2015 Monaco Grand Prix - 21-24 May

[Phil]

People are going to hate me for reviving this (especially after it has finally died down), but hey, I was on holidays, so this is the first opportunity for me with an actual comfortable keyboard.

I love Monaco. Yes, I hate the outcome it once again managed to produced, I'm furious with Mercedes for stuffing up Hamiltons win, yes yes yes, but - ... I still love Monaco, even with all the drama it includes. There weren't many overtakes, so from that point of view, probably what only could be described as the most boring race on the calendar, but honestly, the GP once again had me nailed to the seat. I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing these cars driven at the limit through this narrow track. And all the while, at my seat in anticipation of if a driver will actually have the balls to attempt an (overtake) maneuver that 99/100 will probably result in a huge fireball and safety car that will throw the grid into chaos. The few laps leading up to Verstappen crashing into Grosjean were in that sense kinda predictable. I love it. Already looking forward to the next race in Monaco.

[Bomber_Pilot]

Yup, quite close

[PlatinumZealot]

Exactly, Kimi is at least a full car width to the right (drivers) of the normal racing line.

he can legitimately block or take defensive line, just like grosjeon did to max, it is the responsibility of the driver behind to not hit the driver in front.
Kimi did give a car's width and was turning into the corner

Nope. Nope.

This is my view on this.. someone can let me know If I am wrong.

In the "old days" of Formula 1 up to 2011 I think it was, the driver leading into the corner could just ignore everything else and continue on the racing line and if there was contact there was a good chance he will absolved of any blame. There was no systematic way to analysis those incidents, it was very open to interpretation who was right and who was wrong. However FIA fixed this by making more detailed rules for two or more cars going into a corner. The new rules emphasize that you initiate your defense before you commit to the corner. If you haven't done a good enough job of defending the corner by making sure the other guy did not get alongside you in the braking zone, you cannot block his passage to the apex and you must leave a cars width.

[Andres125sx]

http://i.imgur.com/AEsMw2p.png

Yup, quite close

Shot of the year! Specially if you´ve seen the incident and you know what was the speed difference between the two cars =D>

[mikeerfol]

never mind

[Manoah2u]

http://i.imgur.com/AEsMw2p.png

Yup, quite close

how on EARTH was that a miss

[Nathanael F1]

http://i.imgur.com/AEsMw2p.png

Yup, quite close

how on EARTH was that a miss

I'm pretty sure Sainz lost a bit of his FW endplate.

[George-Jung]

http://i.imgur.com/AEsMw2p.png

Yup, quite close

If you see this pic it is even more unbelievable that they didn't touch.. (did they?)

[Mr.G]

Wing is low, bottom crash structure is high and they are professional drivers

[Andres125sx]

http://i.imgur.com/AEsMw2p.png

Yup, quite close

If you see this pic it is even more unbelievable that they didn't touch.. (did they?)

Yes, they did. Look at Sainz´s left end-plate (or the little wing at that part, don´t know the name). It disapears


So it couldn´t be closer with the two cars still racing

[mikeerfol]

More radio between Hamilton and Mercedes.
http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-web ... cedes.html

[MOWOG]

In the Army, we always referred to such situations as a clusterf*ck.

It reminds me of the time when Casey Stengel went into the NY Mets clubhouse during a particularly difficult season and asked, "Is there anyone here who knows how to play this game?"

In general and absent extraordinary circumstances, the lead car stays out until the guys behind pit, then he comes in to mimic whatever they did. It's like sail boat racing. You always stay between the boats behind and the finish line. Always.

Looks like there is plenty of blame to go around, but given the number of people advising the team via data links all over the world, it is well nigh impossible to understand how this particular snafu occurred.

Anyway, Lewis is right. On to Canada. The past is past. Time to look forward.

[iotar__]

This one is still going on ? When you think about it wasn't that different to Hungary '14 when Rosberg lost the win and ended behind LH through bad luck of safety car (or two) and strategy. One difference was that it wasn't Hamilton's fault to start at the back but that doesn't affect strategy mistakes. It looks weird if you compare reactions.

I remember then it was funny for some that Rosberg was put in difficult/impossible to overtake situation (sign of inferiority) and Merc changed their mind about winning it all mid-race. From team's perspective it was even worse since they won Monaco and ended up only third there.

[komninosm]

I don't know what is the more likely option:

A
Mercedes' normally highly capable strategy experts get it so wrong under the most ideal (and least stressful) circumstances: their lead guy ~20s ahead of their guy in P2, and the closest competitor a few seconds behind that, on a circuit that is notorious for its lack of overtaking opportunities.
No real threats, car is superior, drivers are on top of their game, less than 10 laps to go, yet somehow they panic because of a fairly normal safety car situation, for which they must have had scenarios, as it is a frequent occurrence on this particular track. In fact, they panic so bad it costs their lead guy the win, and the team an assured double.

or

B
The whole thing was rigged for any number of reasons; stopping HAM from winning the title to soon, humoring the Monegasque royals, or betting odds, take your pick...

I cant go with option B, its ridiculous.

What's really ridiculous is that option A is almost as ludicrous as the conspiracy theories.
Also, sometimes, conspiracy theories turn out to be true.

[PlatinumZealot]

This dead horse thread should be un-stickied. So distracting at the top of the races page.