FORMULA ONE - 2019

Lewis drove a good race. It is a wonder he can multitask as well as he can. Not only is he going around a narrow street circuit with the tightest turn in F1, dealing with 532 buttons on his steering wheel, keeping an eye on Max in his mirrors, and he still found time to whine and moan for 75% of the race. That guy is something else and apparently didn't watch last year's race at all (despite finishing 3rd last year) to see how someone can be 5 seconds a lap slower than the competition and still win. I kept hoping they would pit him for tires and let him finish 5th just to teach him to shut up and drive.

Not sure why Max was even trying that move near the end. If he had gotten by there may have not been enough laps to get a 5 seconds gap on Bottas and Vettel. He needed mode 7 earlier, then if he got by they could take the engine mode back down to whatever is the normal mode.

Pros:
Red halos on the Mercs were very classy

No Merc 1-2

Hammy eventually shut up about his tires and focused on doing his job

Cons:

Only significantly narrower cars could make Monaco an interesting track in any sense but historic.

I liked the red halos as well. Nice tribute.

T.J. said:

Not sure why Max was even trying that move near the end. If he had gotten by there may have not been enough laps to get a 5 seconds gap on Bottas and Vettel. He needed mode 7 earlier, then if he got by they could take the engine mode back down to whatever is the normal mode.

Max might well have been 3 seconds a lap faster than Hamilton if he'd been able to get by, so it wasn't impossible.  Also, even if he couldn't pull out a 5 second lead on Hamilton, 2-2.5 seconds would have gotten him 3rd, because Vettel wouldn't have been able to follow Hamilton closely any more than he could Max, and Bottas wouldn't have been able to pass Vettel.

That's what I was thinking as well - if he got by, he'd get on the podium. All it would take would be one banzai lap.

Codeis &Keith, , that makes sense, especially considering Vettel’s overheating when following too closely.  Still, they could’ve given him mode 7 earlier and he could’ve gone for the win. 

T.J. said:

Codeis &Keith, , that makes sense, especially considering Vettel’s overheating when following too closely.  Still, they could’ve given him mode 7 earlier and he could’ve gone for the win. 

There's probably a limit on how much "mode 7" you can use.  Fuel consumption, engine wear, something like that.  Otherwise they'd just use it all the time. :)

I was bummed to see Leclerc knocked out again after Ferrari's strategy flub on qualifying.  It would seem that all eyes were on getting Vettel out rather than Leclerc staying in the mix.

Damn, never saw this on the ESPN broadcast but it's making the rounds today. Perez almost took out 2 marshals running across pit out during the safety car for LeClerc/Hulkenburg collision

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In reply to johndej :

Holy E36 M3.

In reply to accordionfolder :

Agreed. Berkeley!

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Agreed that you could tell LC was acting out of frustration but, for Ferrari, getting the car home wouldn't be enough correct? LeClair needed to get into the points or crash trying which basically forced him into the banzai attack mode given the circuit. He probably could have waited a lap or two before pulling the trigger on Hulk but he needed to be aggressive to try to salvage the race.

I also agree that driving back too quickly and destroying the floor was clearly frustration, but I'm guessing all was lost by that point anyways as he was never going to recover from that puncture.

Look back just one year. Max Verstappen started at the back of the grid and worked his way up to 9th. They mentioned it in this year's race, it's the sort of thing that makes people buy orange clothes. It wasn't a massively fast drive, it was a fast driver in one of the fastest cars working his way through most (but not all) of the much slower cars. It was barely into the points.

That's what LeClerc needed to do. Not score massive points, but work his way up through the pack so people had something to talk about other than the fact that a pass for the lead in Monaco is pretty much impossible. He needed to get on the highlight reels, be a talking point and make people buy red clothes. Doing that requires a mix of aggression and caution, because crashing out has exactly the opposite effect. I can't believe I'm holding up Max as an example, but he needed to do what Max did one year earlier.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Had Charles not hit the wall, he probably would have gotten farther.  But it wasn't Hulk that was the problem, I think he would have force the pass had he not hit the wall....  But he did, broke the rear tire, and the rest is history.  I hate to say this, but with Charles making some serious mistakes recently, it makes one wonder if he has the mentality to be a champion.  The way this season plays out will be really interesting.

Max has changed a lot- and I see no reason why he will not be a champion some day.  

I agree about Max. He seems to have the talent and raw speed and since the last half of last year has been improving his patience and strategy. Leclerc has had flashes of brilliance, but time will tell how he turns out. 

Albon is one I’d like to see get a seat in one of the big three teams. Lando as well. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Good point. I didn't really appreciate how similar Max's race situation was last year. It almost seems like Ferrari's strategy decisions are breaking LeClerc's will.

Felt like LeClerc basically gave up on the weekend as soon as the Qualifying fiasco occurred.

I think LeClerc has the potential to be a champion. He needs some seasoning and a good mentor, and I don't know if he'll get that at Ferrari. But I like him as a driver and in interviews. He's got the speed, he's got the right attitude out of the car, he just needs to get past some red mist problems and he needs the team to support him.

Max, maaaybe. I know that's the story we're all supposed to follow and I've never seen a driver so heavily pushed by F1 media. But in order for him to be a champion, he needs to start racing the season and not the race or even the position. We saw that last year where he sacrificed two positions simply to be racy for no good reason.  It's where Hamilton shines, his season-long strategy is very strong. Max might be able to pull off one championship with a seat-of-the-pants way of racing, but unless he ends up in a hugely dominant car (see: Vettel) he's not going to win multiples. He's definitely driving much smarter now than he was a year ago, which bodes well.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

We've seen Max mature a lot since he hit the barrier at Monaco, so it will be interesting to see how Charles comes out of this.  Which is the second time he's hit the barrier this season.  The rest of the season will be interesting.

The example I'm thinking of was later last year - US, maybe? Max had a penalty that was going to drop him back, but he kept fighting for position with another car. Lewis, maybe? That slowed both of them down so the following cars could catch up and got close enough that he fell behind them once the penalty was applied. Had he let the other car go, he could have maintained position. I don't have the chance to dig around for the specific race right now, but it was a good example of racing for position and not for points.

I feel it is prudent at this point to mention that Max is 21 years old.  He is making about 90% fewer bad decisions this year than last, and if Horner can give him the car, he will win stuff.  Lewis was 22 when he stuffed the car into the gravel he pits in Japan (I think) and cost himself a championship.  Seb is 31, and he makes at least as many mistakes as Max.

I don't really remember the point of all this, but it probably had something to do with dismissing Max's possibilities as a potential many time future champion.

I don't think Seb would have won a number of those championships without the Red Bull car under him and clear #1 driver status. Since he lost that advantage, he's not really distinguished himself. 

Max may be 21, but he's also in his fifth year driving F1. That's a lot of experience and until recently, a lot of bad judgement combined with speed. He's got lots of time ahead of him to continue to mature though.

As a tangent to this discussion, has Lewis made a legitimate unforced error since Nico retired, other than stuffing it into the tires in Mexico quali a year or two ago? 

Monaco was interesting as usual. I know many don't like it but I think was a fun race. Watching these guys pass and get passed and both usually make it through. Then immediately dance through the swimming pool at incredible speeds. 

The whole "rain is coming" thing felt forced as it never looked like the teams planned for serious rain. 

Hamilton fought hard his braking had to be certain to ensure he sealed off any openings. In the past he would sometimes blow the first braking zone after a safety car. He cured that and kept it clean. 

Vettel knew not to get too excited about coming second. He didn't really earn it but then he kept Bottas behind so it wasn't a walk in the park. 

Bottas man. He MUST win two races back to back to even start getting into Hamilton's headspace. Hamilton is settled and I think only A few people could shake him. Rosberg definitely knew how to get to him. 

Canada GP is one of my favorites. Hoping for a good race this year!

Streetwiseguy said:

I feel it is prudent at this point to mention that Max is 21 years old.  He is making about 90% fewer bad decisions this year than last, and if Horner can give him the car, he will win stuff.  Lewis was 22 when he stuffed the car into the gravel he pits in Japan (I think) and cost himself a championship.  Seb is 31, and he makes at least as many mistakes as Max.

I don't really remember the point of all this, but it probably had something to do with dismissing Max's possibilities as a potential many time future champion.

China. I was screaming at the TV watching it.