2015 Monaco Grand Prix - 21-24 May

[Vasconia]

Well, this is the same team which used to make so many strategic mistakes with Michael and Nico a few years ago. So they are not very good doing this, anyway this was a huge mistake even for their mediocre standards.

[Jordan44]

Well, this is the same team which used to make so many strategic mistakes with Michael and Nico a few years ago. So they are not very good doing this, anyway this was a huge mistake even for their mediocre standards.

Indeed. James Vowles has a history of strategic cockups but somehow he still has a job.

[Vasconia]

Nobody mentioned Sainz, he was lucky his team mate crashed with Grosjean so he got last point, but even so going from pitlane to the points in Monaco with a STR deserve some mention I think

Once again he showed how fast and mature is. He did a great race and I think he is closing many mouths.

And we should not forget his brilliant qualy, this guy has a lot of talent.

[Vasconia]

Seriously, I hope we don't have to look back by the end of the season and say 'What if Mercedes haven't bottled it in Monaco?'. LH was written all over the Monaco GP throughout the weekend. By losing it like that, it's just absolutely sour tbh.

Also, It's mental that Rosberg has won the last 3 editions of the Monaco GP. Pretty mad that his name is mentioned alongside Ayrton Senna.

And not Michael among others, its very.......err weird.

[Vasconia]

Alonso said they expect two big steps forward in Hungary and Austria, let´s see what happens there, but car perfomance at this point (reliability apart) finally looks a bit promising

Lets wait until Canada and also until Austria, because they will need to improve the PU a lot. If not they will suffer a lot.

[Jonnycraig]

Vettel wonders why there were no grid girls in Monaco:
https://vimeo.com/128723431

[Powy]

- Here is an animated lap chart (via a Scuderia Ferrari twitter post). Scroll down to start the animation.

- There will be a Q & A with Toto Wolff. You can ask your questions with the hashtag #AskToto.

- Amus reports that Hamilton lost 10.9 seconds behind the safety car. This may not have been taken into account by Mercedes due to the absence of a GPS system in Monte Carlo. Instead of GPS they have inductive loops in Monte Carlo which only allows an approximation of the position.

[mrluke]

- Here is an animated lap chart (via a Scuderia Ferrari twitter post). Scroll down to start the animation.

- There will be a Q & A with Toto Wolff. You can ask your questions with the hashtag #AskToto.

- Amus reports that Hamilton lost 10.9 seconds behind the safety car. This may not have been taken into account by Mercedes due to the absence of a GPS system in Monte Carlo. Instead of GPS they have inductive loops in Monte Carlo which only allows an approximation of the position.

Doesnt matter if they didnt have GPS, they never have GPS here, it isnt a big surprise or a last minute change, its something that should have been taken into account on making strategic calls like this.

[atanatizante]

(Sorry modes if it's the wrong thread!
If that's the case fell free and move it on the team thread)

I don't have all the pieces in order to make a proper judgment and neither you guys have, therefore all our comments are at least subjective ...
Nonetheless if there is someone how could be objective and also has the ability to see the "big picture" he/she should bring on some questions regarding this matter :

1. Is Lewis an experienced driver, even if he has +150 races under his belt with 8 of them being here?
We all knew his driver skills and most of all that he is in the rare bread of true racers but we must admit that, bedside the fact that we and he all do mistakes, he also has some weak points and one of them is the lack of judgment (or maybe someone harsher than me could say he has the muscle not the brain ) and these desperate times are the only real factor when you show your real face coz this is one of the few situation when subconscious rise above the conscious state ...
So being in his shoes at that time, bearing in mind we have his race experience and knowing there are some 10 laps to go and most of all being in Monte Carlo, 9 of 10 from us wouldn't come in ... and more of that 999 of 1000 race drivers wouldn't do that ...
Just one simple argument would have been enough for him : had Rosberg or Vettel had pitted they would have had to pass on track each at least 2 drivers behind them that didn't need to stop coz there were remaining 10 f..... laps to go.
Hence my above conclusion ...

2. A second question : is there anybody in the team who supervises strategic calls, bearing in mind there were a couple of that in the last couple of years.
Judging the facts the answer is obvious, but what's wondering me is they are failing again and again and they didn't do any actions in order to never occur.
I don't think we should fire unless there are multiple fails on a short space of time or had he did something that is unbearable, but what I don't understand why they don't strengthen the group with an additional dude (his race engineer) or two and the final decision must be 2 out of 3 combine with drivers input.
Here they have had plenty of time even for one guy to take the right call and if I recall at some point they told him to stay out but in the end their addition fail was that they didn't manage to explain him why it's useless to do so with 10 laps to go and more of that they were easily convinced by their driver without taken into account that they have all the data, there were almost 10 laps to go and finally we are in Monte Carlo ...
But maybe in the dyeing moments they were out of time and need to do a quick decision forcing them to respond at Lewis fears.
So maybe in the end we could see as someone said it was a 50-50 fault between Lewis and the team, hence his reactions and words after the race ... anyway some wisdom he has afterwards ...

3. But maybe the real question above all these is the following : is there any head member staff with race experience in this team?
Someone who can see the big picture?
Someone who can make the final call in the but most of all when there is no time to spare?
Paddy is CTO but was acting like team leader in Bahrain last year when were fighting but nowadays is not.
One person was Ross and now is Niky but I fear he has just an advisory role before and after the race and maybe it's time to have a word even in the race now.
And maybe it's Toto finally call after he was informed both by Nick and strategy guy ...

[PlatinumZealot]

I must say this race has got me surprised.

The penalty towards verstappen is harsh imho, but oddly enouh, it is conform the regulations, as in the end, Verstappen was behind and not aside grosjean, and thus responsible for causing a collision. Apart from that, I think there wasn't that much blame to be put as the truth is obvious too that Grosjean did brake earler than normal.

How did you come to this conclusion? haha. Do you have Grosjean's telemetry? because Grosjean Telemetry said he braked 5 meters later than the previous lap, which would be expected because he is defending against max.

[PlatinumZealot]

Not showing up for a picture is immature. Life goes on......Podium is still better than a DNF or no point-finish. So instead of thanking the team for at least supplying him with superb material the whole weekend, he slaps them in the face by not showing up? Good boi

I wonder what the contract negotiations were like with him. Whether it was all about money in the end. I acknowledge the fact he is a top driver, 2xWDC and does deserve a fair portion of wage. But as adding brand value for Mercedes, I don't think he does a lot. He's probably a good F1 promotor in the states, but not for Europe in general or for Mercedes. He's certainly not a "role model" for Mercedes customers.

Would Aryton Senna come out for a photo after that Royal Screw up?! Whould Alonso? Would Vettel? Hell naw!! I think you need to reevaluate the time gaps here. There is no possible way that any self respecting person would get over that in only an hour. Notice the Strategist is not in the photo either.

[WaikeCU]

Not showing up for a picture is immature. Life goes on......Podium is still better than a DNF or no point-finish. So instead of thanking the team for at least supplying him with superb material the whole weekend, he slaps them in the face by not showing up? Good boi

I wonder what the contract negotiations were like with him. Whether it was all about money in the end. I acknowledge the fact he is a top driver, 2xWDC and does deserve a fair portion of wage. But as adding brand value for Mercedes, I don't think he does a lot. He's probably a good F1 promotor in the states, but not for Europe in general or for Mercedes. He's certainly not a "role model" for Mercedes customers.

Would Aryton Senna come out for a photo after that Royal Screw up?! Whould Alonso? Would Vettel? Hell naw!! I think you need to reevaluate the time gaps here. There is no possible way that any self respecting person would get over that in only an hour. Notice the Strategist is not in the photo either.

Immature... Mate, please... How bout I say Senna was immature back in Monaco 1988. *sigh*

These are true sportsmen who are passionate for their sports, who thrive to give everything, absolute everything they have to pursue their dreams and simply won't accept anything else. It's what the true greats differs from winners. From Senna to Multi 21 to Monaco 2015. It's exactly why these drivers became what they are.

[PlatinumZealot]

Not showing up for a picture is immature. Life goes on......Podium is still better than a DNF or no point-finish. So instead of thanking the team for at least supplying him with superb material the whole weekend, he slaps them in the face by not showing up? Good boi

I wonder what the contract negotiations were like with him. Whether it was all about money in the end. I acknowledge the fact he is a top driver, 2xWDC and does deserve a fair portion of wage. But as adding brand value for Mercedes, I don't think he does a lot. He's probably a good F1 promotor in the states, but not for Europe in general or for Mercedes. He's certainly not a "role model" for Mercedes customers.

Would Aryton Senna come out for a photo after that Royal Screw up?! Whould Alonso? Would Vettel? Hell naw!! I think you need to reevaluate the time gaps here. There is no possible way that any self respecting person would get over that in only an hour. Notice the Strategist is not in the photo either.

Immature... Mate, please... How bout I say Senna was immature back in Monaco 1988. *sigh*

These are true sportsmen who are passionate for their sports, who thrive to give everything, absolute everything they have to pursue their dreams and simply won't accept anything else. It's what the true greats differs from winners. From Senna to Multi 21 to Monaco 2015. It's exactly why these drivers became what they are.

So you saying Hamilton should come out to take the photo, looking like a sorry mess then?

[evered7]

Would Aryton Senna come out for a photo after that Royal Screw up?! Whould Alonso? Would Vettel? Hell naw!! I think you need to reevaluate the time gaps here. There is no possible way that any self respecting person would get over that in only an hour. Notice the Strategist is not in the photo either.

Immature... Mate, please... How bout I say Senna was immature back in Monaco 1988. *sigh*

These are true sportsmen who are passionate for their sports, who thrive to give everything, absolute everything they have to pursue their dreams and simply won't accept anything else. It's what the true greats differs from winners. From Senna to Multi 21 to Monaco 2015. It's exactly why these drivers became what they are.

So you saying Hamilton should come out to take the photo, looking like a sorry mess then?

I think you and WaikeCU are on the same page with regards to Lewis. He probably quoted the wrong message to reply. He was replying to Mandrake if I am not wrong.

Anyway, hope Mercedes open up this option for both drivers. If you are upset, no need to show up for the photo.

[WaikeCU]

@PlatinumZealot
@evered7

Yeah I was actually replying to Mandrake. It's more like accentuating what PlatinumZealot is saying. I follow his view.