F1 Monaco GP - May 26, 2013

I'm not going to waste my breath on Perez's stupidity, but after that successful overtake on Jenson Button, everything else was just a messy brawl.

Props to the Mercedes-Benz team, especially congrats to Nico Rosberg. They held it together—glad to see it.
Ferrari is going to have to hunt for points at some other track. In these conditions and with this lineup, it just wasn't happening here.
Red Bull Racing routinely proved they've got the pace on this circuit. Some will claim it was pure luck, but they had arguably the best car on the grid.

I’d also give a special shoutout to Adrian Sutil. Unlike that idiot Peret, his performance was pure poetry.

Raymond Anderson4 said:You can't just follow the rulebook blindly; you have to account for the track itself.
Not every corner is created equal...
This isn't Germany where you’ve got five meters of runoff on either side. Here, being off by half a meter left or right means you're:
1. In the wall
2. Crashing into your opponent
In Alonso's case, you just have to yield to the other driver, nothing more. That's penalty enough, especially in Monaco.
It drives me crazy reading stuff on Autosport about people demanding pit lane penalties for that—give me a break.

Personally, I think the penalty for Romain Grosjean was ridiculous... 10 places for what???
Go watch the replay and see how and why that collision actually happened.🙄
Daniel Ricciardo is way more to blame for that mess than Grosjean. For Christ's sake, he didn't brake where Ricciardo braked 😳—that was way too much, way too early...
Grosjean simply had zero chance to react... even if the car had a brake light, would it have mattered?

Bottom line: it's nonsense. The guy got penalized just to protect someone's reputation, nothing else.
Kind of like when Checoto got banned from a GP2 race—what was the specific reason for that?
Because of a bad start.🤣

It’s true Checoto is a wild one and should've been banned way earlier, but he should've picked up that penalty before Monaco and shouldn't have even been on the grid.☕

All in all, the stewards in Monaco were a total disaster again.
But the call for Fernando Alonso—telling him to give the position back—was spot on. A pit lane penalty would have been overkill.
After all, Alonso told the BBC that being ordered to give the position back was completely fair.☕

Walter Cox6 said:It’s honestly a little too much fun reading posts from these Red fans right after Sergio Perez absolutely leveled Jenson Button....

😲😲😲😱

I'm totally floored—no one on this forum has ever insulted me quite like this before.
This actually stings.🙂

Roger Wright94 said:Sebastian Vettel is a different breed entirely.
Look, I like him, but I have to call out the absolute nonsense regarding that fastest lap right at the end.

Both he and the crew were whining and complaining about tire degradation, yet there he is, pulling a lap two seconds faster than anyone else in the closing stages. That tells me those tires still had plenty of life left in them.
Why didn't he just push earlier and actually try to go toe-to-toe with Nico Rosberg? Instead, he chooses to play the victim, only to finish the race looking dominant on the very tires he was just bellyaching about.

🙂

:tibi please don't read this:

You really should have caught the commentary from Brundle and Coulthard (I caught Coulthard in the highlights last night)
Fine, I'll be politically correct and say they clearly weren't impressed by that pretentious little stunt and were thoroughly unimpressed 😁
Brundle’s take actually resonated with me more because he started breaking down the exact reason why that kid pulled that move, followed immediately by his classic—satisfaction! It was right after the team radio, and it felt like he was punctuating every single word Brundle uttered right before.

An all-time classic moment; Brundle has a whole collection of gems like this.😁

You guys are all overreacting—this whole thing is just a sideshow involving Sergio Perez. 🙂

I mean, what else could Kimi Räikkönen have done? He already knew exactly who he was dealing with. If he’d been thinking about the championship standings instead of trying to muscle Sergio Perez in the zone just to act like some reckless kid afterward, things would be different.

Kimi Räikkönen really let me down here. Max was right, and Kimi just started whining. ☕

edit: I just remembered that noble soul mentioned something similar to those folks over at the BBC—essentially a final verdict on these messy situations where there's just way too much noise over nothing at all. 😁
It's like they were just waiting for a few edge cases in Monaco to happen just so they'd have an excuse to kick up this much dust. 😁

shadowhawk24 said:Just stumbled upon the team radio from Kimi right after Sergio Perez's first attempt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsF71yLMod4

Kimi the prophet ☕

🤣🤣🤣

Roger Wright94 said:Vettel is even more of a mess.
Look, I like the guy, but I have to call out that absolute nonsense with the fastest lap right at the end.

Both him and the crew are whining and crying about tire degradation, and then suddenly he pulls a lap that's 2 seconds faster at the very finish. So, what does that mean? It means there was plenty of life left in those tires.
Why didn't he just step on it earlier and actually try to fight Rosberg? Instead, he prefers to complain and then proceeds to drive a superior pace on the very tires he was just bitching about.

And what was the point of pushing anyway? Rosberg could have easily clocked a faster lap regardless... honestly, every single time he tried to pressure Rosberg, the German just pulled a faster lap on the very next turn.
We all know that in Monaco, even having a car that's 1 or 2 seconds faster doesn't help much. Plus, Mercedes looked way faster than Red Bull Racing anyway; the real issue is they were driving way slower than they actually could because they were babying their tires...
Even if there had been a legitimate DRS zone, they wouldn't have stood a chance.
Bottom line: a dominant win for Rosberg and Mercedes-Benz.

Red Bull clearly still has massive issues following other cars. Their tires seem fine as long as nobody is in front of them... it looks like other teams don't struggle with that quite as badly.
It was obvious—they were constantly losing ground to the guys ahead...

And it’s a huge question mark how this would have ended if the race hadn't been red-flagged and the tires changed on the grid... personally, I doubt Webber and Hamilton would have even made it to the end on those yellow tires.
Webber pitted early, and Hamilton's tires were already starting to give up on him.
Maybe Rosberg and/or Vettel might have managed, but even that's a massive "maybe"—probably even more of a question mark for Vettel than for Rosberg.🤷
It seems to me like Red Bull is struggling with those soft tires, whereas SS doesn't have nearly as many problems.🤷
All in all, that red flag sent everyone's strategy straight into the trash.

Vettel just pulled that fast lap out of pure spite.😍
Though I suspect he just wanted to mess with Pielli on his way through and indirectly vent... basically making it clear to everyone that they are all driving way slower than they should be because they're terrified of their tires.

Emily Patel64 said:everyone is overreacting about that little scrap with Perez🙂

I mean, why didn't he just let him through? He knew exactly who he was dealing with. If you care about the championship standings, you don't go wrestling with Perez in the zone just to act like some tough guy afterward.

Look, Perez didn't stand a chance anyway because...
He dove in like an idiot right when there was zero mathematical possibility of making the pass. There was no room left, and he pulled the move way too late...

That mess with Button was a classic Perez-esque move, similar to how Alonso acts. Even that first incident with Kimi wasn't that big of a deal—he actually had a legitimate shot there. But this last one? Total overkill.
Honestly, I wonder if Kimi could even stomp on the brakes hard enough to let him past even if he actually wanted to...

Emily Patel64 said:😲😲😲😱

Honestly, I don't think anyone’s ever actually insulted me on this forum before.
But this one actually stung.🙂

Man, what would you even have to complain about?

No point getting worked up. Someone calling themselves a loudmouth clearly doesn't hang around here much.

Roger Wright94 said:Sergio Perez is an idiot...
...First off, you just charge in like a maniac and brake super late. So late that you don't leave any room at all for the guy you're overtaking, basically forcing him off the track. That isn't skill, or bravery, or even being gutsy—it’s just being reckless. Any idiot can do that...

I don't entirely agree with that. I mean, if we didn't have drivers like this—and unfortunately, they're pretty rare in F1—the sport would be unwatchable, at least for me. There's hardly any room to overtake in Monaco, so seeing a move like one from Perez or Sutil actually felt like a nice change of pace for what could have been a pretty boring race. He definitely overdid it in the end, I guess, but at least he actually tried, unlike some others...

Kenneth Taylor80 said:I really can't get behind that. Honestly, if we didn't have drivers like this—and God knows there aren't many left in F1—the sport would be totally unwatchable. There’s zero room to pass in Monaco, so seeing a move that's a bit Perez-esque or Sutil-style is actually a nice break from what could be a super boring race. Sure, he overdid it in the end, but at least he actually went for it, unlike some others...

Hamilton tried it too—didn't work out, obviously—but at least he didn't take out Webber.

Roger Wright94 said:Well, what could you possibly be missing?

Give me a break, guys.

I’ve honestly entertained the idea of an Alonso-Webber pairing more than once—especially after watching that little clip with those smooth conversations playing on the media screens.

When you actually sit down and think about it, it isn't such a terrible concept.😁

But I am genuinely repelled by this hysterical, cult-like fanaticism we're seeing here; besides, I’ve never really been one for the digital era from a historical perspective.😬 😬

I’m much more of an old-school, analog type of person.
Anyway, I probably could have enjoyed being by Kimi's side while he was blushing—but hey, I guess I'll just survive wearing your colors.
Do whatever you want.😁

Nathan Jones98 said:Even Hamilton tried it and failed, though at least he didn't take out Webber.

And did Perez kill someone?
Look, regardless of how you feel about him, the kid showed some serious guts. Getting rid of two world champions in Monaco and then actually attempting a third is something to respect, not something to trash...

The stuff about Kimi was an exaggeration, sure, but honestly, it feels like you guys are more bothered by how some blowhard managed to embarrass the maestro while he was caught napping...

If this were happening today, you'd all be treating him like a god just because he slapped Button...

Nathan Jones98 said:Even Hamilton gave it a shot and failed—though at least he didn't take Webber out with him.

What can you really say? Webber was clearly just playing defense against whatever moves Luja might make—he’s always had his radar up and his antennas twitching, in my opinion.

And Kimi? He started falling apart on every level, so now he's just pissed at himself—that's why he's barking so much nonsense and making a fool of himself. ☕😁

I caught a clip of this earlier during some broadcast—apparently, Kimi is heading to Red Bull
but I honestly can't place where exactly I saw it 😁

edit:
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.. wait, I remember now. They were talking about Grosjean after his accident, and that’s when it clicked 😁😁

They were all saying he should be kicked out of Lotus because he’s clearly not right, blah blah... but then someone chimed in saying they might want to think twice before making moves, especially since Kimi is likely moving to Red Bull anyway

Saw this great comment online once🤣

Perez basically ranked the drivers by skill level for us:

3. Button – you can just breeze past him.

2. Alonso – you might get past, but only if you struggle and pray the refs help you out.

3. Raikkonen – Not even a chance!

🙏🤣

Though, honestly, it’s a damn shame he didn't include Kimi too.😁
It would have been pretty wild to see what happened if he set his sights on Hamilton.😬

Nice, really nice 🙏🙏🤣🤣

stormybadger8 said:It’s honestly a damn shame he didn't pull it off, and Kimi too.😁
It would have been pretty wild to see what happened if he actually set his sights on Hamilton.😬

He didn't just fail to overtake him.
He actually managed to get under his skin.
And then he forced him into those ridiculous press conferences...
Kimi, emotions, all those statements... wtf?
Seriously, tell me when anyone else has pulled that off. Not even when they were winning championships.

The way I see Perez, he’s just spinning his wheels until everything inevitably goes south 😍
it was honestly just a matter of time before this happened—those previous "successful" attempts (if you can even call those tiny little wins successes) probably just gave him too much confidence, so he tried to go for it against Kimi and... yeah, impossible

Grosjean, tbf, you're right—this isn't really his fault, but it's like driving here in the States; if you rear-end someone, you're always the one at fault because you weren't keeping enough distance 😬

Sutil was actually brilliant with his opportunities there—really gave both Alonso and Button a run for their money

Kimi during those last two laps... man, oh man, where did he come from? How did he jump all those people?

Alonso—was he even racing, or was he just out sightseeing in Monaco

Button was an even bigger tourist than Alonso

Rosberg, finally, thank God he actually managed to pull off a win with half a chance

Roger Wright94 said:Not only did he fail to overtake him.
He actually managed to piss him off.
And then forced him out to give those interviews...
Kimi, feelings, quotes... wtf?
Seriously, tell me when anyone else has pulled that off. Not even when he was winning the championship.

Something's gonna come of this Perez guy... kid's got talent.😁🤣