The 2009 Monaco Grand Prix Thread
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mlittle
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BUTTON WINS!
5 wins for the Brit this year; Barrichello finishes 2nd, cementing another great weekend for the Brawn GP team.......
5 wins for the Brit this year; Barrichello finishes 2nd, cementing another great weekend for the Brawn GP team.......
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance. 
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere....
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere....
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mlittle
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You know, its' kinda' funny.......remember the proposal the FIA tried to make on how to determine the drivers' championship by counting wins rather than overall points?
Well, if they had done that this year.....Button would not only have a huge advantage over his rivals, but could conceivably have clinched the title later on in the season with a couple of races to spare, a/la Schumacher a few yrs. back........
Well, if they had done that this year.....Button would not only have a huge advantage over his rivals, but could conceivably have clinched the title later on in the season with a couple of races to spare, a/la Schumacher a few yrs. back........
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance.
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere....
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere....
Congratulations to Jenson Button for another impressive drive. He delivered at the right times and built up a good gap. Rubens Barrichello managed to finish second but was clearly less competitive than Button on this track. He struggled on the super softs and that is what put him so far back.
It was suprising to see Kimi Raikkonen drop a place at the start despite having the KERS. Had he managed to keep second or even get ahead of Button, the results may have been different.
Felipe Massa fought hard and managed to get into 4th. It was a good drive from him.
Mark Webber finished 5th and at times lapping as quick as the front runners. One wonders if he had a slightly different strategy what the result would have been.
Nico Rosberg finished 6th which is where he qualified. Good to see the Williams still close to the front.
Fernando Alonso managed 7th moving from 9th where he qualified. Looking at the quick laptimes he set during the latter parts of the race, his strategy wasn't the right one as he could have finished higher.
Well done to Sebastien Bourdais for finishing 8th. That would take a bit of pressure of him.
Lewis Hamilton who looked strong all weekend until crashing out in qualifying started in 19th and finished in 12th. Taking the retirements into account, he only move up 1 place which is dissapointing. Starting him on a relatively light fuel load in the hope he could make up places at the start was the wrong call. Had they fuelled him up like those around him, he would have finished higher. Glock who started from the pits finished 10th on a single stop.
As is usually the case, a few drivers end up crashing into the barriers, and this year it was no different with Vettel, Kovalainen and Nakajima all crashing out while Buemi ran into the back of Piquet forcing both to retire.
Your thoughts and the driver of the day ?
It was suprising to see Kimi Raikkonen drop a place at the start despite having the KERS. Had he managed to keep second or even get ahead of Button, the results may have been different.
Felipe Massa fought hard and managed to get into 4th. It was a good drive from him.
Mark Webber finished 5th and at times lapping as quick as the front runners. One wonders if he had a slightly different strategy what the result would have been.
Nico Rosberg finished 6th which is where he qualified. Good to see the Williams still close to the front.
Fernando Alonso managed 7th moving from 9th where he qualified. Looking at the quick laptimes he set during the latter parts of the race, his strategy wasn't the right one as he could have finished higher.
Well done to Sebastien Bourdais for finishing 8th. That would take a bit of pressure of him.
Lewis Hamilton who looked strong all weekend until crashing out in qualifying started in 19th and finished in 12th. Taking the retirements into account, he only move up 1 place which is dissapointing. Starting him on a relatively light fuel load in the hope he could make up places at the start was the wrong call. Had they fuelled him up like those around him, he would have finished higher. Glock who started from the pits finished 10th on a single stop.
As is usually the case, a few drivers end up crashing into the barriers, and this year it was no different with Vettel, Kovalainen and Nakajima all crashing out while Buemi ran into the back of Piquet forcing both to retire.
Your thoughts and the driver of the day ?
Last edited by Ed on Mon May 25, 2009 12:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
I guess then we are glad that it was stopped. We have 17 races and at this rate Button could have won the championship by race 9 or 10!mlittle wrote:You know, its' kinda' funny.......remember the proposal the FIA tried to make on how to determine the drivers' championship by counting wins rather than overall points?
Well, if they had done that this year.....Button would not only have a huge advantage over his rivals, but could conceivably have clinched the title later on in the season with a couple of races to spare, a/la Schumacher a few yrs. back........
At any rate it looks like Button is set to win it but lets hope Red Bull, Ferrari, Renault and McLaren can catch them.
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F1greyhound
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Great drives from the top finishers, a typical dry Monaco with close to none overtaking opportunities. Some exciting close driving though. FELIPE and NICO were particularly aggressive without making a major error.
JENSON(the logical driver of the day) is getting what he long deserved and I think RUBENS finally got the idea he cant beat him - and thats not about team tactics!
FERRARI are definitely back as is KIMI!
JENSON(the logical driver of the day) is getting what he long deserved and I think RUBENS finally got the idea he cant beat him - and thats not about team tactics!
FERRARI are definitely back as is KIMI!
YOURS IN SPORT
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JayVee
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I voted for Button (just to keep F1greyhound happy)
No, seriously, what is it now, 5 wins from 6 starts, okay maybe not Barcelona but all his other wins were well deserved and this one was too. Well done (even though it is getting a bit boring)
Barrichello proved this time that second place was the best he could do as he couldn't manage his tyres.
I am really unhappy about Alonso's result. He was stuck first behind Raikkonen and then behind Fisichella. I know it is easy to criticise but don't they have the best software and all the data to know when others will pit. With Vettel holding up everyone, he was in a perfect position to jump many places as he was going longest. Maybe he was just unlucky but a second in each case would have meant finishing 4th or 5th. Oh well, at least he was quick when he had clear air and that is comforting.
Raikkonen was dissapointing, he first stuffed his start, then I cannot understand how he couldn't pass Barrichello as he was much faster than him
Massa and Webber impressed me
Felt sorry for Piquet, if he doesn't stuff things up himself, someone else will
2 teams are better not mentioning
Oh and what do Vettel, Kovalainen, Hamilton, Buemi and Nakajima have in common ?
(just to keep F1greyhound happy)No, seriously, what is it now, 5 wins from 6 starts, okay maybe not Barcelona but all his other wins were well deserved and this one was too. Well done (even though it is getting a bit boring)
Barrichello proved this time that second place was the best he could do as he couldn't manage his tyres.
I am really unhappy about Alonso's result. He was stuck first behind Raikkonen and then behind Fisichella. I know it is easy to criticise but don't they have the best software and all the data to know when others will pit. With Vettel holding up everyone, he was in a perfect position to jump many places as he was going longest. Maybe he was just unlucky but a second in each case would have meant finishing 4th or 5th. Oh well, at least he was quick when he had clear air and that is comforting.
Raikkonen was dissapointing, he first stuffed his start, then I cannot understand how he couldn't pass Barrichello as he was much faster than him
Massa and Webber impressed me
Felt sorry for Piquet, if he doesn't stuff things up himself, someone else will
2 teams are better not mentioning
Oh and what do Vettel, Kovalainen, Hamilton, Buemi and Nakajima have in common ?
I'm back and yes supporting Alonso "The Cute" in the Ferrari!
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F1greyhound
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Jayvee, thank you oh so much
In fact FERNANDO did a perfect job as ever, unfortunately these guys are rarely seen on the TV during the races and 7th place just doesnt sound great....
I think the whole top 10 drove extremely well but none could achieve more with the Monaco characteristics. A pity FELIPE couldnt start at the front, would have been a mighty battle with JENSON...
How TOYOTA and BMW dont get their act together at the moment is a mystery......after all ROBERT would have gone close in Melbourne, NICK managed 2nd in Sepang and the TOYOTAs were rigt up there for the first 4 GP including their Bahrain front row...
Istanbul should be FELIPE territory!
In fact FERNANDO did a perfect job as ever, unfortunately these guys are rarely seen on the TV during the races and 7th place just doesnt sound great....
I think the whole top 10 drove extremely well but none could achieve more with the Monaco characteristics. A pity FELIPE couldnt start at the front, would have been a mighty battle with JENSON...
How TOYOTA and BMW dont get their act together at the moment is a mystery......after all ROBERT would have gone close in Melbourne, NICK managed 2nd in Sepang and the TOYOTAs were rigt up there for the first 4 GP including their Bahrain front row...
Istanbul should be FELIPE territory!
YOURS IN SPORT
I agree with Ed's assessment of my favorite race, Monaco!
Jenson Button drove smart, made no mistakes, and took the day, but doing so in a dominant car means he did what was expected so, he is not my DOTD.
Sebastian Bourdais deserves DOTD since he passed the most people to get into the points despite all of the recent speculation about his future in Formula 1. Having said that, the driver I am voting for Driver Of The Day is Felipe Massa who drove most aggressively without mistakes and would have had an even more interesting result if he were on the front or second row after qualifying. He drove slightly better than Kimi Raikkonen, who was also impressive. Glad to see Ferrari on form again especially at Monaco.
I was very disappointed to see Sebastien Vettel crash out. His youth was showing on the street of the Principality. I was also disappointed Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton aren't in better cars. Both drove their hearts out for a "whatever" result. How much fun would this race have been with a more competitive Alonso, Hamilton, Heidfeld and Kubica?
Heikki Kovalainen was a major disappointment with his solo crash out. This was his chance to sort of serve notice on his teammate that he may be a threat. He proved the opposite.
Finally, I was happy for the Force India team. Giancarlo Fisichella gets my Ironman award for his great effort. He just missed scoring a point. I was impressed with the performance of Kazumi Nakajima until his solo crash out, and once again mystified by Nelsinho Piquet's lambasting of the other young drivers' performances. Perhaps his comment to the press might have made sense if he had been crashed out of a top 3 result, but he was like in 80th place when Sebastien Buemi rammed him out of the race. I don't get that guy. He seems to have the same controversial mouth as his dad without any of the smarts or skills.
Overall it was a little boring, but it was the first race of the season I actually saw, so I ain't complainin' 'bout that!!!
Cheers!!
Jenson Button drove smart, made no mistakes, and took the day, but doing so in a dominant car means he did what was expected so, he is not my DOTD.
Sebastian Bourdais deserves DOTD since he passed the most people to get into the points despite all of the recent speculation about his future in Formula 1. Having said that, the driver I am voting for Driver Of The Day is Felipe Massa who drove most aggressively without mistakes and would have had an even more interesting result if he were on the front or second row after qualifying. He drove slightly better than Kimi Raikkonen, who was also impressive. Glad to see Ferrari on form again especially at Monaco.
I was very disappointed to see Sebastien Vettel crash out. His youth was showing on the street of the Principality. I was also disappointed Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton aren't in better cars. Both drove their hearts out for a "whatever" result. How much fun would this race have been with a more competitive Alonso, Hamilton, Heidfeld and Kubica?
Heikki Kovalainen was a major disappointment with his solo crash out. This was his chance to sort of serve notice on his teammate that he may be a threat. He proved the opposite.
Finally, I was happy for the Force India team. Giancarlo Fisichella gets my Ironman award for his great effort. He just missed scoring a point. I was impressed with the performance of Kazumi Nakajima until his solo crash out, and once again mystified by Nelsinho Piquet's lambasting of the other young drivers' performances. Perhaps his comment to the press might have made sense if he had been crashed out of a top 3 result, but he was like in 80th place when Sebastien Buemi rammed him out of the race. I don't get that guy. He seems to have the same controversial mouth as his dad without any of the smarts or skills.
Overall it was a little boring, but it was the first race of the season I actually saw, so I ain't complainin' 'bout that!!!
Cheers!!
Christoforo
You're not getting old, the music just sucks!!
Fernando Alonso is currently the best... Period!!!
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(_!_) Inclined to get behind!!!
You're not getting old, the music just sucks!!
Fernando Alonso is currently the best... Period!!!
-)_ (-
(_!_) Inclined to get behind!!!
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Julian Mayo
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It was pointed out to me at Melbourne that, forget double diffusers, the front end of the Brawns were the difference. They were on rails there, and were at Monaco. The difference was remarkable thru the chicanes, those things just turn in so well, then get the power down so much earlier. They were so much easier to drive, than any car out there. Would love to see Sutil in one.
Massa got my DOTD, his thing was evil compared to Kimi's, and to watch him brushing the walls was heroic stuff, a la Denny Hulme.Professional jobs from the usual suspects got them as high as they were.
Those who crashed out in single car accidents exhibited the flaws in their techniques. Monaco does not forgive.
Roll on Turkey.
Massa got my DOTD, his thing was evil compared to Kimi's, and to watch him brushing the walls was heroic stuff, a la Denny Hulme.Professional jobs from the usual suspects got them as high as they were.
Those who crashed out in single car accidents exhibited the flaws in their techniques. Monaco does not forgive.
Roll on Turkey.
The Mountain is a savage Mistress.
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JayVee
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I agree that Massa should have TurkeyF1greyhound wrote:Jayvee, thank you oh so much
In fact FERNANDO did a perfect job as ever, unfortunately these guys are rarely seen on the TV during the races and 7th place just doesnt sound great....
I think the whole top 10 drove extremely well but none could achieve more with the Monaco characteristics. A pity FELIPE couldnt start at the front, would have been a mighty battle with JENSON...
How TOYOTA and BMW dont get their act together at the moment is a mystery......after all ROBERT would have gone close in Melbourne, NICK managed 2nd in Sepang and the TOYOTAs were rigt up there for the first 4 GP including their Bahrain front row...
Istanbul should be FELIPE territory!
I'm back and yes supporting Alonso "The Cute" in the Ferrari!