Starts the Monaco GP today, Thursday, , as you know, in the principality is always an anticipation of the Friday session to Thursday, leaving Friday free. This is a disadvantage, as they do not have all sessions in a row is more tricky to test things for the classification or career with more days of distance in which the conditions can change more. Though honestly, with characteristics so particular that it has the path, changes of setup sometimes have a negative consequence and premium stability to be able to roll and get some confidence…
two sessions free practice 1 and 2 have been quiet, we’ve only seen a few moments something more agitated. As for example the touch that has had Lance Stroll with his Williams in the second session of the free, impacting the barriers in the zone fast. The car has been pretty touched, so that will have to wait to see if the engineers need to change mechanical parts, as the straps of the suspension or the axles have been able to enter the engine and cause damage to anything mechanical. If you remember the accident of Alonso with Ferrari here, got that. A minimal touch, had terrible consequences.
Lance is under pressure and always makes performances mediocre (similar to what happens with Palmer), is always mixed up in problems, or presents a performance quite poor in comparison with Felipe Massa. It speaks enough of this, and we will see if there is low before the time of the car due to lack of results… I would certainly have candidates willing to fill them, our Roberto Mehri or Pastor Maldonado, who a few days ago recalled that he rejected a seat in F1 to go back this year. Who knows if he was referring to Williams? What is certain is that Stroll is not giving the size, and you can’t chalk up to that is newbie, since that other pilots rookies have done very well, and is not in a car as bad as to the results that you get. See the example of the pilot source from malaga, and French Esteban Ocon in the Force India, which is having performances very good in a car with a similar performance.
Okay, leaving this topic behind and returning to the session itself, we have seen that the Red bulls are in there, at least today. This can make things more interesting still. Since there will be three teams in the fight for the most high, along with Mercedes and Ferrari. Hamilton comes with a lot of desire and has stated that they will give everything to win to Vettel. We’ll see what happens in qualifying and race, although let’s remember that Ferrari seems to degrade less and Sebastian has an advantage in this regard. Another issue that matters to highlight are the Toro Rosso, who have also been competitive at least today, although sure that on Saturday things change and the Sunday also. It is unlikely, because of their lack, besides the engine, is also of chassis, and here you need a good chassis. There will be wishing you luck to Carlos to see what you get.
Results of the free 1
Position | Pilot | Time | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’13″425 |
2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’13″621 |
3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’13″771 |
4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’13″791 |
5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’13″854 |
6 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1’14″111 |
7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1’14″164 |
8 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1’14″201 |
9 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso | 1’14″333 |
10 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1’14″425 |
11 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’14″617 |
12 | Stofel Vandoorne | McLaren-Honda | 1’14″813 |
13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1’14″870 |
14 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’14″954 |
15 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’15″321 |
16 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1’15″595 |
17 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1’15″949 |
18 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1’16″258 |
19 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | — |
20 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | — |
Results of the free 2
Position | Pilot | Time | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’12″720 |
2 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’13″207 |
3 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1’13″283 |
4 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1’13″331 |
5 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso | 1’13″400 |
6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’13″486 |
7 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1’13″79 |
8 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’13″873 |
9 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1’13″890 |
10 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’13″902 |
11 | Stoffel Vandooner | McLaren-Honda | 1’13″946 |
12 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’13″981 |
13 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’14″003 |
14 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’14″022 |
15 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1’14″093 |
16 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1’14″474 |
17 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1’14″870 |
18 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1’15″616 |
19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1’15″691 |
20 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1’15″695 |
And I end up remembering another issue that has been seen in free practice, and is that Button, despite having been retired these races and only have tested in the simulator in Woking, has come the first day, jumped into the car and is near or above Stoffel Vandoorne. This, if you do not change in qualifying and race would leave the performance of Vandoorne highly questioned, although it has been shown in other categories which is a great rider. Rumor had it that Jenson Button could return in 2018 as a pilot officer, and many indicated that it was to replace Alonso, but who knows if it is to replace Vandoorne. Although they are only rumors, so it seems that sI seems fixed is that McLaren will continue with Honda. In some of these websites welcome a possible partnership McLaren-Mercedes once again and believe that it is the best solution, but honestly it is a sovereign stupidity, because Mercedes has official team on the grid and never give him a engine to beat them. Another thing would be if Mercedes was merely a supplier…
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