Monaco GP 2011 - Monte Carlo

[Gerhard Berger]

Man of the race in my opinion apart from Vettel who managed to fend of competitors was clearly Alonso. He started behind Button yet managed to end the race in front of him.

Alonos drove a good race - got the max out of his car IMO which was slightly inferior to the RB and Mclaren.

However, he was mainly able to jump Button because of the safety car, and Mclarens strange strategy. Ferrari got the strategy spot on today and their pitstops were also good.

[wesley123]

No that´s not how overtaking works. When you on the inside line you brake EARLIER.
Why? Well because your first of all on the marbles, second of all your radius of taking the corner is MUCH narrower.

Okay explain how overtaking works then, I always thought it was the case of outbraking another, I do not even see another way to overtake in a corner apart from outbraking.

This is not point in arguing. For me he clearly missed his braking point and took advantage of Kamui´s quick reactions to not have a collision.

To even say that it was "clean" is laughable.

No he did not, He clearly was in the position of overtaking. If he missed the braking point and wasnt planning a move, what is he doing there way off line then?

[Gerhard Berger]

It was pretty clear Hamilton was, at least 3/4 down the car lengths of Maldonado, he should have seen him and gave Hamilton the space. No way this is Hamilton's fault, what else cxould hamilton do then? He could cut the corner -> penalty. He could also slam the brakes and take both of them out.

This was rally one of Hamilton's most unlucky weekends ever, he could go for pole in qualifying which chance was destroyed by Perez' crash. Then in the race he gets a penalty and gets involved in Carnage multiple times. I personally found the penalty a bit awkward, imo Hamilton would have never hit Massa there if Webber wasnt been there. Massa reacted on Webber, which was pretty close in contact, where Massa had to turn in a little bit more, which caused the contact.

Hamilton's car was about 1/4 the length down Maldonado, hence his front wheel Maldonado's rear wheel.

If he slammed on the brakes he would have avoided contact altogether, and if he cut the corner without gaining a place he probably wouldn't have got a penalty.

If Hamilton slammed the brakes here he would have just slid forward into Maldonado, making it much worse. There was a lot of debris off racing line, so there barely was grip there, and certainly not enough to make a quick stop to avoid contact. 1/4 or 3/4 carlength doesnt matter that much, Maldonado should have given more space to Hamilton.

Brakes stop the car. They don't make you slide into people. He hit Maldonado anyway so don't know how it would be "much worse".

Maldonado couldn't give more space otherwise he would have gone off line (onto the marbles) and slid into the barriers.

If Hamilton wants to make a pass in that corner, he needs to be side by side with the driver he's passing.

[andartop]

Anyway, it is awkward to see how safetycars and such things always seem to be working negatively for McLaren. Button simply drove great today, and if there wasnt this stupid rule that you are allowed to change tires in a red flag Button would have a big shot at victory here.

Funny you should think of it that way, as I can recall quite a few occasions where safety cars didn't work out well for pretty much every other team on the grid.
Button did a solid job, but Vettel and Alonso did it even better.
Rules are rules. Some make sense under some particular circumstances, some don't. Guess it would have been kinda risky having them restart after 15-20min sitting still on the grid using the same worn out tires.

[HampusA]

You can´t outbrake another person because the guy on the outside will try to outbreak you which he can because his radius into the corner is much bigger.
Outside guy is on the limit of taken the corner.

Inside guy on marbles and smaller radius can impossibly brake at the same place as the outside guy and expect to take the corner as normal.
That´s A O in overtaking.

He missed his braking point and got lucky that Kamui noticed it.
I personally would have turned right into Webber.

[i70q7m7ghw]

Terrible race. We were robbed of a great race by stupid regulations. Red Bull made nothing but mistakes today and won the race, Button drove a faultless race and recieved the biggest penalty from the safety cars. Alonso was probably my driver of the day, he 100% deserved the victory over Vettel.

[Tozza Mazza]

Great race, great drives. Not so sure Vettel really deserved the win, and the changes under red flag rule needs to be changed, but still, a race that will no doubt be remembered for quite a while.

[i70q7m7ghw]

Great race, great drives. Not so sure Vettel really deserved the win, and the changes under red flag rule needs to be changed, but still, a race that will no doubt be remembered for quite a while.

Why?

[Tozza Mazza]

Vettel was gonna hit the cliff. Therefore he would probably have finished behind alonso and maybe button. The race will be remembered by the 3 cars going nose to tail around the tight twisty streets of monaco, all gunning for the win. If it hadn't of been ruined by the safety car, it would be a classic, no doubt. The rule needs to be changed because it ruined the way the race was going.

[i70q7m7ghw]

So your wrong. The race will be remembered for almost being a classic. It'll be remembered for the finish it never had.

[FrukostScones]

Great race, great drives. Not so sure Vettel really deserved the win, and the changes under red flag rule needs to be changed, but still, a race that will no doubt be remembered for quite a while.

Why?

because it had the wrong winner!
Nice race today, would have preferred a Button or Alonso win. Nice discussions as well, now its time for a pizza and some fresh air and sunshine. And some HAM driving through the city in my 50hp car.

[Tozza Mazza]

Any thoughts on Hamilton calling the stewards racist. Not sure if he was joking too. He needs to control what he says.

[andartop]

I don't think any rule needs to be changed. They simply should have ended the race when the red flag came out with 72 out of 78 laps completed.

[Fil]

HampusA, here mate, Martin Brundle will explain to you what you're complaining that Mark did (skip to 4m50).
It's an age-old racing tactic that is completely accepted & utilised in virtually every race.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sxg39qP ... be&t=4m50s[/youtube]

Webber hung Kobayashi out to dry, and forced him to miss the chicane. A completely legal maneuver.


If you can't accept this, i'm sorry. I have nothing more to add to this fruitless discussion.

[Tozza Mazza]

and yes, the race had the wrong winner. Today proved to me that Vettel is only so dominant because of the tyres, and that the top 4 drivers on the grid are Alonso, Button, Hamilton and Kobayashi, in no particular order.

Don't get me.