Despite all the breathless commentary you may have heard from the professional motoring press, mostly concerned with keeping their Monaco paddock pass, this was the most boring race in years.
The previous edition of the Monaco GP actually had some on track action but this year without taking anything away from Webber's good drive, there were zero highlights and the only significant pass happened via a pit stop.
Of course passes in the pits do not just happen, Alonso was very good, saving his tires for the one lap when Hamilton was brought in by Mclaren for his stop. Fernando put the hammer down on old tires and blitzed his old rival to a third place which is good for first place in the Driver's Championship. Clever boy.
Vettel also had a good race but isn't it time to call an end for the business of not running in Q3 to save a set of tires? Can't blame teams of using a badly written rule but still, cheesy.
Apparently despite 60 years plus of experience, the FIA cannot write rules unequivocally as demonstrated by the technical row ahead of the start with Red Bull's "holy"floor. Kind of pathetic.
And yes, Schumacher would have won from pole, Massa finally drove well and Lotus needs to feed Kimi more ice cream.
Anyway, yawn. See you in Canada.
It was a snoozer on TV, though if the rain had come down a bit harder at the end it could have been epic. I have read a lot of journalists talking about how even if the Monaco race is a bore, the proximity to the cars and the tight confines of the track bring a great appreciation for driver skill that makes up for a weak race. What say you to that, AC, having been there?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was THAT boring. If you look back to say 08 or 09 it would have been a pretty decent race in terms of action. I think the bar has just been raised tremendously in the last 2 seasons.
ReplyDeleteGreat opening lap from Alonso as always. That guy is just en fuego. I also found Checo's "finesse" amusing when he was trying to overtake Heikki. Me thinks he still has a bit to learn before he'll be wearing red.
I've been there I think four times for the GP, Impressive is watching the drivers go through the swimming pool in qualifying. During the race they go quite a bit slower and it becomes like on TV except you don't know what's going on from the stands. (well maybe now with mobile devices). The nice thing about Monaco is that you can get closer to the cars and drivers than anywhere else.
DeleteAnd the 2011 race was quite good, it was just this year that it was especially dull.
For people with access it's of course a great time, even if they are working
Agree about Checo, he pretty much undid what he accomplished earlier in the year, he needs to mature still, But the people that count already knew that.
DeleteAmusing how many (highly paid) professionals get rain forecasts wrong, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteIf I recall correctly a rain spotter for Red Bull was detained during last years German GP because he'd wondered on to government property.
ReplyDeleteAs for the race, nothing really happened and that's a shame. However, I did take a couple points away from this weekend. First, Maldonado is still a dick. Don't know why a win would change that but nice to be confirmed right. Second, Ross Brawn saying they don't have tire strategy just a feeling. Which basically confirms Pirelli can't make a fucking tire. Third, the FIA still can't follow thru on rules. See off-throttle blown, f-duct, drs-f-duct. It's not technically legal, but we won't stop you. Well, this year.
I really would like to give Michael a pat on the back this weekend. I've not exactly been his biggest supporter since he got back but he showed good form this weekend. I'd be thrilled to see him keep it up.
Monaco was more exciting when they were driving flat out around the confines of the track for an hour and a half. Now that they have to drive conservatively to save their tires, the driving is less exciting to watch and there are less incidents.
ReplyDeleteA reliable birdie told me that Kimi's "Steering problem" is Finnish for "Terrible terrible hangover".
ReplyDeletesad to say, monaco has become a parade lap.
ReplyDeletethis pirelli thing stinks too. if F1 wants to insist that having horrible tires adds to the fun factor of F1, bring back refueling! personally i was a fan of the tire wars of bridgestone and michelin, but who knows if they will do that again after that race where michelin pulled out(was that the usGP?)