The 2006 Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix

[Jim Watt]

I am checking in late to vote for driver of the day because I was busy watching the 500. A race that featured terrific driving, excellent strategies and plenty of over taking. the pole sitter won at Indy, too, although that's the only thing similar to the Monte Carlo Concours d'elephunts. Sam actually had to race to win.

After viewing the tape of Monaco, I was surprised to see so few votes for Driver of the Day going to Mark Webber. Surely his was the most exciting performance! He was driving a much less powerful machine but, unlike several of the others on the track, he made NO MISTAKES at all. Unless you call signing with Williams a mistake.

I was gratified, of course, to see Bernie and Max take my excellent advice and put Michael at the back. But they ruined things by penalizing poor old Fisi.

I had to chuckle, though, at Fisi's remarks about how, since he was forced to start ninth he couldn't be expected to do any better than 6th. After being passed by Michael. Who started twenty-second and finished 5th.

Monty did his best and ended up looking not too bad. I just wish there had been a few more laps; I would have loved to have seen Rubens trying to block Michael.

So. My vote goes to Mark Webber. I may end up eating my words about the tall slender chap.

Too bad about Nico, though. Ah well, he's young yet.

You guys should have seen Marco Andretti (another kid; he's only 19 -- and he came within a couple of yards of winning Indy!

Cheers,

Jim Watt

[Julian Mayo]

Apart from his team selection,MW did make one mistake

[Andre_Brasil]

Imagine you were part of a team and your teammate got penalised (wrongly?, too hard?), would you have obstructed him even if he was faster? And would that have been clever in any way?

Well, IMHO:

JPM would not let KR get through and vice-versa
FA would not let GF get through and vice-versa
RS would not let JT get through and vice-versa
DC would not let CK get through and vice-versa
VL would not let SS get through and vice-versa

TM would definitely not let CA get through and vice-versa

MW would not let NR get through and maybe Nico would let him as he is a rookie.

JB would not let RB get through, but RB is so used to Ferrari's hierarchy schema that he would probably be a gentleman

The fact that Massa arrived so far from MS is related to the time it took him to pass the Super-Aguris and the MF1s (which in fact were so against the punishment that let MS overtake without any delays).

Just a disclaimer: I think MS is probably still the best driver around and given the same car he will be better than his team mate. That said, I also think it is a shame that he doesn't need to compete with his team mate. He would still be 7 times World Champion, but he would have less victories and we would have a little bit more of excitement during the race.

Well, maybe 6, if that one that he pushed Damon Hill out of the race was given to the one that really deserved.

[Andre_Brasil]

After viewing the tape of Monaco, I was surprised to see so few votes for Driver of the Day going to Mark Webber. Surely his was the most exciting performance! He was driving a much less powerful machine but, unlike several of the others on the track, he made NO MISTAKES at all. Unless you call signing with Williams a mistake.

I read somewhere that the Cosworth motor was the most powerful of them all...

And in fact MW lost a place to KR because of a mistake at Rascasse, but he surely deserved the 3rd place

[Andre_Brasil]

I had to chuckle, though, at Fisi's remarks about how, since he was forced to start ninth he couldn't be expected to do any better than 6th. After being passed by Michael. Who started twenty-second and finished 5th.

Apart the fact that his car was great, he drove perfectly, had the courtesy of Massa and the Super-Aguris, Michael was extremely lucky (he and Alonso are the anti-Chris Amon. KR on the other hand is his heir!).

The one-stop strategy + the safety car at the precise moment gave him a lot of points.

And Alonso was also kind to let MS unlap him (obviously trying to help Fisichella).

Coming back to the Rascasse event on Saturday, had MS turned left when he "lost the car" and he could have won the race honestly.

[Andre_Brasil]

And in fact MW lost a place to KR because of a mistake at Rascasse, but he surely deserved the 3rd place

St Devote, not Rascasse, sorry

[Julian Mayo]

And in fact MW lost a place to KR because of a mistake at Rascasse, but he surely deserved the 3rd place

St Devote, not Rascasse, sorry

Rascasse is on a lot of peoples' minds.......something to do with a rascal perhaps

[RE30B#16]

Alonso wins a thrilling race in Monaco. It looked easy for him but had Raikkonen and Webber not retired, we would have had a fight until the end.

No we wouldn't have! Alonso was in Senna-like full control of that race! The best Kimi could've hoped for was a mistake or a retirement which didn't happen [except to him!].

Alonso is the man to beat in F1 now!

I feel bad for Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli who both looked set for a third place finish until the Williams and Toyota let them down. Webber actually looked to me like his was going to challenge Raikonnen until the gremlins got him.

JPM has been racing smart, staying out of trouble, and letting races come back to him, which generally is not his style. Two thumbs up for a canny 2nd place finish to one up his snake bitten teammate.

I have never been a big David Coulthard fan, but a huge thumbs up to DC for capitalizing on a track where the playing field favors good drivers in off pace cars. He gets my second best drive of the day behind Senor Alonso.

Rubens, Michael and Fisico [who takes more flak on this forum than he deserves] get the consistency awards for scoring points nearly every race. Rubens should have taken third, and MS gets my third best drive of the day for doing it from the pit lane. Fisico made a slight mistake, but held on to take the historical last point.

Thumbs up to Heidfeld for fighting the good fight for Sauber-BMW. If he were in a decent ride, he would be fierce. Ron Dennis blew it by listening to the hype and puting Raikonnen into that car instead of Heidfeld.

And then there's Ralf [sung to the "Maude" tv theme]! Right on, Ralf!! Hang in there, baby!

I love the Monaco Grand Prix! I love it, I love it, I love it!!!! I love winning on it with my Playstation. I love watching it. 'Pretendin' at its high cotton best' as Keith Jackson once said about it. It makes me miss Senna, Villeneuve [the baby daddy!], Pironi, Stewart, Scheckter, Lauda and Watson.

[Julian Mayo]

Alonso wins a thrilling race in Monaco. It looked easy for him but had Raikkonen and Webber not retired, we would have had a fight until the end.

No we wouldn't have! Alonso was in Senna-like full control of that race! The best Kimi could've hoped for was a mistake or a retirement which didn't happen [except to him!].

Alonso is the man to beat in F1 now!

I feel bad for Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli who both looked set for a third place finish until the Williams and Toyota let them down. Webber actually looked to me like his was going to challenge Raikonnen until the gremlins got him.

JPM has been racing smart, staying out of trouble, and letting races come back to him, which generally is not his style. Two thumbs up for a canny 2nd place finish to one up his snake bitten teammate.

I have never been a big David Coulthard fan, but a huge thumbs up to DC for capitalizing on a track where the playing field favors good drivers in off pace cars. He gets my second best drive of the day behind Senor Alonso.

Rubens, Michael and Fisico [who takes more flak on this forum than he deserves] get the consistency awards for scoring points nearly every race. Rubens should have taken third, and MS gets my third best drive of the day for doing it from the pit lane. Fisico made a slight mistake, but held on to take the historical last point.

Thumbs up to Heidfeld for fighting the good fight for Sauber-BMW. If he were in a decent ride, he would be fierce. Ron Dennis blew it by listening to the hype and puting Raikonnen into that car instead of Heidfeld.

And then there's Ralf [sung to the "Maude" tv theme]! Right on, Ralf!! Hang in there, baby!

I love the Monaco Grand Prix! I love it, I love it, I love it!!!! I love winning on it with my Playstation. I love watching it. 'Pretendin' at its high cotton best' as Keith Jackson once said about it. It makes me miss Senna, Villeneuve [the baby daddy!], Pironi, Stewart, Scheckter, Lauda and Watson.

Man, that ain't no Wild Turkey talkin

[F1greyhound]

Actually I dont think MICHAEL was really on the best strategy and really lucky. Imagine had he been in front of FERNANDO and behind DC during the safety car phase, he might very well have finished 3rd.

Anyway, the WDC might be decided now. Similar FIA decisions finally led to the tense fight in Adelaide, and I for one hope theres still a slight chance for this years Championship not being decided untill the last race.

I hope for MICHAEL(and KIMI or anyone) to close the gap and make the WDC look more open again, but I have to say FERNANDO is doing a brilliant job and his car gives him full support.

[Snowy]

Actually I dont think MICHAEL was really on the best strategy and really lucky. Imagine had he been in front of FERNANDO and behind DC during the safety car phase, he might very well have finished 3rd.

Anyway, the WDC might be decided now. Similar FIA decisions finally led to the tense fight in Adelaide, and I for one hope theres still a slight chance for this years Championship not being decided untill the last race.

I hope for MICHAEL(and KIMI or anyone) to close the gap and make the WDC look more open again, but I have to say FERNANDO is doing a brilliant job and his car gives him full support.

That's the answer the FIA needs to investigate Renault and Fernando in particular and find out what dirty tricks they've been pulling and give them some draconian penalties so that the WDC can go down to the wire. They always do do that, don't they though!?

[Julian Mayo]

Actually I dont think MICHAEL was really on the best strategy and really lucky. Imagine had he been in front of FERNANDO and behind DC during the safety car phase, he might very well have finished 3rd.

Anyway, the WDC might be decided now. Similar FIA decisions finally led to the tense fight in Adelaide, and I for one hope theres still a slight chance for this years Championship not being decided untill the last race.

I hope for MICHAEL(and KIMI or anyone) to close the gap and make the WDC look more open again, but I have to say FERNANDO is doing a brilliant job and his car gives him full support.

That's the answer the FIA needs to investigate Renault and Fernando in particular and find out what dirty tricks they've been pulling and give them some draconian penalties so that the WDC can go down to the wire. They always do do that, don't they though!?

launch control...........

[Jim Watt]

Right-O, Julien. the Webbo did let the Iceman slip past him at St. Devote! And the commentator (here in the U.S., we had Danny Sullivan and some other air-head do the commentary ... because U.S. fans are supposed by the networks to be so infantile, they couldn't possibly follow commentary by the folks on Speed. Who actually know something about F1) here did call it a mistake.

and I agree with you that it WAS an opening. but mistake? yes, it can be so construed, but remember, if Ralphie or Monty or JV, and probably even if MS had 'slipped the door open a crack' like that, they would have SLAMMED it right shut again ... and taken themselves and Kimi right out of the race. MW, at least, didn't do anything stupid.

except for another flaming, jamming overtaking (I think by Michael?), the race was still pretty boring, though

I mean how exciting can it be when places are determined by the engineers (ie. engine failure) rather than drivers?

Still RE30B#16's post suggests that, for him at least, Monaco is the cat's meow.

I agree with whoever it was that noted that this forum seems unforgiving of Fisi.

And Michael, I might add. And JV. And Monty. And Rubino. And even poor old JB!

(I'll not touch Takuma or Ide!!)

but we love Fernando, don't we? (Even I like Fernando. Can't wait to cheer for him next year with McLaren! It's RENAULT I can't stand. and Flavio!!)

and we love Nico. and the Webbo.

as to Kimi? neither love nor hate I'd say. Just plain AWE.

Snowy is hoping Max & Bernie will penalize the blue cars so we can have a real WDC shoot out. I'd say for that to happen all we need is for Kimi's Cosworth's to find a way to keep from exloding.

All my friends in the speed shops told me the Cossie was going to be a killer this year. I thought they meant it would kill MS and FA. I guess they meant Kimi!

ah well, on to England's pleasant pastures!

Jim Watt

[Andre_Brasil]

Snowy is hoping Max & Bernie will penalize the blue cars so we can have a real WDC shoot out. I'd say for that to happen all we need is for Kimi's Cosworth's to find a way to keep from exloding.

All my friends in the speed shops told me the Cossie was going to be a killer this year. I thought they meant it would kill MS and FA. I guess they meant Kimi!

ah well, on to England's pleasant pastures!

Jim Watt

Man you've just got yourself into trouble

A lot of germans and britishs have just became really upset. Kimi drives a McLaren-Mercedes Mercedes is trying to sell a lot of As, Bs, Cs, Es and Ss based on the excellent performance of their engines

Cheers!

[GhoGho]

Right-O, Julien. the Webbo did let the Iceman slip past him at St. Devote! And the commentator (here in the U.S., we had Danny Sullivan and some other air-head do the commentary ... because U.S. fans are supposed by the networks to be so infantile, they couldn't possibly follow commentary by the folks on Speed. Who actually know something about F1) here did call it a mistake.

and I agree with you that it WAS an opening. but mistake? yes, it can be so construed, but remember, if Ralphie or Monty or JV, and probably even if MS had 'slipped the door open a crack' like that, they would have SLAMMED it right shut again ... and taken themselves and Kimi right out of the race. MW, at least, didn't do anything stupid.

except for another flaming, jamming overtaking (I think by Michael?), the race was still pretty boring, though

I mean how exciting can it be when places are determined by the engineers (ie. engine failure) rather than drivers?

Still RE30B#16's post suggests that, for him at least, Monaco is the cat's meow.

I agree with whoever it was that noted that this forum seems unforgiving of Fisi.

And Michael, I might add. And JV. And Monty. And Rubino. And even poor old JB!

(I'll not touch Takuma or Ide!!)

but we love Fernando, don't we? (Even I like Fernando. Can't wait to cheer for him next year with McLaren! It's RENAULT I can't stand. and Flavio!!)

and we love Nico. and the Webbo.

as to Kimi? neither love nor hate I'd say. Just plain AWE.

Snowy is hoping Max & Bernie will penalize the blue cars so we can have a real WDC shoot out. I'd say for that to happen all we need is for Kimi's Cosworth's to find a way to keep from exloding.

All my friends in the speed shops told me the Cossie was going to be a killer this year. I thought they meant it would kill MS and FA. I guess they meant Kimi!

ah well, on to England's pleasant pastures!

Jim Watt

Jim (except for the Cozzie oops)

I agree with you 100% on the Flav issue, not sure why but I can't stomach the guy. Could it be that he is always the first to cry ?foul, cheating etc? I know you got the same tv coverage as me in the USA, if you recorded it take a good look at the front wing on the Renault with the onboard cam. Watch the sign writing on the left side carefully and note how much flex there is! There is no tell tale horizontal member like the Ferrari had where the gap visibly increased, but the amount of blue definitely varies enough to be classified as flexing, so why does Flav make such a fuss about Ferrari?

Oh well we will just have to wait for another episode of the BernieMax show