[akash_v12]

The absolutely mega venue of Monaco is back on the calendar! This will be the 79th time that Monaco, the jewel of F1 has hosted a Grand Prix since its inception. The narrow city-street circuit provides a superbly engaging qualifying session and a race that revolves all-around strategy.

Schedule

Do note, FP1 & FP2 in Monaco are on Thursdays and Fridays are quite days.

The Track

The track has a short pit straight which gives way to T1 i.e Saint Devote, followed by Turn 2 which is the slight right to enter into the Casino. The left turn to the Casino is T3, followed by T4, which is the exit via the outside of the roundabout. T5 is Mirabeau and after a short rundown reaches T6, which is the Fairmont Hotel Hairpin. T7 is the exit from the hairpin which leads to T8 which is Portier followed by the short run-up by the harbor to the Tunnel. The tunnel opens up to T10 & T11 which is the Nouvelle Chicane after which is T12, Tabac.
Turns 13 & 14 are at the Louis Chiron Chicane followed by the Swimming Pool at T15-16. Finally, the pen-ultimate corner of Rascasse opens up to give way to the one & only DRS Zone i.e the Pit-Straight.

Daniel Ricciardo's Track Guide

The Tyres

Weather

Current Standings

Drivers

Constructors

2019 Race Results

[sen2693]

Oh look the annual-most-famous-most-glamorous-where-Saturday-more-exciting-than-Sunday-F1-cars-parade is back!!

Yeah, I know it is most challenging for drivers etc. etc. so please do not shower those comments in reply to this. Outside the glamour, one of the most boring race on calendar.

[GTO]

Contrary to sen2693's thoughts, this is one of my favourite races! Reason, the stunning camera work. Love to see the cars snaking their way through the narrow Monaco streets and bouncing off chicanes. It's almost an art form to my eyes. I equally love the onboard camera views - a track like this also showcases the sheer brilliance & mastery of Formula 1 drivers.

Monaco is special in its own unique way.

Here's a video with my favourite driver. I could watch this 100 times:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFufEra-3EY

[Eshan Joshi]

This weekend Williams racing will be making their 750th GP start. An amazing milestone indeed.

A team with a rich history, with 114 race victories, 312 podiums and 3556 points to their name.

They have 9 Constructors championships to their name.

7 drivers have won a Drivers championship with Williams. They are Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg , Nelson Piquet , Nigel Mansell , Alian Prost ,Damon Hill and Jacques Vileneuve . Each of them have one it once with Williams.

They have also had the likes on Aryton Senna , Massa , Bottas ,Rubens barrichello , Rosberg, Heidfeld, Button , Montoya , and Ralf Schumacher drive for them.

Shame that they are not the team they used to be.



The drivers are gonna wear custom helmets this weekend to celebrate this milestone .

[iamahunter]

The smallest and challenging circuit on the calendar. Monaco is interesting because its a "legal street race". Also, the track is narrow and has very less overtaking opportunities. It shall be interesting to see who takes pole in the tomorrow's qualifying.

Loved the McLaren livery. Daniel and Lando's helmet designs are awesome as well.


Of-topic - We have an entire hardcore McLaren fan society in the neighborhood.



No had feelings intended.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by iamahunter

Of-topic - We have an entire hardcore McLaren fan society in the neighborhood.

Attachment 2158454

No had feelings intended.

Dude you should tweet or instagram this to zak and lando man...they will love it!

[shibujp]

The McLarens look dope in their heritage Gulf colors. I hope they keep it for the rest of the year.

Red Bulls came as favorites but looked a bit jaded in practice. Ferraris were the biggest surprise topping FP2. Both rookies Schumacher and Tsunoda put their cars in the wall with Marko being especially critical of Tsunoda later which I thought was a bit harsh.

Alpines have not dominated the way they did in practice sessions in Barcelona. Aston Martin seem to have brought upgrades that are moving the the right direction. However given the unique low speed, high downforce characteristics of Monaco I am not sure a strong result here is indicative of the general strength.

Meanwhile we have a mighty scrap brewing over flexi wings with mind games between Mercedes and Red Bull in full swing.

Drive on,
Shibu

[speedmiester]

What a way to end to the most exciting qualifying of 2021 so far.
Ferrari are looking good and Leclerc got the pole purely on pace.
Sad to see him crash out but if he doesn't get a penalty for gearbox change, it could be a potential race win for Ferrari after a long time.

Max is set for a good haul of points against Lewis in this race which will make the drivers championship more exciting.

[wrongturn]

"Don't give me that...don't give me HOPE" - every Ferrari fan right now (me included)

[nikhilthegunner]

The crash made it look like Leclerc did not want to run the risk of Verstappen finding the pace needed to take pole away from him.

Joking aside, this result will be motivating for Ferrari and hopefully they don't screw up on strategy like they otherwise do on occasion. Also hoping that there is no issue that requires major component changes bringing on grid penalties.

Coming to the race though, I have no reason to believe that there will be much in the way of overtaking. Let's see what the Merc strategy team is able to cook up to ensure a win for the team but sincerely hoping that doesn't happen. If Verstappen is able to finish ahead of Hamilton by any number of positions, then it'll make the championship fight more exciting again.

[Red Liner]

One of the best qualifying sessions I have watched…since 2019! Killer! Am sure max will be out to pounce on Leclerc at the race start.

[SILVER-ARROW]

Finally we have a Ferrari on pole. What a drive by Leclerc, hope the damage to car isn’t serious which requires a gearbox change.

There is going to be a might lunge in the first corner tomorrow on green flag. One who comes out first at the first corner has a high probability of crossing the line first at chequered flag provided we do not have safety car incident.

Disappointed to see pace of Daniel Riccardo. Superb drive from Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly to be ahead of Hamilton. Mercedes will have to work out some strategy to see Hamilton up the charts in the race tomorrow.

All in all script looks perfect to have an exciting race tomorrow.

[fz_rider]

Although the grid looks exciting, the crash looked fishy.
It will be a dash to first corner, Ferrari and Red Bull look on par! Sainz looked miffed after the red flag, as it robbed a chance at pole.
Three more standouts were Vettel, Antonio and Lando.
Hope its a exciting race, with lots of strategies.

[shibujp]

Dramatic qualifying session. Leclerc snags pole and then crashes robbing his competitors of potentially grabbing pole back. Both Verstappen and bottas were setting very competitive times.

With even mid fielders very competitive on a qualifying lap they were regular encounters with the barriers by multiple drivers. Even Hamilton had a brush. That said Hamilton looked quite out of sorts while Bottas fared well. But Mercedes were definitely on the back foot compared to Red Bull and surprisingly Ferrari. On a track notoriously difficult to overtake pole and strategy are crucial.

Vettel fared quite well and looks set to start alongside none other than Hamilton in 7th and 8th. However if Leclerc has to replace a gearbox he will incur a pena;ty splitting the two.

Gasly and Norris have made it quite a habit to turn up in Q3 and set competitive times. This time we have Antonio Giovinazzi from Alfa Romeo joining them. Read a couple of articles on this guy who is quite underrated but has been going about quietly doing the job for Alfa Romeo. Riccardo and Raikkonen did not make Q3. I felt it odd as Raikkonen did set some decent times in Q1.

I get the feeling that Mercedes are playing the long game here not really optimising their car for Monaco in the interest of the larger championship at stake. Make sense to prioritise circuits that suit you car and pick your battles. And Ferrari jumping into the mix is more of a challenge for Red Bull. Both Mercedes and Red Bull have drivers close to each other and hence capable of playing support roles. However with a Perez still coming upto speed Verstappen may end up having to fend off the attentions of both Ferrari and Mercedes.

A shame for Mick Schumacher crashing out in FP3. He was setting some competitive times when he crashed. Looks like a chip off the old block.

Originally Posted by fz_rider

Although the grid looks exciting, the crash looked fishy.

Hmm..at first glance yes. But would they risk so much damage if so. Also in the slow motion replays of the first lap you could already see Leclerc's front tyre kissing the armco as he turned into that corner. In the lap he crashed, you could see that he turned in too early damaging his front suspension. Long shot for Ferrari to risk so much in a season that they are not really hoping for much. And that too after the engine fiasco of 2019.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[RedTerrano]

Exciting qualifying session. Pity how it ended though. If not for the crash we just might have seen a last moment upset.
Anyway, as a die hard Ferrari fan, I am happy to see them on the first two rows.
Hopefully we have a more exciting race (with both Ferraris getting podium of course )