Monaco GP - May 29, 2022 @ 3:00 PM

Time to pop the umbrellas and pull out the raincoats.

stormybadger8 said:How can you not get this 🤣

It was clearly stated they were investigating Perez for cutting the line...
but then after all that deep investigation, they decided Perez didn't actually cut it. 🙂🤣

Turns out under the new 2022 rules, you have to clear the line entirely—the race director was working off the old rulebook, which was a massive blunder on his part.

On the replay, you can't see Perez crossing it, whereas with Max, it's blatant.

Oh, and that moment where Checo flat-spotted his tire after the restart? Not a mistake—he was just dodging a bird.
https://twitter.com/Margnum90/status...TA7plnPZ8UgQmg

fadedwalker18 said:As things stand right now, we aren't seeing any rain.
Maybe there’ll be some sudden downpour if the weather decides to go crazy, but I wouldn't count on it... all hope is gone.

With these new cars, this track feels so lackluster today that they're forced to interview celebrities just to fill the airtime and keep rambling about the weather.

It seems to me that Ferrari attempted to divert our attention away from their massive blunder. They had a perfectly clean 1-2 finish within their grasp, didn't they? I mean, surely it was possible for them to slip just slightly and end up with a 1-3, but instead, they somehow managed to tumble all the way down to a 2-4. Now, one can only imagine what might happen if Mercedes actually decided to join this fight for the top spots—which, realistically, might not even occur until the very tail end of the season—but if that were to happen, would we not witness an even more chaotic meltdown within Ferrari?

It's coming down pretty hard

cosmicmoose2 said:Man... If they actually had the kind of advantage Mercedes-Benz had back in 2016, maybe the championship would actually be interesting. Maybe they wouldn't even blow it...
It’s just pathetic. These drivers grind all weekend long—every single practice session, qualifying, then the actual race—only to walk away with second and fourth. Just awful.😵

That's an understatement.

cosmicmoose2 said:Man... If they actually had the kind of advantage Mercedes-Benz had back in 2016, maybe the championship would actually be interesting. Maybe they wouldn't even blow it...
It’s just pathetic. These drivers grind all weekend long—every single practice session, qualifying, then the actual race—only to walk away with second and fourth. Just awful.😵

The issue is the championship contender. The guy who's faster than everyone else and fighting for the title. A driver who was absolutely dominating right up until his pit stop.
It’s unacceptable when a team drops a driver from 1st down to 4th.
There weren't a hundred different scenarios at play, just a few. Things happen. An unexpected variable pops up, an opponent outmaneuvers you, or the track conditions shift. You lose a spot. It sucks, but it isn't a tragedy.
But for the fastest driver on track to lose the win and three positions? That's a disaster.

And honestly, it’s probably better for Charles Leclerc that he didn't even make the podium.

silverviper44 said:If those laws were absolute, Pastor Maldonado would never have snatched a pole position and a race win, yet there we were.

Everything just aligns perfectly at the right moment, and suddenly you get a result that defies any logical explanation.

It's happened countless times in Formula 1 history, and it'll happen again.

It could happen at any race, but on street circuits? The odds actually go up...

Because on a track like Monaco, it’s totally plausible for everyone to screw up except for one person who hits the perfect lap on the right tires with a flawless setup for the weather...
And hey, in theory, even someone in Williams Racing could grab pole and then just hold everyone off during the race.

hiddensailor7 said:I guess Sergio Perez really messed up with that Safety Car situation in Saudi Arabia, and now it seems like Ferrari's pit wall—and maybe even a little bit of Nicholas Latifi—has handed him a gift just to make up for that unfairness.

Then there’s the amateurish part, phase two:

Carlos Sainz was more than two seconds ahead of Sergio Perez when he pitted for dry tires, and Charles Leclerc was about four and a half seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.
After the double stack, where I suppose Charles Leclerc might have lost a second waiting, Carlos Sainz comes out onto the track right alongside the slowest driver in the race—Nicholas Latifi. He’s getting flooded with blue flags, and they're even telling him over the radio to watch out for Carlos Sainz because of all those blue flags.

The guy just ignores the radio and the flags, cutting in front of Carlos Sainz and refusing to budge until the tunnel, despite being hit with blue flags at every turn and hearing "blue flag for Sainz" constantly on the radio. What's even sadder is that a lap earlier, Mick Schumacher, who was actually fighting for position at that moment, overtook him after Mirabeau, yet Carlos Sainz couldn't get past him despite the blue flags until they reached the tunnel. 🙏

Red Bull executes their double stack pit stop, and suddenly Sergio Perez comes out a second and a half ahead of Carlos Sainz, while Max Verstappen is right in front of Charles Leclerc.
They pitted a lap too early, though it seems they called Charles Leclerc in first, only to tell him not to come in after he had already entered the box. 🤣

And don't even get me started on how Alexander Albon held up Charles Leclerc. He spent an entire lap driving right on his gearbox, and there was just no way to get past him.
Albon knows he's a "Red Bull Racing driver," and that seemed to be the main motivation here, which is honestly pathetic.

I really hope there are penalties for Nicholas Latifi and Alexander Albon. If not, this is blatant playing the Red Bull Racing card. It’s hard to imagine a more obvious display of nonsense from those two.

By the way, watching them yesterday while the Ferraris were in the pits... you had Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, and the rest of the crew crowded around Max Verstappen, while over in Sergio Perez's area, Sergio Perez himself was just sitting there, wandering around with a few people, staring at monitors for three hours straight. You can see everything clearly if you look. 🙂

Honestly, this race might actually turn out to be something special...

graniteharbor502 said:
Schedule
Practice 1: Friday 14:00-15:00
Practice 2: Friday 17:00-18:00
Practice 3: Saturday 13:00-14:00

Qualifying: Saturday 16:00-17:00

Race: Sunday 15:00-17:00

Tire Compounds
Hard Medium Soft Hard Medium Soft Hard Medium Soft

Forecast
Rain is expected on Sunday, isn't it?
Max Verstappen will likely be putting on a masterclass.
And one can only wonder if Charles Leclerc will find himself mourning his fate against a wall once again.

graniteharbor502 said:There truly isn't anyone faster than him when it comes to the wall.🤣

graniteharbor502 said:I just find myself hoping you won't end up stuck in some ditch when you inevitably smash the car into a wall🤣

graniteharbor502 said:Has anyone here actually spent five races in a row getting intimately acquainted with the barriers?

graniteharbor502 said:My goodness, can you even imagine if someone were to suggest that Grosjean or Andrea de Cesaris could sweep the floor under a World Champion? 🥱

Nah, he didn't even touch him. Sergio Perez was the one who wiped him out.

graniteharbor502 said:Leclerc hasn't actually finished a single race in Monaco, even when looking back at his time in the lower tiers of competition. Meanwhile, Max took home the trophy in the last 🙄

graniteharbor502 said:I feel compelled to offer a correction:
The Forecast
It looks like we should prepare for rain this Sunday.
Red Bull is clearly putting on a masterclass.
And there is Leclerc, seemingly mourning his fate within the confines of the pit box.

There's no need to make such a scene; we aren't blind or stupid.

I expected you to celebrate or gloat a little. That’s fine. But this level of arrogance? Not so much.
You spend an entire week going to sleep, dreaming all night, and waking up with Charles Leclerc's face burned into your brain. So what?
Personally, I’d just cover my ears and congratulate Charles on a great drive—or better yet, an impressive weekend overall. But apparently, that's asking too much from you.

Mark Ruiz8 said:It's coming down pretty hard

Exactly—you just gotta watch the right weather report 😁

Amanda Kelly said:Nah, he didn't even touch him. Sergio Perez was the one who wiped him out.

There's no need to make such a scene; we aren't blind or stupid.

I expected you to celebrate or gloat a little. That’s fine. But this level of arrogance? Not so much.
You spend an entire week going to sleep, dreaming all night, and waking up with Charles Leclerc's face burned into your brain. So what?
Personally, I’d just cover my ears and congratulate Charles on a great drive—or better yet, an impressive weekend overall. But apparently, that's asking too much from you.

Charles Leclerc? Indeed. Sergio Perez swept him aside too.

Amanda Kelly said:Nah, he didn't even touch him. Sergio Perez was the one who wiped him out.

There's no need to make such a scene; we aren't blind or stupid.

I expected you to celebrate or gloat a little. That’s fine. But this level of arrogance? Not so much.
You spend an entire week going to sleep, dreaming all night, and waking up with Charles Leclerc's face burned into your brain. So what?
Personally, I’d just cover my ears and congratulate Charles on a great drive—or better yet, an impressive weekend overall. But apparently, that's asking too much from you.

Yes, I suppose I am indulging myself just a little bit. 🙄

Linda Peterson43 said:How exactly does one manage to extract more performance from a car than its inherent design should allow? 🙂

How can we actually tell what a car is truly capable of? Between managing tire degradation over the weekend and trying to preserve the engine life throughout the season, you just don't get the luxury of hunting for qualifying-style laps constantly. In reality, we probably only see two or three genuine runs per week where the car is light on fuel and dialed in with maximum settings. That’s hardly a large enough sample size to know if a qualifying time is actually the absolute limit, or if there are still a few tenths hiding under the surface.

Honestly, that was easily Sainz's best drive of the entire season

I’m telling you right now, the second there’s even a hint of a breakdown, they’ll throw out a red flag and cancel the whole race just to protect those pampered little drivers in their cars.

darkmarlin16 said:Honestly, that was easily Sainz's best drive of the entire season

Facts. Seriously, the only good thing about this entire weekend... I just hope this gives him enough of a confidence boost to actually stay ahead of the pack in the next ones.

So, basically, they’re telling Sainz to just elbow his way through, block those Red Bull Racing guys, and call it a day. That’s the race plan. Leclerc is going to pull away and build a massive gap. Perez will step aside immediately to let Verstappen through, and then Max will just scrap with Sainz for second place.

That streak of him wrecking everything in Monaco has got to end somewhere.

It’s actually a good thing some viewer asked on the Formula1.com stream—like, why even bother having wet tires if nobody can actually use them? 😁
They kept delaying the start, then everyone finally rolls out on wets, and three laps later the racing line is bone dry.

And seriously, can someone explain why all the leaders (except for Carlos Sainz) jumped on intermediates just to switch to slicks a few laps later? It’s like they’re driving in Monaco for the very first time or something, as if they don't have access to a basic weather forecast.

He's been suspended, damn it.

Henry Thompson said:It’s actually a good thing some viewer asked on the Formula1.com stream—like, why even bother having wet tires if nobody can actually use them? 😁
They kept delaying the start, then everyone finally rolls out on wets, and three laps later the racing line is bone dry.

And seriously, can someone explain why all the leaders (except for Carlos Sainz) jumped on intermediates just to switch to slicks a few laps later? It’s like they’re driving in Monaco for the very first time or something, as if they don't have access to a basic weather forecast.

Because they are simply incompetent. I am referring, of course, to the race directors and the FIA.

Henry Thompson said:It’s actually a good thing some viewer asked on the Formula1.com stream—like, why even bother having wet tires if nobody can actually use them? 😁
They kept delaying the start, then everyone finally rolls out on wets, and three laps later the racing line is bone dry.

And seriously, can someone explain why all the leaders (except for Carlos Sainz) jumped on intermediates just to switch to slicks a few laps later? It’s like they’re driving in Monaco for the very first time or something, as if they don't have access to a basic weather forecast.

Since there is absolutely no way for anyone to be certain about how quickly the track surface might actually dry out, and considering they really ought to prioritize maintaining their current positions on the circuit just in case the drying process doesn't happen as rapidly as anticipated, wouldn't it make sense to play it safe?
In the view of Hunter, compared to the drivers we see on the grid today like Jenson Button, there was a much greater individual responsibility placed upon a driver when it came to deciding exactly when to switch over to slicks during drying conditions. Is it not true that back then, the driver had to rely more on their own intuition and feel for the asphalt? Conversely, when it comes to those critical moments of transitioning to wet-weather tires, that burden falls much more heavily upon the crew stationed on the pit wall, given that they have the advantage of high-tech radar monitoring everything right in front of them. Does this shift in responsibility not fundamentally change the very nature of how a race is managed?

Is it not remarkable that Carlos Sainz was the only driver among the frontrunners to actually shoulder the responsibility for his tire strategy, effectively salvaging his second-place finish despite the absolute circus occurring on his own pit wall? One has to wonder how such tactical incompetence is even possible at this level, yet he managed to navigate through it all. In my estimation, that kind of decisive leadership and composure under pressure is exactly what defines a true driver of the race.