If I were Leclerc, I’d probably just quit Ferrari right now cold. But then I don’t have the temperament to be an F1 driver.
Driving for Ferrari has been his dream since he was a little boy, and it was Jules dream as well. I think he'll give them every opportunity to get their shit together...but yeah, this was embarrassing on a new level. How do you not send him out again to make sure he has a clean banker? Just unfathomable.
Remember what I said about Ferrari embarrassing Ferrari? Well, here we are again. Leclerc failing to get out of Q1 is a massive screwup. Vettel was also busy making mistakes all over the place. I still think Vettel is currently the better driver of the two but he's making a lot of mistakes in pressure situations. He isn't alone there though, Leclerc has been making a load of basic mistakes as well (e.g. missing the weigh bridge) but he has inexperience as an excuse for now. I think the challenge of leading Ferrari has taken a toll on Vettel and he may need to just cool off a bit and relax for a while. Accept that this year probably isn't going to happen and just focus on getting fundamentals with his driving and the team sorted out - well, in awhile at least. There's still a challenge worth mounting at this point of the year.
Hamilton really showed how much he wanted that one. In a pressure situation he can break out just enough pace to get what he needs and it makes him incredibly hard to beat. Bottas was probably the faster driver for most of the session, but Hamilton had one chance and he took it (just about, was convinced he threw it in the last corner).
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Remember what I said about Ferrari embarrassing Ferrari? Well, here we are again. Leclerc failing to get out of Q1 is a massive screwup. Vettel was also busy making mistakes all over the place. I still think Vettel is currently the better driver of the two but he's making a lot of mistakes in pressure situations. He isn't alone there though, Leclerc has been making a load of basic mistakes as well (e.g. missing the weigh bridge) but he has inexperience as an excuse for now. I think the challenge of leading Ferrari has taken a toll on Vettel and he may need to just cool off a bit and relax for a while. Accept that this year probably isn't going to happen and just focus on getting fundamentals with his driving and the team sorted out - well, in awhile at least. There's still a challenge worth mounting at this point of the year.
Hamilton really showed how much he wanted that one. In a pressure situation he can break out just enough pace to get what he needs and it makes him incredibly hard to beat. Bottas was probably the faster driver for most of the session, but Hamilton had one chance and he took it (just about, was convinced he threw it in the last corner).
He had a 1:09 if he didn't yeet it through the penultimate corner. Still set a track record, but he would have shattered it without that slide.
The only time I ever hear anything about the weigh bridge is when Ferrari screws it up. Every other team has someone watching for their driver numbers but I guess Scuderia are skimping on personnel or something?
If I were Leclerc, I’d probably just quit Ferrari right now cold. But then I don’t have the temperament to be an F1 driver.
Leave Ferrari and go where? Mercedes won't dump Hamilton or Bottas for him. Engine situation means it's a two team competition and that's not looking likely to change any time soon.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
The only time I ever hear anything about the weigh bridge is when Ferrari screws it up. Every other team has someone watching for their driver numbers but I guess Scuderia are skimping on personnel or something?
Nah, just lack of attention to detail. They aren't skimping, they have the highest budget in the garage (or second highest, I can't remember if it's them or Mercedes, but they are very close, spending mega bucks).
Monaco may not be much of an actual race, but it's still one of the best tracks to watch cars go around. Every street circuit wishes they could at look as iconic as Monaco - and none of them ever will since racing around such narrow streets is a daft idea.
Hopefully we'll see something fun with Leclerc out of position, but I wouldn't count on much.
If it were Verstappen starting from so far back, I would be more excited about some fireworks, as he is questionably ruthless. I don't think LeClerc is quite as ruthless, but I hope to be proven wrong.
As iconic as it is, I find it impossible to get too jazzed about Monaco. I'll watch, but it will likely end up being background noise.
They should seriously make Monaco like an all-star week thing and do my idea of making it a go-kart race instead.
Alternatively, they could do something like forcing more pit stops with extra super hyper soft tires being the only ones available and maybe severely limiting fuel amounts. Or something. Anything.
One gripe I do have over how Monaco looks - the bloody stupid "picture of the sea" hoarding they've had up at Portier (just before the tunnel) for the past few years. Absolutely ruins the look of the corner. I presume it's there because they're busy ruining the look in some other way and are too embarrassed to show it.
I wonder, will Red Bulls argument of "Bottas brought that unsafe release on himself by unsportsmanly slowing us down to create distance between him and Hamilton" will hold up...
Disaster and disappointment is inevitable at Monaco. What’s odd in this case is that Leclerc only hurt himself. The tyre was ruined and the floor is gone.
Clear unsafe release from Verstappen, cost Bottas dearly.
Talk about softballing the penalty. An actual literal collision in the pit lane and all he gets is 5s.
Feels like merc may have screwed Hamilton on tyre strategy. Hope they haven’t.
At the minute I don’t think it can be done. The tyres just look awful. I’m worried that they’ll delaminate before the end. Hope I’m wrong. No idea why they went on the mediums. There was no downside to taking the yards around here.
If Verstappen would just back off a car length or 3 in the hairpin he could use his better tires to get a better run in the tunnel to make the pass into the chicane.
Why are all F1 drivers always shit at setting up passes like that?
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Hamilton really showed how much he wanted that one. In a pressure situation he can break out just enough pace to get what he needs and it makes him incredibly hard to beat. Bottas was probably the faster driver for most of the session, but Hamilton had one chance and he took it (just about, was convinced he threw it in the last corner).
Nah, just lack of attention to detail. They aren't skimping, they have the highest budget in the garage (or second highest, I can't remember if it's them or Mercedes, but they are very close, spending mega bucks).
Watched both F2 races, and they were pretty interesting with a bit of strange red flag drama in race 1 that affected race 2
Hopefully we'll see something fun with Leclerc out of position, but I wouldn't count on much.
As iconic as it is, I find it impossible to get too jazzed about Monaco. I'll watch, but it will likely end up being background noise.
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Alternatively, they could do something like forcing more pit stops with extra super hyper soft tires being the only ones available and maybe severely limiting fuel amounts. Or something. Anything.
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Clear unsafe release from Verstappen, cost Bottas dearly.
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Drama!
Feels like merc may have screwed Hamilton on tyre strategy. Hope they haven’t.
Team telling him to suck it up though so we'll see how this ends...
Why are all F1 drivers always shit at setting up passes like that?
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12:27 p.m.: Flyover – U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight Team (F-16 Fighting Falcon, A-10 Thunderbolt II, P-51 Mustang, P-40 Warhawk)
That might be the best flyover ever.
Edit: time is eastern, race starts at 12:45pm
Feel a bit sad for Bottas. Verstappen only got 5 seconds for causing a puncture
Good morning!