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F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: Willy on May 23, 2021, 06:05:11 PM

Title: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: Willy on May 23, 2021, 06:05:11 PM
Hero's
Max. 
He took the lead and never relinquished it. Smart, focused driving. Well done.

Lando. 
Well raced on tires that he said were crap.

Carlos. 
He has figured out the Ferrari now and is getting better and better.

Zero's
Ferrari. 
Take the grid penalty and check out Leclerc's gearbox properly. The resulting action failed Charles in his home GP.  By home, I mean he was born there and didn't just move there as a tax dodge like the rest of the 1%'s, so it is very important to him.

The TV Director. 
Not once, but twice he cut to a slo-mo replay from on-track action that was just about to happen.  Idiot!

Merc.
Bottas wheel nut.  Could have happened to anyone at any time but I bet Bottas has a word or two to say. Would have been interesting to let us hear that dialogue.

Monaco GP.
I have had a love-hate relationship with the Monaco GP since I 1st watched a race there in the '60s.  At that time it was the only race that was broadcast here in Canada. In fact, I had no idea there were even other races to see as they were not shown on TV here.  It became the one I eagerly awaited to see each year until the entire calendar started to be broadcast as SpeedTV in the USA looked to fill their time slots. Then I discovered amazing tracks like Spa and Monza. Imagine my surprise and pleasure to be able to experience tracks where passing and high speeds were the norm.
Monaco is a procession and it is all decided in Quali on Saturday. Unless there are issues the lead does not change very often, if at all. 
A bit of a snoozefest I feel.


Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: Dare on May 23, 2021, 09:19:54 PM
A zero to F1TV fans that voted Vettel as best drive
over Perez even though Sergio beat him by near 30 seconds.

I love the track but boy is it a boring race

A big hero for Vettel for showing he can beat Lance at
least once this year.
Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: rmassart on May 24, 2021, 06:15:28 AM
Heros

Were there any? I mean every one did what was expected of them, and pretty much ended up where they started. Perez and Vettel moved up a few places due to pit stops, so well done to them. But no one stood out for me, not that I would have noticed as I had trouble staying interested in the "action" on track.

I suppose, also well done Verstappen for a flawless race and flipping the championship on it's head. It will certainly ensure it keeps things interesting for longer.

Zeros

Mercedes, for once. Bottas probably just bad luck, but how often does that happen? And I felt they messed up Hamilton pit stop strategy, although hard to tell without all the data.

Hamilton, seemed to be not quite with it this weekend. Don't know if he was on a "special" lap when qualifying got stopped, but he never quite seemed to be there this weekend.
Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: Alianora La Canta on May 24, 2021, 09:28:37 AM
Changing the gearbox wouldn't have helped - the part that failed was the left driveshaft (the opposite end to the one that had the heaviest impact), and apparently the on-site checks available did not pick up the problem. (There has been one mangled interview that implied checks were not done, but my Italian friends confirmed the driveshaft had had those checks possible on-site). Bear in mind that replacing a driveshaft in parc fermé without proof of damage is an automatic pitlane start, which from prior experience was as good as a DNF.

I want to make Leclerc both hero and zero at the same time - for the pole lap and the crash respectively. Perhaps I should hit him with the hero medal? (Supporting him is never boring, let me tell you...)

I have to admit that I was freezing during most of the race and thus don't remember a lot of it. I'll try to give heroes and zeroes anyway:

Heroes:

Verstappen - beautiful lights-to-flag conversion.

Vettel - car looked good for 7th, stole 5th due to canny pitstop strategy and a fantastic outlap.

Gasly - even with this being Monaco, keeping Hamilton behind with a car that much slower is an impressive feat.

Honourary mention: Perez for trying to make something happen regarding the podium places.

Zeroes:

Bottas' wheelnut - which is such an overdramatic object that it is having to be removed at the Mercedes factory. The team literally doesn't have anything on-site capable of removing it.

The entire paddock - for deciding COVID bubbles no longer matter and breaching them left, right and centre. Add to this that written media are now allowed in the paddock and this is a recipe for getting more COVID cases in a paddock that already had many last year.

Haas - 2 laps behind the next car at the end of the race. They are really in a bad place.

Dishonourable mention: Netflix. For inflicting the Netflix curse on Ferrari (logic be cursed, there's a standing joke that if Netflix is recording your team's race for Drive To Survive, it's going to go worse than usual in some way. They have 2/3 strike rate for Ferrari, 1/2 for Mercedes and I think 1/1 for Racing Point, not counting their effect on other teams. Though Bahrain 2020 should not be counted for Haas because formal "Haas recording episode" was earlier in the year).
Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: Monty on May 24, 2021, 01:41:44 PM
Boring procession (as expected) made even worse by LeClerc's crash in Q3 robbing us of a potential fight for pole from Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen.
From this comes my first Zero - Verstappen. For his four letter, foul mouthed tirade when his attempt for pole was thwarted by the crash. Then worsened by yet another first corner 'chop' in the race. I sat the whole race hoping he would 'put it in the wall!'

Mercedes must also be covered in the Zero column. What on earth made them think that Hamilton would be able to do a fast lap on hard tyres while his competition were still out on viable softer tyres. Track position is everything and they should have waited for Gasly to pit and then allowed Hamilton to do a 'hammer time' lap on his soft tyres before pitting.

Norris is the only one that gets my Hero vote. Drove brilliantly all weekend.

A positive word for the new mature Hamilton. He was obviously 'displeased' by missing a chance to improve during Q3 and then by a very bad pit strategy but; no swearing, no blaming the team, just a mature - 'we will discuss it later and learn from our mistakes'.
Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: cosworth151 on May 24, 2021, 01:58:24 PM
I have mixed feelings about Monaco, too. Back in the 60's, we got filmed highlights of F1 (and NASCAR, USAC & others) on Wide World of Sports. If there was a single moment that made me an F1 fan, it was that on-board shot early in the movie Grand Prix. Getting a driver's eye view going through Station (now Grand Hotel) spread across that huge, curved screen was breathtaking.

Heros:

Norris - He was my pick for Driver of the Day. Perez finished one place higher,, but he had a much better car.

Schumacher - About the only real overtake of the race. He got around Masepin going through Grand Hotel on the first lap. He also was in 14th during FP3 when he wrote of the car.

Vettel - OK, I've always liked him. I hope the old Seb is back. I guess we'll find out is two weeks at Baku.

Zeroes:

Bottas's luck - There was a song they used to sing on Hee Haw that had the line, "If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all."

Biggest surprise of the day - My GG score!  :swoon:  It was the first time I wore my brand new Haas shirt. Maybe it's lucky.
Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: cosworth151 on May 25, 2021, 06:27:27 PM
They shipped Bottas's car back home with the offending wheel nut still on the axle!

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula-1/a36522368/a-day-later-that-broken-wheel-nut-was-still-stuck-on-valtteri-bottass-f1-car/

Here's a picture of the stripped nut with a good one for comparison. I had no idea they used fins to grab them:
Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: Alianora La Canta on May 27, 2021, 06:04:03 PM
Even the Ferrari mechanics hitting it with a sledgehammer didn't work. Seriously.

The Mercedes team don't carry a sledgehammer in their kit but Ferrari do, so some Ferrari mechanics (probably Leclerc's mechanics as they'd have appreciated being able to take out their frustrations on something) turned up with the team sledgehammer.

Unfortunately, the wheelnut could only be removed when it was back at the Mercedes factory, at 9:59 am on Tuesday. This means Bottas had a pit stop of 1 day, 19 hours and 4 minutes...
Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: lkjohnson1950 on May 27, 2021, 06:10:43 PM
A team of engineers will work 24/7 redesigning the wheel nut before the next GP.
Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: Alianora La Canta on May 27, 2021, 06:11:51 PM
A team of engineers will work 24/7 redesigning the wheel nut before the next GP.

Unlikely, given Mercedes pulled out of an 18-inch tyre test this week due to budget cap problems...
Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: John S on May 27, 2021, 07:46:23 PM
A team of engineers will work 24/7 redesigning the wheel nut before the next GP.

Unlikely, given Mercedes pulled out of an 18-inch tyre test this week due to budget cap problems...

Let's hope Red Bull don't feel the need to protest Merc front wings in Baku, the possible expense of modifying them might be an embarrassment for Brackley.  :D

Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: Jericoke on May 28, 2021, 01:33:53 PM
Unfortunately, the wheelnut could only be removed when it was back at the Mercedes factory, at 9:59 am on Tuesday. This means Bottas had a pit stop of 1 day, 19 hours and 4 minutes...

When Bottas's stop didn't run quickly, but before they gave up, I joked with my kids they're going to measure the pitstop with a calendar instead of a stopwatch.
Title: Re: 2021 Monaco GP Hero's & Zero's
Post by: Alianora La Canta on May 28, 2021, 11:17:17 PM
Looks like you were right  :DD
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