FP1 highlights. Ricciardo struggled in both FP1 and 2
F1 = 2021 Monaco - Spoiler alert
- Thread starter FIVEDOOR
- Start date
FP2 highlights
Perez cutting it real fine
Young Mick S re arranges his wheel alignment
Qualifying highlights
Leclerc had already set the fastest time and was on a hot lap when he crashed with 18 seconds left on the clock, bringing out the red flag. Max was on a hot lap which was ruined by the accident. Hamilton's run was also impacted by the accident.
Ricciardo continued his struggles from practice and is starting in 12th place his worst qualifying result since 2013.
Alonso was out in the first session
Young Schumacher failed to set a time
Better showing from Vettel (8th) right behind Hamilton (7th)
Ferraris seem on the improve, 1st and 4th.
Perez failed to match Verstappens pace (2/11th)
Starting grid
1/ Leclerc
2/ Verstappen
3/ Bottas
4. Sainz
5/ Norris
6/ Gasly
7/ Hamilton
8/ Vettel
Leclerc had already set the fastest time and was on a hot lap when he crashed with 18 seconds left on the clock, bringing out the red flag. Max was on a hot lap which was ruined by the accident. Hamilton's run was also impacted by the accident.
Ricciardo continued his struggles from practice and is starting in 12th place his worst qualifying result since 2013.
Alonso was out in the first session
Young Schumacher failed to set a time
Better showing from Vettel (8th) right behind Hamilton (7th)
Ferraris seem on the improve, 1st and 4th.
Perez failed to match Verstappens pace (2/11th)
Starting grid
1/ Leclerc
2/ Verstappen
3/ Bottas
4. Sainz
5/ Norris
6/ Gasly
7/ Hamilton
8/ Vettel
Had LeClerc started on pole, and Bottas not being eliminated in his first pit stop when they stripped a wheel nut thread, then it may have been an exciting race. As it was, Verstappen just drove away from the field. What would LeClerc have ended up given his Ferrari team mate Sainz came second? And Bottas would have been in there too - he certainly has his run of bad luck.
Excellent that Norris came 3rd after holding off Perez in the other Red Bull chasing him down in the last 15 laps, but Ricciardo in the other McLaren struggled to about 12th place.
Hamilton had a few whinges about his teams pit stop strategy, and in retrospect he was right, but basically his poor qualifying effort cooked his race day.
Vettel finishing in front of Hamilton - that must have cheesed off Lewis!
So although the race was typically a bit processional, the mixed bag of results has put some life into the championship lead.
Excellent that Norris came 3rd after holding off Perez in the other Red Bull chasing him down in the last 15 laps, but Ricciardo in the other McLaren struggled to about 12th place.
Hamilton had a few whinges about his teams pit stop strategy, and in retrospect he was right, but basically his poor qualifying effort cooked his race day.
Vettel finishing in front of Hamilton - that must have cheesed off Lewis!
So although the race was typically a bit processional, the mixed bag of results has put some life into the championship lead.
Monaco's is a track where passing is difficult making qualifying critical
Results
1/ Verstappen - With Leclerc failing to start, Max was effectively on the pole and managed to effectively shut the door on faster starting Botas by moving sharply right.
2/ Sainz - Sainz had a solid race finishing second. Looks like Ferrari have improved with a pole and a second-place finish.
3/ Norris -
4/ Perez
5/ Vettel - Vettel’s standout performance of the year finishing 5th and out performing his team mate (8th).
6/ Gasly
7/ Hamilton - Qualified lowly 7th but with Leclerc not starting, he effectively was promoted to start 6th. At pitstop time the team calculated they had enough time to come out ahead of Gazly, but not only did Gazly get track position ahead of Hamilton, but so did Vettel. Hamilton ended the race in 7th. Poor day for Merc
8/ Stroll
9/ Ocon
10 Giovinazzi
11/ Raikkonen
12/ Ricciardo - not a good day, he was lapped by his team mate.
13/ Alonso
14/ Russel
15/ Latifi
16/ Tsunoda
17/ Mazepin
18/ Schumacher
19/ Bottas - Pitted lap 31 for tyres and the team managed to machine the wheel nut and Botas was forced to retire. Toto blamed Botas for the pit stop fiasco, saying Botas stopped short of the mark, forcing the mechanic to use the equipment at an angle, which resulted in the rounding of the bolt. Apparently, they will fly the car to the factory to drill it out.
20/ Leclerc - Leclerc had a big off in the dying seconds of the Q3 and failed to start the race due to a drive shaft problem.
Leclerc lost most of the FP1 due to gearbox problem but was almost instantly quick when he was able to get in his car. The Ferrari seems to have very strong front end, turning in strongly and thus giving the drivers confidence to push the car on the tight Monaco track.
After the Q3 accident, there were concerns over the gearbox and the possibility of a penalty if the unit had to be replaced. Leclerc discovered the driveshaft issue on the sight in lap. The car was damaged on the right hand side during the accident. The driveshaft that failed was the left one, so the cause for teh failure was not immediately obvious.
Results
1/ Verstappen - With Leclerc failing to start, Max was effectively on the pole and managed to effectively shut the door on faster starting Botas by moving sharply right.
2/ Sainz - Sainz had a solid race finishing second. Looks like Ferrari have improved with a pole and a second-place finish.
3/ Norris -
4/ Perez
5/ Vettel - Vettel’s standout performance of the year finishing 5th and out performing his team mate (8th).
6/ Gasly
7/ Hamilton - Qualified lowly 7th but with Leclerc not starting, he effectively was promoted to start 6th. At pitstop time the team calculated they had enough time to come out ahead of Gazly, but not only did Gazly get track position ahead of Hamilton, but so did Vettel. Hamilton ended the race in 7th. Poor day for Merc
8/ Stroll
9/ Ocon
10 Giovinazzi
11/ Raikkonen
12/ Ricciardo - not a good day, he was lapped by his team mate.
13/ Alonso
14/ Russel
15/ Latifi
16/ Tsunoda
17/ Mazepin
18/ Schumacher
19/ Bottas - Pitted lap 31 for tyres and the team managed to machine the wheel nut and Botas was forced to retire. Toto blamed Botas for the pit stop fiasco, saying Botas stopped short of the mark, forcing the mechanic to use the equipment at an angle, which resulted in the rounding of the bolt. Apparently, they will fly the car to the factory to drill it out.
20/ Leclerc - Leclerc had a big off in the dying seconds of the Q3 and failed to start the race due to a drive shaft problem.
Leclerc lost most of the FP1 due to gearbox problem but was almost instantly quick when he was able to get in his car. The Ferrari seems to have very strong front end, turning in strongly and thus giving the drivers confidence to push the car on the tight Monaco track.
After the Q3 accident, there were concerns over the gearbox and the possibility of a penalty if the unit had to be replaced. Leclerc discovered the driveshaft issue on the sight in lap. The car was damaged on the right hand side during the accident. The driveshaft that failed was the left one, so the cause for teh failure was not immediately obvious.
Haha. I once was Service Manager in a MB dealership. It was normal for MB to blame any technical problems/failures on the customer or the dealership. Nothing changes?
Your comment made me look
Overhead photo of the said pitstop. The left front seems to be aligned with a yellow marker line on the ground, or so close that it should not matter, but perhaps Toto know better.
Makes me wonder if Botas is getting the same support from the team Hamilton is?
If you want to see the footage just Google for Youtube footage of "Botas pitstop Monaco", posting the link wont work here, I tried.
Off topic but .....
Late 1970s, we were suppliers of MB city buses to WA govt bus service. We had just received a shipment of 50 rolling chassis, ie, driveable chassis without the body, came on a drive on/drive off ship.
The boys in the workshop were doing a pre-delivery check on the first one prior to getting the body built. They noticed a problem, engine idling, apply air-operated handbrake, and engine oil light came on for a few seconds then went off. Could be repeated every time park brake applied.
By chance, we had an electrical specialist engineer/trainer from the bus factory in Mannheim visiting us that week, this was his last day. "Hey, come and look at this, waddya reckon?"
He sat in the driver's seat, looking closely at the instrument panel, and repeated the problem about 10 times with a puzzled look on his face. He then stood up, said "You must have done something to this bus" then stepped down, picked up his bags from the office and got a taxi to the airport. What?
After he left someone checked another chassis in the yard, same thing - then we found every chassis had the same problem. Possibly if Mr MB engineer had known this he would have reacted differently, to be fair.
For info, the boys tracked the problem back to the back of the chassis, and it was found to be 2 wires assembled incorrectly in a plug connector, swapping the engine oil warning and the low air pressure warning lights. On application of park brake the pressure dropped momentarily, normal for the air pressure light, but not the oil light!
Just one of many examples.
Late 1970s, we were suppliers of MB city buses to WA govt bus service. We had just received a shipment of 50 rolling chassis, ie, driveable chassis without the body, came on a drive on/drive off ship.
The boys in the workshop were doing a pre-delivery check on the first one prior to getting the body built. They noticed a problem, engine idling, apply air-operated handbrake, and engine oil light came on for a few seconds then went off. Could be repeated every time park brake applied.
By chance, we had an electrical specialist engineer/trainer from the bus factory in Mannheim visiting us that week, this was his last day. "Hey, come and look at this, waddya reckon?"
He sat in the driver's seat, looking closely at the instrument panel, and repeated the problem about 10 times with a puzzled look on his face. He then stood up, said "You must have done something to this bus" then stepped down, picked up his bags from the office and got a taxi to the airport. What?
After he left someone checked another chassis in the yard, same thing - then we found every chassis had the same problem. Possibly if Mr MB engineer had known this he would have reacted differently, to be fair.
For info, the boys tracked the problem back to the back of the chassis, and it was found to be 2 wires assembled incorrectly in a plug connector, swapping the engine oil warning and the low air pressure warning lights. On application of park brake the pressure dropped momentarily, normal for the air pressure light, but not the oil light!
Just one of many examples.
Blame dynamics can be interesting
Sundays results have changed the Constructors and drivers championship leader boards. Merc and Hamilton are both in 2nd place with Max and Red Bull in first place for now.
Constructors Championship
1/ Red Bull 149
2/ Mercedes 148
3/ MacLaren 80
4/ Ferrrari 78
5/ Aston Martin 19
6/ Alpha Tauri Honda 18
7/ Alpine Renault 17
8/ Alfa 1
9/ Williams 0
9/ HAAS 0
Drivers Championship
1/ Verstappen 105
2/ Hamilton 101
3/ Norris 56
4/ Bottas 47
5/ Perez 44
6/ Leclerc 40
7/ Sainz 38
8/ Ricciardo 24
9/ Gasly 16
10/ Ocon 12
11/ Vettel 10
12/ Stroll 9
13/ Alonso 5
Constructors Championship
1/ Red Bull 149
2/ Mercedes 148
3/ MacLaren 80
4/ Ferrrari 78
5/ Aston Martin 19
6/ Alpha Tauri Honda 18
7/ Alpine Renault 17
8/ Alfa 1
9/ Williams 0
9/ HAAS 0
Drivers Championship
1/ Verstappen 105
2/ Hamilton 101
3/ Norris 56
4/ Bottas 47
5/ Perez 44
6/ Leclerc 40
7/ Sainz 38
8/ Ricciardo 24
9/ Gasly 16
10/ Ocon 12
11/ Vettel 10
12/ Stroll 9
13/ Alonso 5
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As an aside to the negative experiences Fordman outlined with MB, my father’s taxi driving mate had the diff in his 300,000 miles 220 Merc taxi blow up. He took it back to 3 Point Motors in Northcote, Melb who replaced it FOC and MB Germany arranged to have the failed diff sent back to them for analysis.
Would that happen today? Unlikely.
Would that happen today? Unlikely.
Toto has admitted Bottas not to blame it was their fault. I think it was hard to dispute the video evidence on the net.
In the RAAF, almost without exception a fatal aircraft crash was always nominated as being due to Pilot Error!