[glikithvinayaka]

That's six races in a row that Verstappen has had a crash or other similar incident. He keeps saying he doesn't need to change anything. Reality would suggest otherwise.

This was Redbull's best chance of a 1-2 finish this season and max could have taken the pole. He should have known better he has 3 years of experience in F1 meaning he can't play the "young blood" card.
Look at Charles Leclerc, he shows so much maturity while driving. He gets the car to finish it beyond its capacity.
It's two wins that max has thrown away now.

If you remember Kvyat got demoted for much less and fired from the Redbull program. It's 6 out 6 for max and Daniil got demoted for a couple of crashes, whereas Daniil Kvyat also beat Ricciardo in his debut season at Redbull.

[shibujp]

What an utter dominance by Riccardo on all the sessions leading up to the race. I guess given it aerodynamic excellence the Red Bull was expected to be competitive but Riccardo really took it to the next level. It would be interesting to see this guy in a Mercedes or Ferrari next year.

What could throw a spanner into the works is Red Bull's pace on the ultrasofts, though I would expect all the other cars to have a similar drop in pace. With Verstappen starting at the back this could be one interesting race.

Sainz out qualifying his team mate for the first time in a straight fight. Force India too seems to be recovering their form with both cars in Q3.

Interesting that Sebastian did not make it to the post qualifying interview.

Drive on,
Shibu

[sun_king]

2016 Monaco Grand Prix: Ricciardo starting from pole, Max at the back of the grid, Max crashes causing a VSC, Hamilton starting 3rd and winning.
2018, ..., Max had at least one incident in all five races of the season so far, Hamilton starting 3rd! We are missing only the rains this year.

I feel that Red Bull should let Max cool off for a few races, swapping seats with Gasly to end Max's belief that he can get away with anything.

Bold Race Prediction: Ricciardo will bungle the start, he will spend the first stint warding off Kimi before overtaking Hamilton who will be having tire problems in the second half of the race and finishing the race behind Seb. Ricciardo has never won a race from the front row of the grid! Forza!

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by sun_king

I feel that Red Bull should let Max cool off for a few races, swapping seats with Gasly to end Max's belief that he can get away with anything.

Well, Citroen have dropped Kris Meeke from the team because of his many high speed crashes. This could end up happening to Max

https://www.autocar.co.uk/opinion/mo...meeke-it-shame

[naveenvenkatesh]

I think its time to give crashtrappan a rest day! Way to throw away a pole position. This kid is extremely talented but i think he does not have a good level headed support staff. Having his dad cheering and defending his every mistake will only make it worse for him.

Among other things, is it just me who thinks Monaco has lost its charm as a racing circuit? Its actually a street circuit but for me, this year's cars appear too fast and too wide for this narrow street. Seems really cramped space to hold an F1 race. I don't see much of 'racing' happening on Sunday given the track limitations. And over taking is next to impossible also. Places are gained/lost during pits. As outrageous as it may sound, is it time to rethink Monaco GP

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Well, Citroen have dropped Kris Meeke from the team because of his many high speed crashes. This could end up happening to Max

https://www.autocar.co.uk/opinion/mo...meeke-it-shame

Given the they have recently signed a three year contract with Mad extrication might prove to be quite expensive. And it is not like they have endeared themselves to Riccardo in the near past.

In my opinion Red Bull have no one but themselves to blame. As long as Verstappen performed his antics on opposing teams and caused them damage they happily encouraged it. Now when both of their cars got took out by the very same late braking move that caused grief to others realisation has sunk in. I think Verstappen will have to evolve and refine his techniques to compete against a team mate.

Drive on,
Shibu

[glikithvinayaka]

Monaco GP Final Race Classification

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by naveenvenkatesh

Among other things, is it just me who thinks Monaco has lost its charm as a racing circuit? Its actually a street circuit but for me, this year's cars appear too fast and too wide for this narrow street. Seems really cramped space to hold an F1 race. I don't see much of 'racing' happening on Sunday given the track limitations. And over taking is next to impossible also. Places are gained/lost during pits. As outrageous as it may sound, is it time to rethink Monaco GP

Despite this, Max finished 9th after starting from the tail off the grid! Talent alone does not help one win. One needs to be sensible as well.

[Makin Rulesz]

Most boring race of the year
Everyone seemed running in procession behind the slow Red Bull. Horner stated that Ricciardo was losing around 2.5s per lap than what was predicted as the race pace. I guess everyone played safe here by sticking to one stop strategy considering the issues with tyres.
Having said that, I m really happy for Ricciardo, he deserves this win.

Edit: Alonso too thought the same after his first retirement of the year. Source

[sun_king]

Originally Posted by shibujp

Given the they have recently signed a three year contract with Mad extrication might prove to be quite expensive. And it is not like they have endeared themselves to Riccardo in the near past.

In my opinion Red Bull have no one but themselves to blame. As long as Verstappen performed his antics on opposing teams and caused them damage they happily encouraged it. Now when both of their cars got took out by the very same late braking move that caused grief to others realisation has sunk in. I think Verstappen will have to evolve and refine his techniques to compete against a team mate.

Drive on,
Shibu

Usually there will be a performance clause for both sides in these contracts. There should be some fixed limit for the number of cars he can wreck in a season

Originally Posted by swissknife

Despite this, Max finished 9th after starting from the tail off the grid! Talent alone does not help one win. One needs to be sensible as well.

With the fastest car on track, Max managed to overtake Sainz, Ericsson, Pérez, Magnussen, Vandoorne, Grosjean, Sirotkin (3 wheel penalty), Stroll, Leclerc, and Hartley (Alonso pulled over with his gearbox issue). At the other end, with only 6 out of 8 gears his team mate easily won the race. One more race like this and we will have to stop calling him the Honey Badger. Hardly the excitement you want in a F1 race. Nobody in the top six even made any serious attempts in overtaking and Ricciardo's real "threat" was from Vandoorne trying to unlap himself in the dying stages of the race. Easily the most boring race of the season.

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by Makin Rulesz

Most boring race of the year

While I have stopped following F1 in recent years, I would diligently watch each and every race till around 2012. Monaco GP would invariably be most boring race of the calendar. Tight street circuit with very few overtaking opportunities meant that many a times, end result positions would be identical to those on the starting grid. Without some overtaking action, the only interesting part would be those yachts, scenery etc.

[sgiitk]

I found the race quite enjoyable. We all know that given any safety regulations, Monaco will be off the radar. In fact I enjoy Baku more. Tough street circuit, but safety is there.

[Hatari]

First of all, well deserved to the Honey Badger! Redemption.

That was quite a weird race. For most of the latter half of the race, the top 5 cars were being outpaced by places 6-10!

Im quite surprised Mercedes didnt put Bottas onto a 2 stop to attack Kimi. For a long time the gap to Ocon behind him was 26s, more than enough for a stop, before eventually closing to around 6s.

What also gets me is why the top 4 didnt follow the same strategy as Bottas, why would you need to be on the Ultras when the Super softs are there for the taking, overtaking not a factor.

[SilentEngine]

Happy for Ricciardo for his win. He needed that to put the Crash Verstappen
in his place.
Going by the comments here, looks like i didn't miss much. I could only sneak in last couple of laps live on TV owing to my daughter's first birthday. Next time when Monaco GP falls on her birthday would be when she turns 12, and my wish is to watch it together with her.

Originally Posted by Hatari

Im quite surprised Mercedes didnt put Bottas onto a 2 stop to attack Kimi. For a long time the gap to Ocon behind him was 26s, more than enough for a stop, before eventually closing to around 6s.

I was wondering the same. Looking at the live timing, with a big gap to rest of the pack, i thought the leaders were two stopping. Guess everyone wanted to play safe. There was nothing to lose for Bottas so Mercedes definitely could have tried something different with him.

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Im quite surprised Mercedes didnt put Bottas onto a 2 stop to attack Kimi. For a long time the gap to Ocon behind him was 26s, more than enough for a stop, before eventually closing to around 6s.

Monaco is all about track position. Even the freshest tyres in the world won't help you if you need to overtake.