Monaco GP 2015

stormybadger8 said:Daniel Ricciardo might have stood a chance against Sebastian Vettel if Lewis Hamilton had dropped back by four or five laps near the end... anything else is just pure fantasy.

He can say whatever he likes, but let's be honest: Daniel Ricciardo didn't stand a ghost of a chance against Lewis Hamilton. ☕
The only way Daniel Ricciardo could have ever overtaken Lewis Hamilton was if Lewis had slammed into Sebastian Vettel or hit the wall—an opportunity that both Daniil Kvyat and everyone else trailing him also possessed.

And frankly, I find rowdyrider12's theory quite compelling. Immediately after Daniel Ricciardo cleared Kimi Räikkönen, word came out that the incident was under investigation right then and there, rather than waiting for a post-race review. 😉
That implies a decision was being reached mid-race... and isn't it possible they allowed Daniel Ricciardo ahead of Daniil Kvyat precisely because they were already anticipating a penalty?
If the stewards had made their call during the race without hesitation, wouldn't Daniel Ricciardo have simply surrendered the position back to Daniil Kvyat, perhaps slowing down just enough to finish behind Daniil but still ahead of Kimi Räikkönen?

If my memory serves me correctly, the decision actually was finalized during the race, which explains why Daniel Ricciardo gave the position back...
If it had been a standard five-second penalty, the time would have been added at the very end since nobody headed to the pits... which means they needed to ensure the gap between Kimi Räikkönen and Daniel Ricciardo stayed wider than five seconds.
On a track like that, can anyone truly convince me that Daniel Ricciardo just happened to breeze past Daniil Kvyat like that?
It seems much more likely that the goal was to hold up Kimi Räikkönen, ensuring that both Red Bull Racing drivers could maximize their points haul.

When I take a moment to really reflect on it, perhaps that is precisely why Daniel Ricciardo managed to avoid that penalty in the first place.. 🙂
It seems the stewards realized there was no point in making a scene, especially since Red Bull Racing had them completely covered with their tactical maneuvering...

Here is the transcript from the press conference:
http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-...---monaco.html

I wanted to highlight this specific portion of Lewis Hamilton's response:
I saw a screen, it looked like the team was out and I thought that Nico Rosberg had pitted. Obviously I couldn't see the guys behind so I thought the guys behind were pitting. The team said to stay out, I said “these tyres are going to drop in temperature,” and what I was assuming was that these guys would be on Options and I was on the harder tyre. So, they said to pit. without thinking i came in with full confidence that The others Had Dona The same.

So, his team told him to stay out on track, which leads me to wonder if there was perhaps some sort of misunderstanding? Could he not have simply asked whether his competitors had already made their pit stops?

stormybadger8 said:That penalty is pure stupidity 🤦

I'm telling you, the FIA is just being ridiculous. They honestly need to head over to some training camp—maybe out in the Midwest or something—to actually learn how things work. Both them and the drivers... if they actually went through some real schooling, maybe there wouldn't be so much whining. Then we could actually sit back, watch the free practice sessions, and enjoy the real fighting after the race is over 😉

graniteharbor502 said:Here’s the transcript from the press conference:
http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-...---monaco.html

Highlighting part of Lewis Hamilton's response:
I saw a screen, it looked like the team was out and I thought that Nico Rosberg had pitted. Obviously I couldn't see the guys behind so I thought the guys behind were pitting. The team said to stay out, I said “these tyres are going to drop in temperature,” and what I was assuming was that these guys would be on Options and I was on the harder tyre. So, they said to pit. without thinking i came in with full confidence that The others Had Dona The same.

So, his team told him to stay out. It was probably just a massive misunderstanding... He could've just asked if his rivals had already pitted, though.

From this, my takeaway is that Hamilton is an idiot, but hey—he's still the fastest guy out there next to Fernando Alonso.

Drew Bennett68 said:🙏🤦

What on earth just happened there? I thought I had them on my ignore list...

jadeseal7 said:Come on, don't talk nonsense—Nico actually said Lewis should have won this one.

Yeah, right—after he spent three victory laps spraying champagne everywhere...

stormybadger8 said:Honestly, Nico Rosberg is the real loser in this whole situation 😉
If there’s one thing you can bet your life on—assuming we even make it to the next race where Rosberg finishes ahead of Lewis Hamilton (fingers crossed we get there this season 😬)—it's that Mercedes-AMG Petronas will order Rosberg to hand that spot back to Hamilton. You can take that to the bank...
And man, that’s going to sting him way more than whatever happened to Lewis.

I'm totally convinced the crew is going to make this up to Hamilton at Rosberg's expense—I mean, they really ought to, since the team basically handed this one to Rosberg on a silver platter.

Nah, Lewis doesn't need any handouts. He's easily the strongest driver on the grid right now—the only thing that could actually threaten his title is if he gets knocked off the track for a good chunk of the race...

graniteharbor502 said:What was he even shouting about? He's on my ignore list now.

Oh, come on, neonfox65. Take a guess.

Gary Palmer8 said:So, after he’s finished spraying that champagne over all three victory laps... what happens next?

And he was definitely trolling a little bit there, wasn't he?😁

You really should have tuned in to hear Blažićko over on RTL 2 (around 00:20) while he was dissecting that totally unnecessary pit stop. I’d bet anything his commentary went something like this: UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU what an absolute blunder by Mercedes-AMG Petronas! Lewis Hamilton is absolutely fuming right now; heads are going to roll back at the headquarters in Stuttgart, and everyone will be standing there waiting for Dieter Zetsche to weigh in. What a complete disaster... it's such a shame I missed it.

So, did Mercedes-AMG Petronas basically sabotage their own driver and screw over the entire audience just to manufacture some fake drama, push the second driver harder, or was this just one massive, brainless tactical blunder? 😕

Gary Palmer8 said:Yeah—well, after he finished spraying three victory laps worth of champagne everywhere...

🙂🙂🙂

graniteharbor502 said:I'll pull out a piece of Lewis Hamilton's response:
I saw a screen, it looked like the team was out and I thought that Nico Rosberg had pitted. Obviously I couldn't see the guys behind so I thought the guys behind were pitting. The team said to stay out, I said “these tyres are going to drop in temperature,” and what I was assuming was that these guys would be on Options and I was on the harder tyre. So, they said to pit. without thinking i came in with full confidence that The others Had Dona The same.

So, the team told him to stay out. It was probably just a misunderstanding. He could have easily just asked if his rivals had already pitted.

Yeah, interesting. The team told him to stay out, but since he was convinced at that moment that both Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel were pitting, he basically spiraled—starting to push back over the radio and complaining about his tires losing temperature and all that. Because he was whining, the crew likely assumed Lewis Hamilton was desperate to pit and was cracking under the pressure. 😬 And honestly, he probably was complaining, considering he was certain the other two were in the pits. It seems like the team just got confused in all the chaos; they were probably trying too hard to please Lewis Hamilton and didn't realize he was just overthinking things and spinning out. 😬

cosmicridge5 said:Yes, it is quite fascinating when you look at the details. His own team instructed him to stay out on the track, but since he was under the firm impression at that exact moment that both Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel were heading in for a pit stop, he essentially spiraled into a state of pure paranoia. He started venting over the team radio, complaining incessantly about his tire temperatures and how they were losing grip—it was all quite frantic. Consequently, the crew interpreted this outburst as a sign that Lujo was desperate to pit and was buckling under the psychological pressure. 😬 And given that he was absolutely certain the other two were pitting, his protests were inevitable, weren't they? It seems the pit crew, caught up in the sheer chaos and speed of the moment, made a blunder because they were perhaps too eager to accommodate Lujo's demands, failing to realize he was simply reacting to a perceived situation that wasn't actually happening. 😬

You are certainly onto something there. It appears they are genuinely intimidated by Ferrari, which seems to be driving them toward these kinds of impulsive, reactionary decisions. If things continue this way, we might actually see a three-way battle for the championship right up until the final race, which would be a stark contrast to how last season unfolded.

neonfalcon16 said:So, did Mercedes sabotage their own driver and alienate the entire fanbase just to manufacture some fake tension, push the second driver forward, or was it just a massive tactical blunder? 😕

It’s not like Mercedes actively stopped Lewis Hamilton from sabotaging himself. I guess you could look at it that way. 😁

Lewis was the one calling for the pit stop, and maybe the team just buckled under the pressure instead of pushing back on his strategy. That's all there is to it. I don't think there's any conspiracy going on, unfortunately. 😁

graniteharbor502 said:You're definitely on the right track here. It seems pretty obvious they're terrified of Ferrari—which is exactly what's driving these frantic, last-minute decisions. If things keep going this way, we could actually be looking at a three-way battle for the championship all the way until the final race, unlike how everything played out last season.

Canada will be the real test

What a joke. Even Bog forgot about Formula 1 a long time ago, otherwise this rain would actually mean something. Though I'm not sure who even thrives in the wet, from those guys stuck in the suburbs to most of the grid...

It’s a shame Max isn't making a move, because now there’s nothing to talk about until the next race. It looks like Ferrari's upgrade was a dud, so we're back to Mercedes just pretending there's some internal "rivalry" to keep 2015 somewhat interesting. At least until Red Bull Racing returns, which shouldn't be until 2017...

Kudos to Jenson Button, whom they tried to force into retirement six months ago. Daniil Kvyat has woken up, and Carlos Sainz would be even better without the penalties; the kid is talented. Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso? Retired...

The show must go on.

wiredscout14 said:It seems Ferrari's upgrade didn't deliver anything substantial, leaving everything once again in the hands of Mercedes, who are merely maintaining interest in the 2015 season by staging some semblance of internal "team rivalry." This will likely continue until Red Bull Racing returns to prominence, which we expect to happen in 2017.

🤦🤣

If Ferrari arrives in Canada with a more powerful engine, they might actually have enough bite to devour both Mercedes-Benz cars on the track. 🍿

It appears Ferrari is suffering from a lack of raw power; Mercedes clearly possesses a superior engine that grants them the current edge. One only needs to look at Williams Racing to see the impact of such deficits, considering how disastrously they performed last year as the second-tier outfit. 🙏

stormybadger8 said:That penalty is pure, unadulterated stupidity 🤦
You can literally see from a damn plane flying overhead that Romain Grosjean braked way earlier than anyone else in the race, and honestly, he braked way earlier than even his own previous laps...
If anyone actually deserved a penalty here, it’s Grosjean for being way too early, not little Max...

Way to go. 🙏