Tag Archives: Monte Carlo

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Verstappen romps to victory in Monaco despite late rain; Alonso a distant P2 after wrong tire call; Ocon takes P3 with stellar effort; Perez scores zero points to cap off lost weekend

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen laid down a major marker in his quest for a third consecutive Formula 1 Drivers’ title, dominating the always significant Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday to claim a relatively easy victory despite the uncertainty brought by rain late in the race. Starting from pole for the first time here and with his teammate and closest championship rival Sergio Perez forced to start from the rear after the Mexican street ace crashed heavily during Saturday Qualifying, Verstappen proved untouchable in race trim even at this slow speed street circuit where the RB 19 ‘s usual DRS superiority was not really a factor. Verstappen potentially put Perez’s championship hopes to the sword with an untouchable performance and a second career win on the streets of Monte Carlo, as Perez was betrayed by a series of errors that saw him unable to advance his position and ended up scoring zero points on the day. Verstappen survived and thrived during the rainy conditions that swooped down from the mountains starting on Lap 52 of this 78-lap contest, patiently riding out several very slippery laps to suss out the track conditions & future weather before diving into the pits for the now necessary treaded Intermediate Pirelli tires on Lap 55.

On the other hand, Verstappen’s closest competition in the race, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, chose to pit a lap earlier for Medium slicks after running his Hards all the way to Lap 54. It proved to be a crucial miscalculation by Alonso’s strategists, as it remained far too wet for slick tires to function and the Spaniard was forced to pit again on Lap 56 for the much needed Inters. Alonso ended up a distant second to the flying Dutchman, nearly 28-seconds adrift, and it’s reasonable to speculate just how much time that second stop cost the Spaniard. With a pit delta of around 19-seconds and traffic circulating relatively slowly due to the poor conditions, if Aston had just made the move to Inters right off the bat, the story of the latter third of the race could have been a bit different. Still, it’s hard to see how anyone really had anything for Verstappen on this day and in his current run of unstoppable form, even the magnificent Alonso. Either way, it meant another strong result in P2 for Fernando, his highest finishing place of the season and his rather remarkable fifth podium out of six races. Alonso is having a renaissance and Aston Martin have made a quantum leap in performance with the AMR23 that makes them arguably the second best car in the paddock.

For Perez, it was an absolutely lost weekend due to the knock on effects of his heavy qualifying shunt, which required a chassis change and a host of other repairs overnight, resulting in a last place start on the grid. On a track where passing is extraordinarily difficult, Perez was stifled in the early going of the race and then got caught up in some extracurriculars that essentially doomed his race further. Trying to somehow move through the field, he tangled with the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, contact that damaged his front wing to the extent that he needed a new nose by Lap 36. This totally negated his planned long run tire strategy. After another damaging incident coming together with Mercedes’ George Russell when the rains started to fall, Perez was relegated to tire testing the full Wet Pirellis in potential service of his teammate. He finished two laps behind Verstappen, whose points lead over his teammate grew to 39, while Alonso narrowed his deficit to Perez to only 12. All in a all, a weekend to forget for Perez and he’ll probably be happy there’s another race next weekend to wash the bitter taste of this disaster out of his mouth.

On the other end of the spectrum, it was pure jubilation for Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who finished an excellent P3 after being gifted that grid position by Charles Leclerc’s penalty for impeding during quali. Ocon became the first Frenchman to reach the podium in Monaco since Jean Alessi way back in 1993. Ocon tenaciously fought off all challengers, including at various times, the two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Leclerc and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. Ocon also acquitted himself well in the rain, smartly pitting with the main group of frontrunners for that key switch to Inters on Lap 55 and then keeping it clean in the final stanza for that eye opening P3 result. Throw in Pierre Gasly’s solid P7 effort and it was an outstanding result for the midfield Alpine team. Hamilton was the best of the rest, running a solid if unspectacular race and staying out of trouble in tight quarters to finish in P4. Hamilton and Silver Arrows stablemate George Russell, who finished P5, were also helped by yet more strange strategy decisions by the Ferrari pit wall and some inconsistent driving by their pilots. After Carlos Sainz collided with Ocon speeding out of the tunnel and into the Nouvelle Chicane on Lap 11, damaging the Spaniard’s front wing, the team seemed to equivocate on their next move, resulting in a series of aborted calls for Sainz to box. When they did finally call in their driver from P4 on Lap 34, Sainz was none too pleased when he found himself emerge down in P7. But Sainz made his own misfortune later in the race when he spun out in the rain and lost several more positions, ending up in P8 at the finish and making for a very frustrating day for him.

Leclerc’s day was not that much better, though the Monegasque did rally in front of the home fans to maintain P6 behind Russell when the checkers flew. That’s where he started after that 3-place grid penalty so at least he didn’t lose any positions, but neither could he make any up after that key qualifying mistake. Leclerc is quite talented but prone to mental errors that lead to a lack of consistent performance and cost him better results. One wonders if this is because he feels he has to overdrive the Ferrari to even come close to the Red Bull’s pace or if he is just putting too much pressure on himself and that leads to a loss of concentration. Whatever the reason, it was another disappointing result in his home GP.

Rounding out the top 10, McLaren got good results amidst the chaos for others with a P9 for Lando Norris and P10 for rookie Oscar Piastri. With major upgrades coming to their chassis, McLaren will take those kinds of points paying results with their current underperforming car any day of the week.

Top 10 finishers of the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 78 1:48:51.980 25
2 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 78 +27.921s 18
3 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 78 +36.990s 15
4 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 78 +39.062s 13
5 63 George Russell MERCEDES 78 +56.284s 10
6 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 78 +61.890s 8
7 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 78 +62.362s 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 78 +63.391s 4
9 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 77 +1 lap 2
10 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 77 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time — the Spanish Grand Prix from the very familiar Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya where the drivers due their pre-season testing. While Alonso will be on home soil, it’s Verstappen who looks to be unstoppable right now in any country and on any track. But of course in racing, surprises happen all the time and nothing is a given. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Verstappen grabs first Monaco pole with mighty effort in dying seconds of Q3, bumps game Alonso to P2; Leclerc slots in at P3 at home GP; Perez crashes out heavily in Q1

Formula 1 returned to action after the unfortunate cancellation of last week’s planed Emilia Romagna Grand Prix due to the catastrophic flooding in that beautiful region with a thrilling Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix. Under clear and sunny skies and with the famed street circuit ever-evolving to the bitter end of Q3, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pulled out a miracle final lap at the death to earn his first-ever pole in Monte Carlo, bumping the seemingly supreme time of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and relegating the veteran Spaniard to P2. That sets things up nicely for the points-leading Dutchman as he seeks to build on his seemingly unstoppable championship momentum after a frankly amazing run from ninth to victory in Miami twenty days ago. As for Alonso, even though he’s now still hunting his first pole in F1 since 2012, he’s certainly in the mix for the win tomorrow if he can get away to a good start and get ahead of Verstappen. The Aston Martin in Alonso’s hands is arguably the second best car on the grid and the Red Bull’s usual DRS advantage should be quite muted at this tight, slow speed circuit. Not to mention that Alonso also out-qualified both Ferraris on the day, bettering hometown hero Charles Leclerc*, who came home with the third fastest time, and teammate Carlos Sainz, who was not as quick at P5. (*Leclerc was subsequently penalized three grid positions post-qualifying when he was adjudged to have impeded Lando Norris.)

Alonso was also aided by Verstappen’s teammate and main title rival Sergio Perez’s unforced error in Q1, when the veteran Mexican, who has had his share of drama in Monte Carlo, overcooked it going into Sainte Devote and crashed heavily into the outside barriers at Turn 1 there. While Perez was unhurt, it was a heavy shunt that literally smashed the normally robust carbon fiber side pod to smithereens and likely ruined the gearbox and rear suspension, as well. So, on a day where team Red Bull were thrilled to have one driver on pole after a tight multi-car duel, don’t be surprised if Perez is forced to start from the pits tomorrow, making any sort of points finish a rather remote possibility on this near-impossible to overtake track. If Verstappen saunters away from Perez in the championship fight, his teammate’s rather inexplicable crash so early in quali will be pointed at as the season’s key turning point.

Alpine also showed really good pace on the day, with Esteban Ocon at one point topping the timing sheets late in Q3 but settling for P4 when the big boys had their say, and teammate Pierre Gasly notching a solid P7 effort. Lewis Hamilton out-qualified his Mercedes teammate George Russell, P6 to P8, despite having a shunt in the final practice session earlier in the day that required repairs and then struggling for pace in much of qualifying. And AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda did very well to take a solid P9, while McLaren’s Lando Norris had to settle for P10 after damaging his car in Q2 by hitting the outside barrier in the Nouvelle Chicane, his team nonetheless having done yeoman’s work in getting it repaired and able to turn some laps in Q3.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:12.386 1:11.908 1:11.365 30
2 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:12.886 1:12.107 1:11.449 25
3 16 Charles Leclerc* FERRARI 1:12.912 1:12.103 1:11.471 26
4 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:12.967 1:12.248 1:11.553 26
5 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:12.717 1:12.210 1:11.630 28
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:12.872 1:12.156 1:11.725 30
7 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 1:13.033 1:12.169 1:11.933 25
8 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:12.769 1:12.151 1:11.964 29
9 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 1:12.642 1:12.249 1:12.082 29
10 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:12.877 1:12.377 1:12.254 23

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at 9AM on ABC here in the States. While qualifying is usually the more exciting event than the actual race in Monaco, look for Alonso to keep Verstappen on his toes in the early going, as there is really nothing between the Aston and the Red Bull on this short street course. It should also be interesting to see if the Red Bull braintrust can figure out a way to get Perez back in the mix with some sort of bold strategy maneuver. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Perez wins wet & wild Monaco GP; Sainz P2, Verstappen P3; Leclerc a disconsolate fourth place after Ferrari fumble strategy

The Mediterranean weather gods conspired to make the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix one of the most unpredictable and exciting in many a year. After nothing but blue skies and sunshine for every practice session and Saturday qualifying, the drivers and teams arrived on the grid in the midst of downpour on Sunday afternoon in the principality. The start was delayed for over an hour until the rain had subsided enough to insure a safer race. Then the entire field was obliged to start on full wet weather Pirelli tires, the cars lining up behind the Safety Car for several reconnaissance laps to aid the drying of this tight and tricky street circuit until the race finally got underway on what was officially Lap 3. The pole-sitting Ferrari of hometown hero Charles Leclerc led away cleanly, trailed by his teammate Carlos Sainz in P2 and the two Red Bulls of Sergio Perez in P3 and points leader Max Verstappen in P4. By Lap 2, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly felt adventurous enough to come into the pits and change to the less heavily treaded Intermediate wet tires and the Frenchman soon began setting fast laps, setting off a strategic scramble for everyone else to find the opportune time to make that change themselves.

For the leaders, this was the trickiest of calls because, not only is track position absolutely king on the streets of Monte Carlo, but the drying track would soon be ready for slicks if the weather continued to hold off, as was now predicted. By virtue of his eventful qualifying where he actually benefitted from binning his car at the end of Q3, thereby preventing his teammate from improving his time, thereby being in front of Verstappen, Perez was the first of the Red Bulls to pit. He came in on Lap 16 for the Intermediates, which were so well suited to the current track conditions that the veteran Mexican was able to set a blistering out lap and thereby heap pressure on the two leading Ferraris still trundling around on rapidly deteriorating full Wet tires. Continue reading →

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Leclerc nabs second consecutive pole at home race while avoiding last year’s drama; Sainz P2, Perez P3 but collide at end of qualifying; frustrated Verstappen only good enough for P4

A year after he had the bizarre and bittersweet experience of taking pole at his home race only to fail to start the GP due to a careless crash on his final qualifying lap, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set another supremely good time for pole during Saturday qualifying for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix. And this time Leclerc kept it both fast and clean throughout, avoiding a repeat of any dramas that could have kept him starting from P1 tomorrow. Now, the Monegasque title contender, who lost his points lead to archrival Max Verstappen a week ago in Spain, will look to return the favor on the Red Bull ace at a tight and twisty street course where track position is king and passing is always a tricky and sometimes impossible proposition. Verstappen was surprisingly just a bit off the pace today and ended up not only behind the hometown hero’s pole-sitting effort but also the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, who pulled his Prancing Horse up to P2 for the second Ferrari front row lockout of the year, as well as his teammate Segio Perez, who outperformed his Red Bull stablemate with a lap good enough for P3. But Perez and Sainz also came together at the end of Q3, when the veteran Mexican had a peculiar spin at Portier just before the tunnel entrance and ended up smashing the rear of his Red Bull into the armco with some force. Sainz then failed to see the resultant yellow flags going into that same corner and looped his own car, subsequently smashing his Ferrari into the front of Perez’s stricken Red Bull. That carnage brought quali to a premature end with a few minutes remaining and balked any hope of Verstappen’s to improve upon his P4 time. It will be interesting to see if Sainz, who has certainly had his share of admonishments from race control this season, will be handed a penalty of any significance after not adequately slowing under yellow. It will also be intriguing to find out if Perez’s chassis and engine components sustained any serious damage after that unfortunate double whammy.

With Verstappen a miffed and somewhat perplexed P4, the Dutchman was left hoping not only for some kind of demotion to Sainz but also a bit of rain on Sunday to spice things up, an atmospheric potentiality that is looking more and more probable at the time of the race in this famously changeable Mediterranean enclave. Behind Verstappen, McLaren’s Lando Norris was the fastest of the rest, earning a P5 start with a hairy but still very rapid final lap, where Norris’s lightning quick hands were on full display. Mercedes’ George Russell came home just a bit adrift of the McLaren in P6, while his seven-time champion teammate Lewis Hamilton could only muster P8 in a Silver Arrow that looked more like a bucking bronco at times. Alpine’s wise old head Fernando Alonso did yeoman’s work to claim P7, though the veteran Spaniard did have a mini-shunt into the barriers of his own in a moment of distraction at the end of quali. That probably didn’t cost him an even better start due to the early end to Q3 due to the mess just up the road from him, however. Aston Martin’s Sebastien Vettel and the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon rounded out the top ten qualifiers in P9 and P10 respectively.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:12.569 1:11.864 1:11.376 24
2 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:12.616 1:12.074 1:11.601 25
3 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:13.004 1:11.954 1:11.629 25
4 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:12.993 1:12.117 1:11.666 25
5 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:12.927 1:12.266 1:11.849 27
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:12.787 1:12.617 1:12.112 27
7 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:13.394 1:12.688 1:12.247 22
8 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:13.444 1:12.595 1:12.560 29
9 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:13.313 1:12.613 1:12.732 28
10 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 1:12.848 1:12.528 1:13.047 22

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Can Charles Leclerc take the ultimate honors and a dream victory in his home race? Or will Verstappen find a way to vault himself to the front and dash those Monegasque dreams? Hope to see you then to find out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Verstappen masterful in Monte Carlo against depleted field, as Leclerc fails to start, Bottas DNFs; Sainz salvages P2 for Ferrari, Norris P3 for McLaren; Hamilton a disgruntled P7, loses championship lead

The return of the Monaco Grand Prix to the Formula 1 calendar after a year’s hiatus due to the global COVID-19 pandemic failed to live up to the intriguing qualifying results a day earlier when pole-sitter Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari suffered a driveshaft failure on the pre-race installation lap that may or may not have been related to his crash late in Saturday qualifying. While many tifosi were angry that the team didn’t preventatively just change the gearbox and team principle Matteo Binotto claimed the issue was, in fact, unrelated to Leclerc’s heavy shunt, the end result was removing the pole sitting Prancing Horse before the lights even went out and denying the young Monegasque a chance for victory in his home Grand Prix. But for Red Bull’s Max Vertstappen, it removed arguably the Dutchman’s biggest threat for a win on the day. Despite technically starting from P2 on the grid, Max was able to lead the field away at the start in Leclerc’s absence and cut off the attacking Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas to take a lead that Verstappen would not relinquish all race long. Things got even more favorable for Verstappen and Red Bull when Bottas, the only serious challenger remaining and running solidly in P2, suffered a stripped wheel nut on his first pit stop on Lap 31. The pit crew were unable to remove his right front wheel by any means or method, forcing the unfortunate Finn to retire prematurely in freak fashion. While the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz drove well enough to ascend to a P2 finish and salvage some good points on a day when they should have had many more, the Spaniard was unable to pose a real challenge to Verstappen’s hegemony. The Flying Dutchman easily secured his first victory — and first ever podium — on the fabled streets of Monte Carlo, a career-defining fillip for an F1 driver no matter how it comes to them.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Making things even sweeter from the Red Bull perspective, Mercedes strategy to try and elevate Hamilton above his rather poor P7 qualifying position did not come good and he finished where he started after first the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly and then the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel rode the overcut by running slightly longer of their first tire stint to come out ahead of Hamilton after that trio’s respective first round of pit stops. Hamilton was audibly irate over his radio at this strategy failure, especially because he had really been gifted a minimum of P6 with Leclerc’s pre-race retirement. Hamilton was forced to look at Gasly’s gearbox for the entirety of the contest and while he pitted late for fresh Soft Pirellis and then set the fastest lap for the bonus point, the seven-time champion saw his points lead in this year’s Drivers’ Standings evaporate with Verstappen’s dominant win. So Hamilton now finds himself in the unfamiliar position of trailing in the championship after the Mercedes mishaps in Monaco, four points in arrears of the formidable flying Dutchman. All in all, it was a very bad weekend for for the Silver Arrows because Red Bull’s second driver, Sergio Perez, redeemed his own lackluster P9 qualifying effort, paying off the team’s clever strategy of running him all the way to Lap 35 before his first stop, a full six laps longer than Hamilton had done. That saw the Mexican emerge directly in front of his team leader with clear track in front to push hard, an advantage he maximized to jump all the way to P4. While Perez could never quite catch and pass the McLaren of Lando Norris to take it to the podium, the combined Red Bull 1-4 finish vaulted the team into the lead of Constructors’ standings ahead of Mercedes by a single point. Perez’s solid effort no doubt will boost his confidence and reaffirm the team’s commitment to him after occasionally erratic performances in the prior first four rounds of the season. Now he just needs to build on this good result and qualify better going forward.

 

Norris held on for that podium with his P3, a wonderful result for a young driver on the cusp of a really special career, though McLaren’s feelings must have been mixed when their other pilot, Daniel Ricciardo, suffered the ignominy of being lapped by his rapid teammate on Lap 52 of this 78-lap contest. Ricciardo is struggling to get to grips with his new ride at McLaren and could only manage a point-less P12 result. On the other hand, Aston Martin had their best points haul of the season with Vettel’s savvy P5 and Lance Stroll also managing to turn a long first stint to his advantage and come home P8, a good effort by driver and team after the Canadian had started down in P13. Gasly, Hamilton’s bête noire on the day, kept his calm in the face of the trailing Mercedes multiple onslaughts, confident in the ability of his AlphaTauri to keep the frustrated Hamilton behind him at this ultra-difficult-to-overtake circuit. And the Alpine of Esteban Ocon held off the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi to secure P9, although Alfa’s young Italian hot shoe was still positively giddy over scoring the team’s first Formula 1 World Championship point of the 2021 campaign.

Top 10 finishers of the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 78 1:38:56.820 25
2 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 78 +8.968s 18
3 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 78 +19.427s 15
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 78 +20.490s 12
5 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 78 +52.591s 10
6 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 78 +53.896s 8
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 78 +68.231s 7
8 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 77 +1 lap 4
9 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 77 +1 lap 2
10 99 Antonio Giovinazzi ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 77 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two week’s time — the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. While Baku is another street circuit, it’s a horse of a different color than the nearly single-lane Monte Carlo track, and much faster and easier to pass on if equally unforgiving in its together spots. So expect a less processional contest at this lovely city circuit by the Caspian Sea, as well as Ferrari and Mercedes teams anxious to redeem themselves, as well as an ever more intriguing championship battle between the challenger Verstappen and the champ Hamilton. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2021 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Leclerc earns poll at home GP while crashing out late in Q3; Verstappen, thwarted by Red Flag, settles for P2; Bottas P3 but Hamilton languishes in P7

The return of the classic Monaco street race to the F1 calendar after a year’s hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic was cause for celebration enough. But Saturday’s qualifying for tomorrow’s Grand Prix was a suitably scintillating event, fitting the already festive mood of the joyful Monegasques and annual visitors in attendance. Hometown hero Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari on pole for the team’s best start this year and first pole since 2019. It was also the local lad’s best qualifying effort in four attempts at his home race, although Leclerc somewhat perversely secured the top starting spot by crashing out after he blew the entry into the chicane just past the Piscene and smashed his car into the Armco barrier late in Q3. That brought out the Red Flag with not enough time to get the final quali session restarted and thwarted the last gasp effort of Max Verstappen’s hard charging Red Bull to wrest pole away from the formidable Ferrari man. Both have looked nearly equal all weekend long so far but Verstappen will have to settle for P2 unless there is enough damage to Leclerc’s Prancing Horse to force penalties for replacement parts overnight, a possibility the Scuderia are currently denying. If things do stay status quo, it is highly probable that the race victor will be either Leclerc or Verstappen, as passing is ultra difficult at this ultra-tight, ultra-slow, ultra-legendary street circuit and the winner usually comes from the front row of the grid.

Valtteri Bottas, the nominal number two Mercedes driver, was nearly as disappointed as Verstappen by the abrupt ending, as the Finn felt that he too had a shot to take pole with his final flying lap. Bottas will have to settle for P3 and the satisfaction of besting his superlative Silver Arrows teammate and current points leader Lewis Hamilton on the day, and by quite some distance at that. The normally dominant Hamilton never seemed to have a handle on his Merc and found himself bogged downing in an unlikely P7 starting spot when the session was called off. As good as the seven-time champ is, It will be tough for Lewis get a podium finish on the morrow and Verstappen could take a big bite out of the English legends current tenuous 14-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Unfortunately for Verstappen, however, his teammate Sergio Perez had another poor qualifying effort and could only muster the ninth fastest time, putting in doubt how much the veteran Mexican can really be of assistance to the Dutchman’s dreams of winning the race and overhauling Hamilton. The decision to go with the experienced Perez for 2021 is already coming under second-guessing, as so far he is not really faring any better than any of Max’s other younger teammates have done in the past.

Carlos Sainz pulled the second Ferrari up to P4, although the Spaniard was still disappointed with that result, as he had been neck and neck with Leclerc and Verstappen during the practice sessions. Still, it was a fine result for resurgent Ferrari after a terrible 2020 and the fabled team from Maranello have a very good chance of scoring a ton of points come race day. McLaren’s Lando Norris kept up his excellent qualifying form, slotting in at P5. But teammate Daniel Ricciardo had another down day in an up and down first season with McLaren when he was bounced in Q2. The affable Aussie will start way back in P12 and no matter how cool the team’s new throwback Gulf-colored livery, Ricciardo will have virtually no shot at winning his second Monaco GP from that lowly position.

Pierre Gasly acquitted himself well for AlphaTauri, as usual, and will start P6, while wise old head Sebastian Vettel used his massive experience around the streets of Monaco to secure the eighth fastest lap in his Aston Martin, only around three-tenths behind Hamilton. And Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi secured tenth on the grid in his Ferrari-powered C41, making it a very good day all around for Italians as well as Monegasques.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:11.113 1:10.597 1:10.346 27
2 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:11.124 1:10.650 1:10.576 23
3 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:10.938 1:10.695 1:10.601 28
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:11.324 1:10.806 1:10.611 25
5 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:11.321 1:11.031 1:10.620 23
6 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA 1:11.560 1:11.179 1:10.900 30
7 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:11.622 1:11.116 1:11.095 30
8 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 1:12.078 1:11.309 1:11.419 26
9 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:11.644 1:11.019 1:11.573 26
10 99 Antonio Giovinazzi ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI 1:11.658 1:11.409 1:11.779 28

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. It could be a big turning point in the championship with Mercedes struggling and Red Bull and Ferrari ascendent. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Mercedes’ Hamilton holds on to prevail in tense Monaco GP ahead of aggressive P2 Verstappen; but Red Bull driver pushed off podium by pit penalty to elevate Vettel & Bottas

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton drove one of the most tense and nervy races of his illustrious career to earn his third Monaco GP victory on the tight and twisty streets of Monte Carlo on Sunday. Saddled with increasingly worn and ineffective Medium Pirelli tires since way back on Lap 12 of this 78 lap street fight Hamilton was also boxed in by a mandatory one-stop strategy, as all his nearest rivals were running a run-stopper but also with the benefit of being on the more durable Hard Pirelli rubber. There was a surprising lack of pace difference between the two compounds — and also a lack of durability difference in the Soft tires compared to the other two tires. That enabled teams up and down the order to gamble but it almost paid the greatest jackpot for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Running on the hardest tires on offer, Vertspappen hounded Hamilton at nearly every corner of this legendary circuit for lap after lap in the second half of the race. But at Monaco it is also legendarily difficult to pass and despite Hamilton’s increasingly desperate radio communication with the Mercedes pit wall about the impossibility of finishing the race on his blistering, grip-less rubber his engineers talked him through his most panicky moments and reminded the English 5-time World Champion that catching and passing are two completely different things in Monte Carlo. Thus, even as Verstappen reeled him in as the laps wound down, finally making a dive to the inside on Lap 77 as the two cars screamed out of the tunnel and towards the Nouvelle Chicane, Hamilton was able to close the door abruptly on the Dutch hard-charger, sending the Red Bull spearing offline through the chicane while Hamilton still had enough grip to get beak on line and on form for the high speed swimming pool section. After all that white-knuckle race and tire management from the front that was the race and Hamilton held on for a hard-earned win on a weekend where the Formula 1 world mourned the loss of 3-time champ and all around legend Niki Lauda, whose ties to the current Mercedes team run deep. It was a fitting and fittingly gritty tribute to the great Austrian champion and also secured Hamilton his most decisive points lead of the season.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Verstappen was really only able to hound Hamilton from that P2 position because his team released him prematurely on a fateful Lap 11 Safety Car scramble for fresh rubber that saw Vertsppen launch into the other Mercedes driver, Valtteri Bottas, as he was heading down pit lane. That led to an extra stop for Bottas for Hard tires after his brand new Mediums suffered a slow puncture due to the contact with the hasty Red Bull. It also led inevitably to a 5-second time penalty for the Red Bull man that insured that even though Vertsppen finished the race in P2 he was demoted off the podium and was classified as the fourth place finisher. That redounded to the benefit not only of the victimized Bottas, who was elevated to the podium and P3, but also Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who inherited Vertspapen’s second place finish.  Vettel, who seemed to be lurking behind Hamilton and Verstappen waiting for the dicing duo to take each other out and thus inherent the lead, was nonetheless content with his P2, which somewhat saved the day for the Scuderia.

Their young, talented and somewhat erratic number two driver Charles Leclerc had a miserable weekend all around and failed to finish on Sunday. Continue reading →

2019 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Mercedes’ Hamilton asserts authority with blistering pole lap to best Bottas; Verstappen takes P3 ahead of Vettel, Leclerc fails to make it out of Q3 for Ferrari

Mercedes’ ostensible number two driver Valtteri Bottas set down a marker early in Q3 during Saturday qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix that seemed sure to net the Finn pole position for the race. It was a track record time of just over 70 seconds that the tricky Monte Carlo circuit had never seen before and Bottas appeared to have the measure of his teammate and only real rival, Lewis Hamilton, as well as the rest of the field. But personifying the old saying you’ve got to take the belt from then champ, Hamilton put together a pure blinder as time ran down in the last quali session to pip Bottas by a mere .09 seconds and secure his second career pole at this legendary and legendarily tight street circuit. At a place where starting track position often determines the winner, the 5-time and current reigning champion showed once again that when the big prizes are on the line he still can put it all together and perform at a higher level than anyone else in this era of Formula 1.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was quick all weekend long and finally ran a nice clean qualifying session at what had been a personal bogey track for the Dutchman to secure P3 on the grid, besting Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who did well to grab P4 despite crashing in free practice 3 earlier on Saturday morning and brushing the wall more than once while pushing hard in qualifying. But that did only a little to offset Ferrari’s woes after the team badly miscalculated in Q1 and failed to get their second driver Charles Leclerc out in time to set a fast enough time to escape the normally perfunctory Top 15 cutoff line. The native Monegasque, who perhaps caused some team confusion by missing a mandatory call to the weigh-bridge and then had to be pushed back down the pit lane manually to make the random stewards exam, was thus saddled with a P16 time and will only start P15 due to others’ penalties. Leclerc was understandably miffed after the mishap and will have it all to do in the race to try and make a decent showing and save the blushes of the Scuderia.

Vertsppen’s Red Bull teammate did reasonably well to qualify P5 behind Vettel, while Kevin Magnusen did a terrific job for team Haas to set the sixth fastest time. Daniel Ricciardo was likewise the lone Renault to make the Top 10 in P7 and the two Toro Rossos of Daniil Kvyat and rookie Alexander Albon showed real pace at this high downforce street circuit to qualify P8 and P10 respectively. Spaniard Carlos Sainz used his experience to push his McLaren up to P9, well; ahead of his rookie teammate Lando Norris, who could do no better than P12.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:11.542 1:10.835 1:10.166 28
2 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:11.562 1:10.701 1:10.252 27
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:11.597 1:10.618 1:10.641 19
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:11.434 1:11.227 1:10.947 27
5 10 Pierre Gasly RED BULL RACING HONDA 1:11.740 1:11.457 1:11.041 24
6 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 1:11.865 1:11.363 1:11.109 24
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo RENAULT 1:11.767 1:11.543 1:11.218 25
8 26 Daniil Kvyat SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:11.602 1:11.412 1:11.271 30
9 55 Carlos Sainz MCLAREN RENAULT 1:11.872 1:11.608 1:11.417 30
10 23 Alexander Albon SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:12.007 1:11.429 1:11.653 31

Complete qualifying results amiable via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to see how the front row duel between Hamilton and Bottas shakes out or if Vettel or Vertsappen might get the better of the two Mercedes men!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Results & aftermath

Ricciardo rules the streets of Monte Carlo; Vettel P2, Hamilton a desultory P3

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo dominated the race weekend for the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix, topping the pylon in every practice session, starting from the pole and leading every lap in Sunday’s race. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the veteran Aussie ace. About a third of the way through the contest on Lap 28 his RB14 developed a Kers issue that robbed him of precious horsepower due to incomplete energy harvesting under braking. With his hybrid power failing him Ricciardo was forced to nurse his rear breaks due to overheating and push the bias towards the front in an effort to cope with near-critical temperatures in the rear. It began to look that once again Ricciardo would suffer another devastating heartbreak in Monte Carlo after losing a sure win 2 years ago when his team was caught flatfooted and without tires during a critical late race pit stop. The second place Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel was eating up chunks of time to the previously impervious Red Bull and seemed sure to seize this unfair advantage to hunt him down even if Ricciardo’s mount didn’t expire first.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

But Riccardo and Red Bull gritted it out and the narrow nature of the Monte Carlo street circuit worked to their advantage, as Vettel could never quite execute a pass while his tires were at their best. Even a late Virtual Safety Car period caused by Charles Le Clerc’s Sauber rear ending Brendon Hartley’s Toro Rosso when the former’s breaks failed didn’t impede Ricciardo’s momentum, as there were simply too few laps remaining for any of the other contenders to risk a last minute dive to the pits for fresh rubber. In the end Ricciardo did a superb job managing his car’s ill health, got back into a very quick rhythm and stayed out in front to capture victory and redemption at this most storied of F1 races. It was a very special moment in the talented Australian’s already excellent career and it was also Riccardo’s second victory of the year, vaulting him to an impressive third place in the Drivers’s standings.

While Vettel, who started and stayed second, could never get by the superior Red Bull it was nevertheless a decent day for the Ferrari team. Vettel maintained his P2 starting position and the pursuing Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton had no real chance of overtaking him on this notoriously narrow street circuit. Better yet, Kimi Raikkonen also ran well and kept Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas behind him, despite a gutsy early stop for the harder Super Soft compound tire by the second Silver Arrow. But tire strategy and jettisoning the new Hypersoft tires early was not enough for Bottas to make up positions after a mediocre qualifying and so Mercedes saw themselves bested by their biggest rivals at one of the rare circuits that simply does not suit their normally nonpareil chassis. The Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen finished P2 and P4 respectively while Hamilton & Bottas had to settle for P3 and P5. That reduced Vettel’s deficit to Hamilton down to 14 points while the Ferrari team whittled Mercedes’ advantage in the Constructors’ Championship to just 22 points. So overall a good weekend for Ferrari and a disappointing one for the Mercedes factory team who will be looking forward to stretching their legs again in Montreal in two weeks time.

Further back in the field, Esteban Ocon excelled for Force India, converting a clean and tidy run into a valuable P6 finish. Rookie Pierre Gasly once again showed his talent after a few bad luck races and brought his Toro Rosso home safely in P7. Nico Hulkenberg got a much needed result with a P8 finish, while his Renault teammate Carlos Sainz got the last point in P10, though the Spaniard was less than thrilled with the team’s decision to pit him early for the Ultra Soft Pirellis rather than what turned out to be the better option Super Softs.

Special mention should be made for Max Verstappen’s P9 finish. While that doesn’t sound very impressive for such an elite driver it was a very good salvage job by the young Dutchman after  he had put his Red Bull into the wall in free Practice 3 and damaged his gearbox severely enough to miss out on qualifying entirely. However, the Red Bull brain trust must still have been left wondering what might have been with two healthy cars in the race and perhaps starting from the 1-2 positions. While no one questions Verstappen’s supreme talent behind the wheel his costly risk taking in practice was yet another indication that in the big picture he’s got to mature into a smarter, more consistent racer if he’s ever going to take his place among the elite of F1.

Top 10 finishers of the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 78 1:42:54.807 25
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 78 +7.336s 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 78 +17.013s 15
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 78 +18.127s 12
5 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 78 +18.822s 10
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 78 +23.667s 8
7 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 78 +24.331s 6
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 78 +24.839s 4
9 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 78 +25.317s 2
10 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 78 +69.013s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two weeks from the always challenging and high speed Circuit Gille-Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada. Will the Silver Arrows to return to their front running form or can Ferrari build on their superior Monaco results? Or will Red Bull find the key for consistent performance and reliability from both cars & drivers to crash the Canadian party? Hope to see you then to find out!

2018 F1 Grand Prix of Monaco — Qualifying results

Ricciardo seizes pole for Red Bull at Monte Carlo; Vettel P2, Hamilton P3

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo blistered the field in Saturday qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, laying down a track record fast lap of 1:10.810, easily good enough for pole over the other favorites. After his teammate Max Verstappen had a costly crash in free Practice 3 that ruined his gear box and kept the Dutchman out of qualifying entirely, Ricciardo saved Red Bull’s honor by running the fastest laps in every qualifying session including when it counted most. This was Riccairdo’s second career pole at the famed Monte Carlo street circuit and showed once again how dangerous Red Bull’s slippery chassis can be on this ultra-tight course. Now if only his team can remember to put tires out for him during the race the Aussie just might win the big prize on Sunday. It should also be worth the price of admission to see young Max attempt to fight his way back into contention from the very rear of the pack.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was the best of rest, outperforming Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for P2 to the Englishman’s P3 time. Likewise Vettel’s Scuderia stablemate Kimi Raikkonen bested Hamilton’s Silver Arrows wingman Valtteri Bottas P4 to P5 indicating the Prancing Horse may be better suited to this great old street course than the usually superior Mercedes. Force India did well to put both their drivers into the Top 10 on the grid with Esteban Ocon qualifying P6 and Sergio Perez P9, while Fernando Alonso willed his McLaren up to P7. Rounding out the front of the grid, Carlos Sainz will start P8 for Renault and Pierre Gasly will start P10 for Toro Rosso.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Monaco GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:12.013 1:11.278 1:10.810 17
2 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 1:12.415 1:11.518 1:11.039 21
3 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:12.460 1:11.584 1:11.232 22
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 1:12.639 1:11.391 1:11.266 22
5 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:12.434 1:12.002 1:11.441 25
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:13.028 1:12.188 1:12.061 27
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN RENAULT 1:12.657 1:12.269 1:12.110 26
8 55 Carlos Sainz RENAULT 1:12.950 1:12.286 1:12.130 28
9 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:12.848 1:12.194 1:12.154 23
10 10 Pierre Gasly SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA 1:12.941 1:12.313 1:12.221 29

Complete qualifying results available via Forumla.com.

The 2018 edition of the classic Monaco GP airs live tomorrow starting at 9AM Eastern on ESPN here in the States. It kicks off the greatest day of the year for motorsports in typically classy Monagasque fashion before the Indy 500 roars into action later in the afternoon. Hope to see you yacht side and with bellinis in hand to see how it all goes down in Monte Carlo!