I'm hoping for the McLaren Double tomorrow. It would epic if they could win Monaco and Indy on the same day.

Piastri win & a double Ferrari podium would work for me, for an informal fantasy league I play on another forum.

That's going to be a stretch since King Lewie got a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Verstappen in Q2.

The mandatory two stop requirement is likely to throw a curve ball and is already a big topic of discussion.
I would bet teams already have some AI generated answers and would have that type of technology available to them tomorrow.
Also, some teams have a compliant second driver that may be asked to help (Yuki?) and others are on their own.
Mercedes looks like the top team that needs a hail Mary strategy to get any sort of result.

Stroll's really drawn attention this weekend and not in a good way. The incident at the start of Practice 1 set the tone for the event. He seems to be especially slow and clumsy at the track where even skilled drivers need to be especially careful.

quote:

Originally posted by DanH:
That's going to be a stretch since King Lewie got a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Verstappen in Q2.

Hammer Time

Lando Norris takes Monaco.

The tire rule was a good try to spice things up but someone needs to take a closer look for next year.
The result didn't end up much different than without the two stop rule except half the field had no chance at all.

I DVR ESPN2's coverage of the race, it turns out to be some "F1 Kids" airing. It was like Legos meet Japanese animation, called by some meaningless contest winners -- they were most entertained by guessing pit stop times. Unwatchable yet there we sat...

That looked like an early 90s end result. Can't remember that many people being lapped in a single race in a long time.

quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:
I DVR ESPN2's coverage of the race, it turns out to be some "F1 Kids" airing. It was like Legos meet Japanese animation, called by some meaningless contest winners -- they were most entertained by guessing pit stop times. Unwatchable yet there we sat...

Makes me that much more glad to have F1TV [which also had the F1Kids option, along with F1Live & SkyF1].

The problem is that from a commercial point of view, it's probably the biggest event of the year. The place is spectacular and for many people it's the only GP they go to or watch all year.
The cars aren't the real problem. Yes, they're larger now but it wasn't much better when they were smaller.
More than a decade ago David Coulthard was driving a Mclaren that could win at any track. He had to start at the back (I can't remember the reason and it doesn't matter) and couldn't pass the guy in front of him that belonged at the back, for the whole race.
They need to do something to make an overtaking opportunity but the layout of the city makes that almost impossible.
The race at the front, maybe the first 8 places, had a bit more excitement. Some of that was due to teams having to see how things played out this first time for the two stop rule.
If all cars had raced like they weren't part of a team it could have been a lot more exciting but I don't know a rule that could make that happen.
Maybe remove the radios and go back to pit board communications.

Further evidenced by Lando's pace once Max made his last stop. He rapidly dispatched Leclerc once he had clear air.

Also, Riccardo holding off Hamilton, while having a large power deficit [MGU failure IIRC]
Senna holding off Mansell on very tired tires

It's a high power, high speed, parade most years.
Knowing how to position the car to block any overtaking seems to be the majority of the skill needed at the front.

Monaco 2007 is next up on my historical catch up.
Taking a lot longer now that it's all full length replays.

Yes, Lando stepping on the gas on the last lap showed how under control he was and was impressive.
It wasn't just Leclerc backing off since Lando's lap was the quickest and I think they said the quickest ever at Monaco.
Probably made Zac a little nervous.

The Monaco GP was a joke of an event. The race was on Saturday during qualifying. Sunday was a 78 lap parade. There was more entertainment to be had during the Miami Lego lap.

Like 220-9er said, It’s Monaco and there’s not much room for improvement. The speed has just outgrown the usefulness of the track. I do have to give credit to the drones though. Some of the footage was incredible.

Back to a real road course this week and revised wing flex rules.
Based on practice it looks like the usual suspects will still be at the top and the others will have mixed results at each track, depending where they are strong.

McLaren has locked up pole. Of the traditional circuits, I'm not going to feel bad seeing Catalyuna leave the schedule.

Everyone knows it so well after years of preseason testing, takes some of the drama out of it.

Stroll out for tomorrow, lingering hand/wrist problem. Some suggest he's driven his last race.

quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:
Stroll out for tomorrow, lingering hand/wrist problem. Some suggest he's driven his last race.

We're not that lucky. Also of note is that because Stroll qualified, he can't be replaced by any of the reserve drivers because the last moment to replace him would be before qualifying.