Just finished watching the Monaco qualifying. Downloading the race now, hoping to watch it later on. Holy crap there were a few close, and not so close calls. I can't believe that Perez went in THAT hard, and only suffered a concussion and a bruised thigh. It's amazing how far F1 safety has come. It also seemed kind of fucked that the other teams thought that they'd be able to get out from such a long break, with 2 minutes left, and actually get a qualifying-level hot lap in. I also found it funny that Martin Brundle commented so heavily on how the safety barriers were being re-positioned with a truck's bumper, and was "amazed" that it was going to be OK to go back to green flag racing with such an un-engineered rebuild of the wall. Even funnier was DC's response of, basically, "we're not a bunch of pussies, let's get back to racing". I will say, too, that if you don't watch the BBC feed of the races and qualifying, you might want to. The pre-qualifying show has had some really awesome content in it this year. This race, Red Bull opened up the simulator room to the BBC guys, and let DC hop in and do a trial race start at Monaco. I've always considered myself to be somewhat of a racing nut, and somewhat "in the loop" as to the going's on of the sport, but that segment was pretty eye-opening. Even DC, who's only 2 years out of a car, found the amount of in-car shit a driver had to do almost double what he did, between the KERS, DRS, etc. It really was interesting to see the stuff the driver had to do just on the formation lap. I now have a better appreciation of why drivers hit shit or go off on the formation lap; it's insane. Anyway, can't wait to catch the race, as it's usually a good one, even if something like 90% of the races have been won by the first two rows. Qualifying is probably most important at Monaco than any other circuit, and that usually makes it more intense to watch.
I WANT. They've even got all of the bumps in the road programmed into it. This is a race that DC has won 3(?) times, and he's lived there since 95, and he ended up going for a swim in the harbour on the formation lap.
That looks awesome! Race was pretty good. No idea what was going on with the pit stops and crews not being ready for their drivers. Don’t see that very often at all. Hamchops with a few silly moves that could of really gone either way. Him and Massa flying through the tunnel side by side was great to see. Also, Vettel seems to be growing and maturing more with each race. 50ish laps out of the prime tires and still getting better drive off the corners then Ferrari & McLaren. He really seems to handle pressure well and knows what to do to hold off challenges from seemingly faster cars. Kobi with the drive of the day for me, would be great to see him in one of the top cars with his aggressive driving style.
That was an awesome race. In a way, I wish the Red Flag didn't pop out and we could have seen how it would have ended with Vettel on shit tires, with Alonso and Button coming up his ass. It was phenomenal racing. All in all one of the better races so far this year; lots of passing, lots of drama, lots of excitement. And the BBC "on-site" introduction to Monaco was amazing. I also had no idea so many F1 drivers live in Monaco... seems like the city really embraces them. Hell, DC is invited to the King's wedding next month. One thing I noticed, or maybe missed, was that there was no technical inspection after the race; they just parked their cars and got their trophies. I didn't see any weigh-ins or anything, like you usually do. The red carpet was RIGHT THERE beside the cars, and I didn't see any of the podium drivers go anywhere other than to go make out with the women on the dias and get their trophy. When they were done, they just piled into mini-vans to head back to their paddocks. Definitely on my bucket list, for sure.
I love the Monaco Grand Prix. When the media says that it is the "Grandest Grand Prix of All" I totally buy in. I cannot imagine how you can run any race, much less an F1 race on roads that narrow, with that outdated of safety equipment. I mean outdated mearly cause there is no way you could put in Safety walls or gravel traps or anything that modern circuits require. But the race is run every year cause F1 knows it is the race that seperates it from all other racing series. Having said all of the above, the Canadian F1 race this year was as enjoyable a race as I have seen in many years. I even enjoyed the long rain delay cause I thought it was great that FIM and F1 thought it important to try and finish the race rather than call it a half points race. I have always enjoyed Jason Button, and when he made that late race charge to go from fourth to first in the last six laps, I thought that was as nice a driving sequence as I have seen in many years. Congrats Canada, you put on a nice show for the world.
I've spent a fair bit of time in and around Montreal over the last two years and when the coverage started and they said it was raining a little bit, I knew what was going to happen. When it rains in Montreal, it rains hard. I loved the BBC interviewing Christian Horner in the paddock during the red flag, prodding him to say that he'd wish the race were called now so that they could at least get the Vettel victory, even with half points. He said he didn't want the race to be cancelled. "But why not?" "Because we're racers."
The full-length BBC coverage was really good. Sure, it started off being a bit boring with DC and the boys trying to figure out what to say to kill time, but when the racing started back up, HOLY CRAP. It was by far one of the most exciting F1 races I've seen. Absolutely worth the delays and and waiting.
It’s been a good season so far. I am really enjoying the new tyres and strategies being used, last night with the rain was a great example. Seeing the cars twitching around and stepping out in the wet is always good to watch and the vapour trails off the McLaren rear wings looked unreal. Should be an interesting rest of the year with McLaren seemingly closing the gap on the Redbull cars. Still think Vettel has the drivers championship in the bag though. Great to see Daniel Ricciardo improving and beating Liuzzi in the other HRT car, hopefully he gets a seat in Torro Rosso next year.
I spent all day driving back home from Nevada. I am hoping to catch the race on a rebroadcast. It sounds like it was a good one.
It was a great race. I can't remember any other race where tire choices/strategy played such a huge part of the results. And that exploding car was crazy... never seen anything like that before. That Marshall was fucking lucky.
I don't know about that. Red Bull has a 183 point lead over McLaren, and it was only in that last race that McLaren closed any sort of gap in the championship (and I think that gap was only closed by 11 points). If it wasn't for mechanical issues, pit fuck-ups, or their drivers crashing into each other, they'd be in a much better position than they are now and might have stood a chance. What will be interesting is the fight for #2 in the driver's championship. Webber, Alonso, Button and Hamilton are all pretty close. Of course, F1 isn't the kind of sport where anyone cares about #2. Kind of a shame that as exciting as the racing has been this year, all of the competition is for the "best of the rest" at this point.
I hate to admit it, but I'm liking Alonso being at Ferrari. (I'm a Vettel and Kubica fan first and foremost, though). He's always struck me as being a whining, bitchy driver, and it bugged me. So far this year, he's kept his mouth shut, put his head down, and worked his ass off on developing the car, and it's starting to pay off. He's being a smart driver, taking reasonable risks at the right time, and he's climbing up in the ranks as a result. He's a lot like Hammy; he's got amazing talent, but the whiny "why is everyone against me" attitude pissed me off. Hammy's still like that, although in this past weekend's interviews it seemed that someone had a bit of a talk with him. DC even got mildly chastised by Martin Brundle for the "cue the whiny radio call from Lewis any time" comment when they put him out on the "wrong" tires. But Alonso has seemed to have matured from that and is earning my respect. The one driver that is just pissing me right off is Webber... can't stand him. Fucking Aussies.
I like Webber. He's so laid back and cool about things. During that massive red flag in Montreal, they interviewed him in the pits. "Yeah, there's no rush. Let's wait it out and go back racing. Maybe not made for TV, but no worries." And he's incredibly humble about everything. If you saw his lap on Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson was trying to make his time seem better by saying that running in the wet gives a 4 second disadvantage. Webber played it off right away, "no, with that car and that power, it's worth a bit, but not that much." He does this with everything. If only he could get a decent start off of the line, he might actually win a race.
For every one of those instances I can show you 10 where he rails on his team, and bitches about Vettel being the "#1 driver" on the team. Maybe it's because of his desire to win, and in the heat of the moment after the race, but still... Christian Horner has made it quite clear that they get the exact same shit, and the rankings are determined by the drivers and their performance on the track. And how about the team orders that he ignored when he tried to pass Vettel? He's done that before, and wiped them both out. Who knows, maybe at the pub or in person he's a hell of a guy, I'm just not a fan of the image that is offered via the racing and interviews I've seen. I will say that he's had a fuckload of bad luck this year with faulty KERS, etc. Mind you, that was Vettel two years ago. It seemed that he could never finish a race as the car was always blowing up or breaking down.
Also... <a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Webber" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Webber</a> I mean, I don't know the guy personally and it's kind of silly to go on about someone's personality when all we see is TV clips. From what I've seen, he seems like a nice enough, low-key guy. If he turns out to be a douche in person, it's no skin off my back. He has been having some bad luck with with the car, but when he's driving, he's kind of hit and miss. He qualified near the back in China, and fought his way up to 3rd place in the last part of the race. Since then, he's qualified in pole position or close to it and has barely led a lap all season. Ignoring the team orders was bullshit, though. I mean, it's hard to argue in favour of team orders in general because they're not very sporting, but it seems that Vettel had been told to take it easy to take care of the tires or preserve fuel. Trying to pass your teammate when he's been told to slow down isn't exactly sporting, either.
At the end of the day, it's a team sport. The drivers are paid for and work for the team. To throw away a guaranteed 30 points in driver and manufacturer standings is stupid, regardless of which driver wins or comes out on top.
Cannot wait. Hopefully Ricciardo has another good race. Have a look at this clip for a comparison. Obviously, the GT cars are not slow but they look it next to the F1s!
Wow. What an amazing race. Can't believe what an awesome drive Schumi had; from dead last to 7th. Holy fuck. And Button's drive... phenomenal. If he didn't have that fucked up miscommunication in qualifying, he probably would have won the thing rather than finish 3rd. I never thought Vettel and Webber would finish 1-2... the safety car was just perfect for them; taking out Hamilton while giving them a chance to pit. And I'm not sure what to make of that whole Hamilton shunt; I've rewatched it a lot, and while I was originally pissed that it wasn't going to be reviewed by the stewards, he was an idiot for assuming that he was clear and had the normal line. Just as much of an idiot as Kobayashi was to try and stay on the outside and brake as late as he did. So yeah, maybe the stewards actually got it right... they were both partially at fault so just let it go. Very enjoyable race, start to finish.