Sorry i missed the race as i fell asleep... joking aside, more issues with wheels this race ( i think it was a HAAS ) i wonder if the wheels are defective somehow as the wheel changing incidents have affected nearly every team thus far.. Also https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/44103374 Grosjean handed 3 place grid penalty for causing the crash
With Grosjean finding ever more inventive ways to not score points, Stroll being Stroll, Sirotkin and Hartley providing a couple of extra chicanes every 15-20 laps, Ericsson being shown up by another rookie and Magnussen looking like the Dexter of F1, I think this is probably one of the weaker overall grids we've had in a good few years... at least since we had Caterham and Virgin F1 still racing. Anyways, masterclass from Lewis, absolute cake walk. Good result for Max, needed a clean race and to show he can still beat Dan in race pace - to do with a damaged front wing and with Vettel breathing down his neck was a bonus. Speaking of Ricciardo, very odd race for him. He obviously had the pace, as the constant lap record messages showed, but he didn't seem able to maintain it enough to ever really cut into the gap to Vettel. Almost shocking to see Fernando finishing in the same position as he started, especially with a Ferrari not finishing, but I guess that's the limit for now and the extra qualifying pace isn't yet translating in race setup. Be interesting to see if it is McLaren or Renault who creep up order first. Grosjean should quit F1 and open a fudge shop.
Im amazed Grosjean has a super licence the way hes carrying on. Sirotkin had a random spin on his own but did exactly what he should have, pulled in the clutches to stop the engine stalling and not create a dick dastly smoke screen. Gastly and Hulkenberg were just unwilling victims. Like to mention Sirotkin again on this point, in car shows he nigh on stopped because all he could see was tyre smoke an he could hear/feel debris totally the right thing to do, better to nudge a damaged car at low speed then plough into it. Leclerc, very impressed good clean fighting making it clear he was defending early one car seemed pretty handy coming out the last turn so seems to have some good mechanical grip to help break the DRS bonus, im hoping the team keep updates coming as they learn about the car. Alonso, poor start seemed to bog at the start lost a couple at the start then had a wobble in the first corner which helped keep him on the outside away from the fancy flying Frenchman's antics. Couple of good battles but the car was dog slow in the straights. Monaco is predicting to be somewhat dull, but could be a crash fest with the way this lot are driving, maybe we could have a Oliver Panis situation again?
Yeah, not the most exciting race - Hamilton had it all the way after the safety car period. Still managed to get a few decent photos, so not all bad. Was part hoping for rain, but not enough for me to get wet
It says a lot about Verstappen that he can drive into the back of somebody under VSC and have it considered a clean race.
So, is Van Dorne the greyest driver on the grid in recent memory? I seriously doubt he will get another season in F1.
To be fair, Stroll was typically driving around like he was in his own little world - in the replay (at 4:45), the track had gone green again and he decides to lift off halfway around a corner knowing a faster car was behind him. You could say Max should have been more wary, given it was a Williams in front, but at the same time, there was no indication Stroll was going to let off where he did (which there was no reason to). If Max had to pit for a new wing, I would suspect Stroll would be joining Grosjean in the Monaco grid penalty list.
3 place penalty for the next race...tho thinking of punishments being handed out it has made me question the points on the licence thing. He got 2 for the spin in Baku yet this was more serious (letting the car come across track and lighting up the tyres) and got nothing. K-Mag has been borderline psychotic and yet is still racing. Verstappen could probably do with a timeout this season or at least be close to one and Vettel even came close over 12 months last season which included crashing into Hamilton under safety car....twice. What does a driver have to do to get enough points to get a single race ban? Run over every teams pit crew then blame it on Ericsson? On Verstappen, did anyone fine his post race interview oddly aggressive? Like a kid who just started and won a fight and was ready to take on the teachers next? McLaren are rumored to have promised a seat to Nyck de Vries if he wins the F2 championship tho Norris looks good from the testing he has done for the team. Wonder if Klattenborn was handling McLaren contract negotiations. I would agree. Raikkoen has been meh punctuated with rotten luck when in form. Hamilton by his own rating has been meh. Verstappen has been poor this year. Sainz hasn't been the same since switching to Renault. Ericsson is making up numbers at this point as is Hartly. Vandoorne is no where this season. He's underperforming the others around him never mind Alonso. Grosjean and Magnussen didn't impress last year and while Magnussen has done a bit to show he's a decent driver I don't rate him compared to Perez, Hulkenberg, Kubica who are current drivers in waiting of a proper shot. Gasly and Leclerc have impressed so far I have to say tho, Perez after McLaren I completely wrote off but he got a second chance and bounced back. Magnussen still could turn it round tho I can't see it.
As i said earlier in the thread [iirc] - you could point to literally anyone in the paddock, say 'That's Vandoorne', and most people would be none the wiser. There have been other charisma vaccums in recent years [DiResta and Palmer come to mind], and in the cateram/virgin years the 'could be literally anyone' drivers who never got any media time. But there's something about Stoffel that amplifies his beigeness...
If they give that seat to Vries over Lando, i'll boycott any future support for McLaren for life (which they only have currently because of Fernando). He's only a couple of years younger than Stoffel, with a worse junior category record, and being beaten by Norris currently. Who doesn't want "Lando and Nando" in the same team?!
Nando won't be in a Mclaren next year, if he wins Le Mans I expect him to go and do Indycar full time for a better shot at the Indy 500. Even if he stays in F1 he won't drive a McRenault, they aren't keeping up their end of the bargain while he goes out and drives like a genius.
Don't forget Bottas! Imagine being between him and Stoffel on a long flight back to the UK... Perez definitely deserves another stint in a top team, although his stock has been somewhat reduced by Ocon pretty much matching him every weekend, he still delivers the goods when the chances crop up. If I could shuffle the entire F1 grid, i'd do it like this: Mercedes - Hamilton/Alonso (REMATCH!) Ferrari - Vettel/Ricciardo (REMATCH!) RBR - Verstappen/Hulk HAAS - Ocon/Magnussen (oh, the fireworks!) Renault - Perez/Leclerc McLaren - Bottas/Sainz Torro Rosso, Sauber and Williams can draw out of a hat.
Shame theres no in car footage of that to see just how the halo interacted with the wheel. So basically Sirokin had massive groin discomfort due to the seat https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/sirotkin-had-very-painful-seat-problem-in-spanish-gp-1037389/?s=1
Whilst bottas is very forgettable and makes even kimi look like a flamboyant extrovert... Finns gonna Finn... They're all like that.
Let's stop beating round the bush and say he's metaphorically and physically occupying Kubicas seat as they forgot to swap his in after free practice. Anyone clearly out of their depth would feel that level of discomfort.
How do you explain Heikki Kovalainen, then?? Is he a Swede that was smuggled across the boarder (considering Ericsson's driving talent VS Bottas', that could well be it)? Because he don't fit in the same mold that Hakkinen, Raikkonen and Bottas came out of!
Kovaleinen was another Vandoorne. Told to drive a dog awful McLaren with a team mate the car was built around and who was possibly one of the best drivers on the grid and expected to win. Not to mention the team was openly trying to replace him with Raikkonen or Button from the get go. He did go on to win GT500 championship so I reckon he was just as good as other Finns. He just missed snowmobile racing and rallying in Nursery school and skipped straight to gp2 and Renault youth....
