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

They already pushed back the start of ☕

Honestly, I think Sainz's strategy was actually spot on—going from wets straight to hards—but he got totally screwed by some guy in a Williams who wouldn't budge despite the blue flag, which is how Perez managed to jump him.
If that mess hadn't happened, I’m convinced Sainz would’ve taken first place, especially since he was clearly flying past Perez in the later stages of the race.

What they should have done is weigh the speed gap between intermediates and full wets during those few laps... you have to decide if it's better to grab the inters and build enough of a gap to get a "free" pit stop for hards, or just grit it out on wets for a few laps before switching to hards for the finish.
Since both strategies were basically neck-and-neck, fine, maybe we can give Ferrari a pass on that one.
But what I absolutely cannot forgive is how long they spent debating things with Sainz while completely neglecting Leclerc... he ended up doing exactly what Red Bull did, just at a much slower pace. And even worse? That moment they called Leclerc in when there was zero chance of a double stack, leaving him just sitting there like an idiot waiting behind Sainz to get his tires changed.
It’s pure amateur hour... honestly, people should be losing their jobs over this because there's no excuse.
You can see Leclerc is way faster on the inters, he's closing in on Sainz who's still on wets, and it's obvious there won't be time to stack the cars.
Those two massive blunders completely trashed Leclerc's race.
Sainz actually drove a solid race, but he got shafted by Williams.

Jacob Castillo70 said:He's been suspended, damn it.

I told you guys, this is how the feminization process starts.

cosmicmoose2 said:Honestly, I think Sainz's strategy was actually spot on—going from wets straight to hards—but he got totally screwed by some guy in a Williams who wouldn't budge despite the blue flag, which is how Perez managed to jump him.
If that mess hadn't happened, I’m convinced Sainz would’ve taken first place, especially since he was clearly flying past Perez in the later stages of the race.

What they should have done is weigh the speed gap between intermediates and full wets during those few laps... you have to decide if it's better to grab the inters and build enough of a gap to get a "free" pit stop for hards, or just grit it out on wets for a few laps before switching to hards for the finish.
Since both strategies were basically neck-and-neck, fine, maybe we can give Ferrari a pass on that one.
But what I absolutely cannot forgive is how long they spent debating things with Sainz while completely neglecting Leclerc... he ended up doing exactly what Red Bull did, just at a much slower pace. And even worse? That moment they called Leclerc in when there was zero chance of a double stack, leaving him just sitting there like an idiot waiting behind Sainz to get his tires changed.
It’s pure amateur hour... honestly, people should be losing their jobs over this because there's no excuse.
You can see Leclerc is way faster on the inters, he's closing in on Sainz who's still on wets, and it's obvious there won't be time to stack the cars.
Those two massive blunders completely trashed Leclerc's race.
Sainz actually drove a solid race, but he got shafted by Williams.

The clowns on the pit wall certainly cost Charles Leclerc his race, though I suppose he bears some responsibility for certain losses as well.
If we simply compare the pace during those decisive laps between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc,
Code:

He drove every single lap slower than Max Verstappen.

No rain yet, but they've pushed the start back by 10 minutes 🤦

And what happens when you're stuck on wet tires? You just gonna ignore that?
It’s nothing but high-stakes laps between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc at this point...

What on earth are you all expecting, that they’ll actually attempt a start on a wet track in Monte Carlo? Honestly, that’s ancient history at this point.

cosmicmoose2 said:And what happens when you're stuck on wet tires? You just gonna ignore that?
It’s nothing but high-stakes laps between Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc at this point...

Max is essentially stuck in a train, trailing right behind Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc has nothing but clear track ahead of him, allowing him to dictate the entire pace. This was actually a massive opportunity where he could have pulled even further ahead; if he had performed like Kimi Räikkönen once did, he might have built such a substantial gap that he could pit and still rejoin the race in first place.

Looks like heavy rain is rolling in, just what we needed. This isn't looking good at all. 🤣

Wait, when did the race actually start? Why on earth isn't that info posted right there?

Beautiful July 🤦
Delayed start and rolling behind the 🙂SC
.
Still checking the LT; half the feed is just people posting memes while the other half is actually following the race.
And here come the absolute vultures, circling the SC like they own the place. 🤦

darkmarlin16 said:Wait, when did the race actually start? Why on earth isn't that info posted right there?

What do you mean by that? For all intents and purposes, the official start was set for 3:00 PM.

graniteharbor502 said:What do you mean by that? For all intents and purposes, the official start was set for 3:00 PM.

But when did they actually start counting laps? And why on earth were there only two warm-up laps?

The whole thing just felt incredibly sloppy to me, honestly.

They could've at least managed to put a clock on the screen.

graniteharbor502 said:Max is essentially stuck in a train, trailing right behind Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc has nothing but clear track ahead of him, allowing him to dictate the entire pace. This was actually a massive opportunity where he could have pulled even further ahead; if he had performed like Kimi Räikkönen once did, he might have built such a substantial gap that he could pit and still rejoin the race in first place.

Actually, even Leclerc didn't have totally clear air—he was stuck behind that Williams for quite a while too. And get this, just like what happened later with Sainz, that Williams wouldn't budge, even after being waved through with blue flags multiple times. It's ridiculous...
That's why you have to wonder if he ever even got those intermediates up to the right temperature.
Leclerc's tires barely even warmed up before he was hauled into the pits again. That's another massive blunder by the team. If they were going to do that, they should've just skipped the intermediates entirely, especially since Ferrari looked so solid on hard tires.

On the flip side, both Red Bull Racing cars were putting up killer lap times on the inters after just one single lap. That tells me everything I need to know: Red Bull Racing handled those tires way better than Ferrari did.

Look, if the cars ahead are the excuse for Max's slower laps compared to Leclerc, then you’ve gotta apply that same logic after the first pit stop, right? Makes sense...

Yeah, sure, Max spent more time following someone, but in this specific case, the pit stop strategy comes down to one thing: can you actually make those intermediate tires work? That was the whole game. So, messing with Leclerc's rhythm—even for "only" half a lap—definitely played a huge role in those lap times you mentioned above.

graniteharbor502 said:Max is essentially stuck in a train, trailing right behind Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc has nothing but clear track ahead of him, allowing him to dictate the entire pace. This was actually a massive opportunity where he could have pulled even further ahead; if he had performed like Kimi Räikkönen once did, he might have built such a substantial gap that he could pit and still rejoin the race in first place.

I believe a 9-second cushion ahead of Sergio Perez—and even more over Max—was quite sufficient, wouldn't you agree?

Max is stuck in that train due to his own error; he was slower during qualifying. Charles Leclerc did nothing wrong through any fault or lack of speed of his own; after all, he has Ferrari strategists who managed to slot him into 4th place.

Just as one might argue Max is leading the championship not by his own merit, we can certainly view it through that lens.

You could probably argue that Leclerc has actually been outperforming Max over the last two races, even if Max is still walking away with more points in his pocket.

darkmarlin16 said:But when did they actually start counting laps? And why on earth were there only two warm-up laps?

The whole thing just felt incredibly sloppy to me, honestly.

They could've at least managed to put a clock on the screen.

The session began behind the safety car at 16:05—there was an announcement during the broadcast—and, as we know, the decision regarding when the SC clears the track rests entirely with the race directors.

cosmicmoose2 said:Actually, even Leclerc didn't have totally clear air—he was stuck behind that Williams for quite a while too. And get this, just like what happened later with Sainz, that Williams wouldn't budge, even after being waved through with blue flags multiple times. It's ridiculous...
That's why you have to wonder if he ever even got those intermediates up to the right temperature.
Leclerc's tires barely even warmed up before he was hauled into the pits again. That's another massive blunder by the team. If they were going to do that, they should've just skipped the intermediates entirely, especially since Ferrari looked so solid on hard tires.

On the flip side, both Red Bull Racing cars were putting up killer lap times on the inters after just one single lap. That tells me everything I need to know: Red Bull Racing handled those tires way better than Ferrari did.

Look, if the cars ahead are the excuse for Max's slower laps compared to Leclerc, then you’ve gotta apply that same logic after the first pit stop, right? Makes sense...

Yeah, sure, Max spent more time following someone, but in this specific case, the pit stop strategy comes down to one thing: can you actually make those intermediate tires work? That was the whole game. So, messing with Leclerc's rhythm—even for "only" half a lap—definitely played a huge role in those lap times you mentioned above.

That occurred on lap 20. The reason that Williams didn't move is simply because Charles Leclerc was being remarkably sluggish in his attack. He was driving that lap like a complete amateur, if I may say so. Anyone with access to F1TV can verify that for themselves.

cosmicmoose2 said:Actually, even Leclerc didn't have totally clear air—he was stuck behind that Williams for quite a while too. And get this, just like what happened later with Sainz, that Williams wouldn't budge, even after being waved through with blue flags multiple times. It's ridiculous...
That's why you have to wonder if he ever even got those intermediates up to the right temperature.
Leclerc's tires barely even warmed up before he was hauled into the pits again. That's another massive blunder by the team. If they were going to do that, they should've just skipped the intermediates entirely, especially since Ferrari looked so solid on hard tires.

On the flip side, both Red Bull Racing cars were putting up killer lap times on the inters after just one single lap. That tells me everything I need to know: Red Bull Racing handled those tires way better than Ferrari did.

Look, if the cars ahead are the excuse for Max's slower laps compared to Leclerc, then you’ve gotta apply that same logic after the first pit stop, right? Makes sense...

Yeah, sure, Max spent more time following someone, but in this specific case, the pit stop strategy comes down to one thing: can you actually make those intermediate tires work? That was the whole game. So, messing with Leclerc's rhythm—even for "only" half a lap—definitely played a huge role in those lap times you mentioned above.

Both Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen switched to intermediates on the exact same lap. Max was faster during that initial entry lap by 1.7 seconds. We all know now that they really ought to have been on the hard tires. Even Carlos Sainz knew it. Honestly, who is to blame—the pit wall or Charles Leclerc—for the fact that they were left in the dark?

cosmicmoose2 said:Actually, even Leclerc didn't have totally clear air—he was stuck behind that Williams for quite a while too. And get this, just like what happened later with Sainz, that Williams wouldn't budge, even after being waved through with blue flags multiple times. It's ridiculous...
That's why you have to wonder if he ever even got those intermediates up to the right temperature.
Leclerc's tires barely even warmed up before he was hauled into the pits again. That's another massive blunder by the team. If they were going to do that, they should've just skipped the intermediates entirely, especially since Ferrari looked so solid on hard tires.

On the flip side, both Red Bull Racing cars were putting up killer lap times on the inters after just one single lap. That tells me everything I need to know: Red Bull Racing handled those tires way better than Ferrari did.

Look, if the cars ahead are the excuse for Max's slower laps compared to Leclerc, then you’ve gotta apply that same logic after the first pit stop, right? Makes sense...

Yeah, sure, Max spent more time following someone, but in this specific case, the pit stop strategy comes down to one thing: can you actually make those intermediate tires work? That was the whole game. So, messing with Leclerc's rhythm—even for "only" half a lap—definitely played a huge role in those lap times you mentioned above.

Not quite, though. Sergio Perez clocked a 1:32.1 during his first full lap on the intermediates on lap 17.

cosmicmoose2 said:Actually, even Leclerc didn't have totally clear air—he was stuck behind that Williams for quite a while too. And get this, just like what happened later with Sainz, that Williams wouldn't budge, even after being waved through with blue flags multiple times. It's ridiculous...
That's why you have to wonder if he ever even got those intermediates up to the right temperature.
Leclerc's tires barely even warmed up before he was hauled into the pits again. That's another massive blunder by the team. If they were going to do that, they should've just skipped the intermediates entirely, especially since Ferrari looked so solid on hard tires.

On the flip side, both Red Bull Racing cars were putting up killer lap times on the inters after just one single lap. That tells me everything I need to know: Red Bull Racing handled those tires way better than Ferrari did.

Look, if the cars ahead are the excuse for Max's slower laps compared to Leclerc, then you’ve gotta apply that same logic after the first pit stop, right? Makes sense...

Yeah, sure, Max spent more time following someone, but in this specific case, the pit stop strategy comes down to one thing: can you actually make those intermediate tires work? That was the whole game. So, messing with Leclerc's rhythm—even for "only" half a lap—definitely played a huge role in those lap times you mentioned above.

By the 21st lap, Max found himself stuck behind two backmarkers, whereas if one looks at the cumulative data, Charles Leclerc actually dealt with fewer backmarkers during that specific window. It seems to me that he simply drove worse, both when the track was clear and when he was navigating traffic.

mellowtiger83 said:I believe a 9-second cushion ahead of Sergio Perez—and even more over Max—was quite sufficient, wouldn't you agree?

Max is stuck in that train due to his own error; he was slower during qualifying. Charles Leclerc did nothing wrong through any fault or lack of speed of his own; after all, he has Ferrari strategists who managed to slot him into 4th place.

Just as one might argue Max is leading the championship not by his own merit, we can certainly view it through that lens.

Nine seconds? Where on earth did that number come from? When Charles Leclerc entered the pits, his lead over Max was only 7.6 seconds, and just one lap prior, when Sergio Perez pitted, the gap ahead of him was merely 8.2 seconds.
When racing under such chaotic circumstances, isn't it true that the smallest details become paramount? One must consider how effectively a driver manages their in-laps and out-laps; had Charles Leclerc executed those more precisely, he likely would have finished ahead of Max. Instead, Max secured the position once again, and quite frankly, he earned it through his own merit.

mellowtiger83 said:I believe a 9-second cushion ahead of Sergio Perez—and even more over Max—was quite sufficient, wouldn't you agree?

Max is stuck in that train due to his own error; he was slower during qualifying. Charles Leclerc did nothing wrong through any fault or lack of speed of his own; after all, he has Ferrari strategists who managed to slot him into 4th place.

Just as one might argue Max is leading the championship not by his own merit, we can certainly view it through that lens.

To clarify, Max wasn't actually slower in qualifying; rather, he was forced to abandon his fastest lap because Sergio Perez went off into the barrier.
As I have already demonstrated, Charles Leclerc was the one who lacked pace during those critical moments.

mellowtiger83 said:I believe a 9-second cushion ahead of Sergio Perez—and even more over Max—was quite sufficient, wouldn't you agree?

Max is stuck in that train due to his own error; he was slower during qualifying. Charles Leclerc did nothing wrong through any fault or lack of speed of his own; after all, he has Ferrari strategists who managed to slot him into 4th place.

Just as one might argue Max is leading the championship not by his own merit, we can certainly view it through that lens.

Ha, so now he’s leading because of your fault?🙄

graniteharbor502 said:The session began behind the safety car at 16:05—there was an announcement during the broadcast—and, as we know, the decision regarding when the SC clears the track rests entirely with the race directors.

That occurred on lap 20. The reason that Williams didn't move is simply because Charles Leclerc was being remarkably sluggish in his attack. He was driving that lap like a complete amateur, if I may say so. Anyone with access to F1TV can verify that for themselves.

Both Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen switched to intermediates on the exact same lap. Max was faster during that initial entry lap by 1.7 seconds. We all know now that they really ought to have been on the hard tires. Even Carlos Sainz knew it. Honestly, who is to blame—the pit wall or Charles Leclerc—for the fact that they were left in the dark?

Not quite, though. Sergio Perez clocked a 1:32.1 during his first full lap on the intermediates on lap 17.

By the 21st lap, Max found himself stuck behind two backmarkers, whereas if one looks at the cumulative data, Charles Leclerc actually dealt with fewer backmarkers during that specific window. It seems to me that he simply drove worse, both when the track was clear and when he was navigating traffic.

Nine seconds? Where on earth did that number come from? When Charles Leclerc entered the pits, his lead over Max was only 7.6 seconds, and just one lap prior, when Sergio Perez pitted, the gap ahead of him was merely 8.2 seconds.
When racing under such chaotic circumstances, isn't it true that the smallest details become paramount? One must consider how effectively a driver manages their in-laps and out-laps; had Charles Leclerc executed those more precisely, he likely would have finished ahead of Max. Instead, Max secured the position once again, and quite frankly, he earned it through his own merit.

To clarify, Max wasn't actually slower in qualifying; rather, he was forced to abandon his fastest lap because Sergio Perez went off into the barrier.
As I have already demonstrated, Charles Leclerc was the one who lacked pace during those critical moments.

Ha, so now he’s leading because of your fault?🙄

Man, sometimes it’s just impossible to talk to you. "Max wasn't slower in qualifying" but he ended up in fourth? Seriously? Even Christian Horner admitted that grabbing pole wasn't even realistic for Red Bull this weekend. And she's got all the telemetry right there! But sure, in your head, Max would have just cruised into first place. Not the whole weekend leading up to that, not this entire season, and certainly not Horner... none of that supports your little "what if" fantasy.

The user above is making some points. In Monaco, track position is everything, and Max had a rough qualifying session. Those slow laps don't matter much when he basically put himself in 4th place. On the flip side, Leclerc killed it in qualifying and took pole, but ended up 4th because of the team, not because he was 2 or 3 seconds off in tough conditions.

Anyway, this whole argument started over who's really to blame for Leclerc finishing 4th. Honestly, I think it's obvious the Pitwall played the deciding role here. Let's just end the debate there.

graniteharbor502 said:The session began behind the safety car at 16:05—there was an announcement during the broadcast—and, as we know, the decision regarding when the SC clears the track rests entirely with the race directors.

That occurred on lap 20. The reason that Williams didn't move is simply because Charles Leclerc was being remarkably sluggish in his attack. He was driving that lap like a complete amateur, if I may say so. Anyone with access to F1TV can verify that for themselves.

Both Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen switched to intermediates on the exact same lap. Max was faster during that initial entry lap by 1.7 seconds. We all know now that they really ought to have been on the hard tires. Even Carlos Sainz knew it. Honestly, who is to blame—the pit wall or Charles Leclerc—for the fact that they were left in the dark?

Not quite, though. Sergio Perez clocked a 1:32.1 during his first full lap on the intermediates on lap 17.

By the 21st lap, Max found himself stuck behind two backmarkers, whereas if one looks at the cumulative data, Charles Leclerc actually dealt with fewer backmarkers during that specific window. It seems to me that he simply drove worse, both when the track was clear and when he was navigating traffic.

Nine seconds? Where on earth did that number come from? When Charles Leclerc entered the pits, his lead over Max was only 7.6 seconds, and just one lap prior, when Sergio Perez pitted, the gap ahead of him was merely 8.2 seconds.
When racing under such chaotic circumstances, isn't it true that the smallest details become paramount? One must consider how effectively a driver manages their in-laps and out-laps; had Charles Leclerc executed those more precisely, he likely would have finished ahead of Max. Instead, Max secured the position once again, and quite frankly, he earned it through his own merit.

To clarify, Max wasn't actually slower in qualifying; rather, he was forced to abandon his fastest lap because Sergio Perez went off into the barrier.
As I have already demonstrated, Charles Leclerc was the one who lacked pace during those critical moments.

Ha, so now he’s leading because of your fault?🙄

I disagree. He didn't pass him because Alex Albon intentionally held his ground, probably thinking he couldn't hold him off long-term due to the tire offset. This is his actual quote:

Alex Albon tried to stay ahead of Charles Leclerc after Coming out of The pits this Sunday in Monaco. The Williams F1 driver thought he could break away from the Ferrari, as he had just fitted slicks, while the Ferrari was shod on intermediate tyres.

The Thai confirms that he thought he could get ahead, but he eventually blocked the Ferrari from the Fairmont Hotel hairpin to Sainte Devote on the next lap, when he shot straight into the loophole, which angered Leclerc.

"Come on Alex", he first said on the radio, before getting angry: "What the fuck?" After The EXIT of The Williams, the Monegasque just yelled "Oh! Damn!" in the radio, but his friend denies having acted badly.

"It's tricky because we started on slicks and we had a big pace advantage," explained Alex Albon. "It would have taken me three corners to let him pass and then I would have been quick enough to pass him again."

I guess Max would have likely beaten Carlos Sainz in qualifying if those red flags hadn't popped up, especially since Sainz had such a rough first sector in that final attempt. He was within half a second of Perez, but he wasn't even close to Leclerc.🍿

The situation was pretty messy. As much as I hate making excuses for Ferrari and their incompetence, it’s just not true to say they single-handedly cost Leclerc three spots and leave it at that.
For starters, I listened to the team radio. Unlike Sainz, Leclerc didn't make his tire preferences clear. When asked about switching straight to hards, he just mumbled, "maybe, but not now," and then went silent. I wouldn't completely rule out his own responsibility here.
Leclerc is leading on track, but behind him, Sainz is dead set on jumping straight to hards, Perez blinked first and pitted for inters, and Verstappen is his main threat whose strategy is still anyone's guess. So what is Ferrari supposed to do? If they cover Perez immediately, they likely lose out to both Sainz and Verstappen (since he'll probably go straight to hards too). If they wait for Verstappen, they lose to Perez and probably Sainz as well. No matter who they try to cover, they’re likely a lap behind the action...
It isn't that simple. Even with Leclerc in the lead, everyone behind him is playing their own game, so he was likely losing two positions regardless. Sure, they lost everything in the end because of indecision, but that's beside the point.

The only way Leclerc could have held onto first place was if he had his own plan and dictated the pace.
He should have just said, "I want this and that, I'm making the move first," and called it a day. That’s the only way to take that kind of risk. But he didn't show that level of decisiveness.
If Ferrari had put him straight on hards without him confirming the track conditions were ready, the media would have absolutely torn them apart.

The best way to defend a position is to think ahead and build a gap before the pit stops. Why wasn't there better communication from the team? Why didn't they tell him to push harder? Or maybe he just didn't have the pace—that might be the real root of the problem.

graniteharbor502 said:The session began behind the safety car at 16:05—there was an announcement during the broadcast—and, as we know, the decision regarding when the SC clears the track rests entirely with the race directors.

That occurred on lap 20. The reason that Williams didn't move is simply because Charles Leclerc was being remarkably sluggish in his attack. He was driving that lap like a complete amateur, if I may say so. Anyone with access to F1TV can verify that for themselves.

Both Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen switched to intermediates on the exact same lap. Max was faster during that initial entry lap by 1.7 seconds. We all know now that they really ought to have been on the hard tires. Even Carlos Sainz knew it. Honestly, who is to blame—the pit wall or Charles Leclerc—for the fact that they were left in the dark?

Not quite, though. Sergio Perez clocked a 1:32.1 during his first full lap on the intermediates on lap 17.

By the 21st lap, Max found himself stuck behind two backmarkers, whereas if one looks at the cumulative data, Charles Leclerc actually dealt with fewer backmarkers during that specific window. It seems to me that he simply drove worse, both when the track was clear and when he was navigating traffic.

Nine seconds? Where on earth did that number come from? When Charles Leclerc entered the pits, his lead over Max was only 7.6 seconds, and just one lap prior, when Sergio Perez pitted, the gap ahead of him was merely 8.2 seconds.
When racing under such chaotic circumstances, isn't it true that the smallest details become paramount? One must consider how effectively a driver manages their in-laps and out-laps; had Charles Leclerc executed those more precisely, he likely would have finished ahead of Max. Instead, Max secured the position once again, and quite frankly, he earned it through his own merit.

To clarify, Max wasn't actually slower in qualifying; rather, he was forced to abandon his fastest lap because Sergio Perez went off into the barrier.
As I have already demonstrated, Charles Leclerc was the one who lacked pace during those critical moments.

Ha, so now he’s leading because of your fault?🙄

👍
I thought it would take a few weeks for the "geniuses" to come out with the theory that "Perez was faster than Verstappen in Monaco qualifying," but apparently, one day was enough. 🙏
Perez is the reason RB finished 3rd and 4th in qualifying. Based on his pace during that fast lap, Verstappen would have been P2. They likely would have taken 2nd and 3rd. Instead, Perez crashed and ruined the lap for both himself and Max, right when Ferrari were sitting pretty in 1st and 2nd.
Then you get the idiots counting qualifying gaps and claiming Perez was faster in Monaco just because he crashed. It's just people who don't even watch the races talking nonsense...