think not.
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Actually, from what the commentaters said on Sunday, officially it HAS changed name to the Grand hairpin, but your comment is still valid, as everyone still refers to it as the Loews.
I'm just trying to picture a Travelodge setting up in Monaco, complete with their 'Double bed, one night, only £600' sign :D
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"clockwise since 1929"
You sure, RF? I could swear I've seen them going round the hairpin the other way, and I'm not quite that old!
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"clockwise since 1929" You sure, RF? I could swear I've seen them going round the hairpin the other way, and I'm not quite that old!
I can't confirm 1929, but I've no reason to doubt that date. I've seen footage from the 1950s of the likes of Moss and Fangio exiting the tunnel and coming down to the swimming pool area, so it was clockwise then.
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Normally I find motor racing (unless it's bikes) slightly less interesting than watching paint dry, however Monaco was a break from the usual drab mundanity of tedious F1 and I enjoyed it very much.
In particular what was engaging was the on board camera action so you really got a feeling of the race itself. Racing down real streets as opposed to a bland track adds a bit of spice as well.
This was Rupert Murdoch's Star Sports Channel out of Hong Kong, I don't know what the folks back home got, but at least half of the action I watched came from on board cameras and that really made a difference.
We need a lot more of this and a lot less of the follow-me-till-it's-time-to-uncork-the-champagne/fizzy fruit-juice (delete as appropriate if in Bahrain).
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The MS incident threw up a question in my mind - assuming he did brake, would the use of brake lights have avoided this incident?
I know (believe)F1 cars have never had them as they are built from the ground up with no unnecessary bits, but is there any reason why they shouldn't? Weight wouldn't be a factor if they all had them.
Also, would the drivers be likely to welcome them or not?
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hi frostbite,
assuming he did brake,.......plumes of smoke from front tyre suggests he did!!...allegedly.
well..they do have a "fog" light,that they use when it's raining...but we won't go there!!!!
main reason i believe they don't have brake lights is that, it may give an opponent an advantage and allow them more opportunity to "out-brake" them at corners, after all fore warned is fore armed, as they say.
billy.
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Yes GP drivers dont want to reveal the braking points. I am sure that if MS didnt suddenly brkae very hard then the telemetry would reveal that and Ferrari would have it as proof. Wait they do and they didnt mention it, how strange!
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