Re: 2013 - Grand Prix De Monaco 1. Rosberg's race pace this year is largely a result of excessive tire deg in the Mercedes. He held his own against Shumi. As the season progresses I think we'l see him matching Lewis. Not his first season at Merc, but this year's car is very different to any other produced by the team
2. Not the case clearly with Red Bull, they are quicker than Ferrari here. And the other strength of RB is their traction out of corners and therefore acceleration, which is very handy here.
3. After the irritation Sidhu provides us with in cricket, I didnt mind Slater all that much. Steve Goodwin was the technical analyst, not him. He isnt an engineer or a driver so was the err 'entertainment' . Really glad we have Sky guys now who are so much more technical and on the ball.
4. Vettel hasnt won a race when he's qualified outside the top 3. Isnt that an incredible fact. I feel Vettel is the one who's over hyped and lucky to have had a stonker of a car these past few years. Not denying his speed though.
To earn his place in the sun, I want to see him fighting in a car that is not the quickest and see how he goes. Something Alonso has been doing for years. Thats why a majority of the team principals have been voting him driver of the year in an anonymous vote. Quote:
Originally Posted by imidnightmare 1. Surprising to see people being surprised by Rosberg beating Hamilton in qualy a few times. Nico's always been a qualifying specialist. His 2 specialties are:
a. Going super quick in FP sessions and qualifying
b. Going backwards during races
He's one of the best ever at both these!
On a more serious note, Nico is seriously quick in qualy, so seeing him match and even beat Hamilton in some sessions is no surprise, particularly as he understands the car much better (Hamilton's in his first season at Merc, remember).
2. It was only to be expected to see Mercedes and Ferrari go faster than the Bulls in Monaco. The main strength of RBR is on long sweeping corners (read: high-speed turns). Monaco on the other hand is about tight, slow corners and short straights you need to blast down. Ergo, RBR always has less of an advantage on this circuit. That said, the last 3 years, they've had such a massive technical superiority that even the relative disadvantage was not insurmountable and they won the race itself.
3. Steve Slater can only be missed if one either:
a. Likes a blundering and blithering so-and-so for the comedic effect
b. Is a masochist
c. Hasn't heard the commentary on other channels - commentators like James Allen or the Sky crew give far more detailed analysis and genuinely value-adding technical and strategic insights.
4. Why the Vettel hate? Simply because he wins? He's just the best at what he does and like Schumacher before him, that means he'll win a lot more often than he doesn't. Disliking him for being better sounds petty really. I'd much rather watch the same man win repeatedly if he's a genuine great, than watch a bunch of mediocre drivers constantly beating each other because they're all at par. As far as Alonso is concerned, frankly, he's a great, but is also over-hyped. Simple as.
Cheers!
M |
Well moving back onto Monaco.
Q3 turned up more or less as expected, would have been much more interesting in Q1 conditions no doubt! Nice Inter pace by Maldonado.
What will be interesting tom is strategy - One stop vs two. Mercedes will HAVE TO stop twice. Not sure about the rest. What do you guys think? Kimi should try a 1 stop.
Varied strategies will spice up the end of the race. I reckon, there needs to be atleast a 3 second difference to be able to overtake.
Lastly the GP2 race had a 14 car pileup! hope nothing of the sort happens |