Monaco Grand Prix 2012, Monte Carlo - Race 6/20

Goldy · 28 May 2012 at 12:31

Hamilton could be at McLaren for a few years yet!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/24/lewis-hamilton-mclaren-new-contract?newsfeed=true

MooMoo444 · 28 May 2012 at 12:45

20m a year, that's a salary and a half.

drunkenmaster · 28 May 2012 at 12:45

apatia77 said:
What a boring race it was, let's hope for some more action in Canada.

Also how unlucky can Hamilton be with pitstops

Wasn't unlucky, he could have come in laps earlier and been ahead of Alonso, and Vettel in the end, and they'd have had no chance of getting past him. No one threatened Rossberg, the first to come in of all of them, in the slightest and Alonso was all over him for ages and ages. The ONLY chance for overtaking was pitstops and McClown had a 4 second gap on Alonso at one point to make sure of it, instead they waited till Alonso was within half a second and did a slow stop.

Even worse was, there wasn't any reason to save the tyres, again because no overtaking, they should have both been paying attention to Vettel, working out when they were getting ready, the SECOND they saw any movement in the RBR garage they should have been telling Hamilton to push really god damned hard, and they also should have been letting Hamilton know the gap between him and Vettel.

He was rightly holding a small gap just to make sure brakes/tyres were healthy, if they'd told him Vettel was borderline far enough ahead to pit Hamilton would have closed the gap.

Just mistake after mistake, lazy stupid mistakes, not telling Hamilton about Vettel is almost unforgiveable.

Goldy said:
Hamilton could be at McLaren for a few years yet!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/24/lewis-hamilton-mclaren-new-contract?newsfeed=true

Ferrari would make him basically equally well paid, and Alonso has been pretty complimentary about Hamilton lately, and frankly Hamilton would actually increase his chances of a championship. Hamilton is already a strong rival, so there would be no difference there, however instead of Massa, every time Alonso won Hamilton would probably be taking serious points off all his other title rivals. LIkewise, team doing better, winning constructors maybe means more money all around.

I'm not sure he'll go but, Mclaren need to rather than offer big money, look to change some key personel who are making the mistakes. Money is nice, titles are better, once you're making 10+ mil a year and way way more than that in sponsorship.... you're already stinking rich, how stinking rich becomes almost irrelevant after a certain point.

FrankJH · 28 May 2012 at 12:54

LH will NEVER go to Ferarri with Alonso there (Im sure Alonso has it in his contract he is No 1 there, so it works massively in his favour for him if LH was to join) its not worth the risk.

He wants to win championships so the only choices (if he leaves McLaren) are Lotus/Renault, RBR, or maybe Williams perhaps (British team, decent Renault engine again. seemingly pretty good in quali at the very least)

Ferrari are WELL down the list (maybe not quite as far as HRT but nearly lol)

schumi84 · 28 May 2012 at 13:07

Was hoping for more from that race, really disappointed with the complete lack of overtaking (however I suppose I was kidding myself that it would be any different to any other year. The DRS on the main straight may well have not been there and there seemed to be no way anyone was able to launch a decent attack after the tunnel

.

Really happy for Webber to get the win, as they said before the start of the race, getting to the first corner first was massively important. I hope that Massa's pace wasn't just a flash in the pan and he can replicate the speed at Canada as he certainly seemed to have the measure of Alonso all weekend and on that subject, if Ferrari have finally sorted the issues with their car, he certainly has to be in with a a strong shout for the championship.

Excited for Canada as it always seems to throw up some quality racing.

dannyjo22 · 28 May 2012 at 13:14

Alonso obviously cannot believe his luck, the car is poo and he's still at the top end. It's a good job for everyone else they didn't build a half decent car.

One thing for sure this year, who ever takes the title it's looking like they will be able to lay claim to winning a title in the car that wasn't the best! Certainly if a ferrari or red bull win it!

As much as I hate these tyres this is the first time I've ever looked at a title table and not be sure from a list of 6 or more who will win the title. Shame for MS that he was given the special tyres this week to stop him whinging and he blew it

Might have a punt on him to win Canada, doubt he will hit the wall of champions now they are driving at 8/10ths. Quite fancy Maldonado to end up in it though

jaybee · 28 May 2012 at 13:24

I would have to agree that this season is becoming a tyre lottery. It's fake.

I love F1 but this season doesn't feel right.

Duke · 28 May 2012 at 13:24

Hopefully the 'whole in the floor' issue will be clarified soon.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99981

Jono8 · 28 May 2012 at 13:29

dannyjo22 said:
Alonso obviously cannot believe his luck, the car is poo and he's still at the top end. It's a good job for everyone else they didn't build a half decent car.

One thing for sure this year, who ever takes the title it's looking like they will be able to lay claim to winning a title in the car that wasn't the best! Certainly if a ferrari or red bull win it!

As much as I hate these tyres this is the first time I've ever looked at a title table and not be sure from a list of 6 or more who will win the title. Shame for MS that he was given the special tyres this week to stop him whinging and he blew it

Might have a punt on him to win Canada, doubt he will hit the wall of champions now they are driving at 8/10ths. Quite fancy Maldonado to end up in it though

I dont know how anyone can comment on what may or may not be the fastest car. At the moment it changes with every race..

Mr Men · 28 May 2012 at 13:30

And although there is still a long way to go in this year's title race, Hamilton reckons Alonso could be the one to beat.

"He is the dark horse and he's driving for the dark horse," the McLaren driver told The Telegraph.

"I'm not surprised.

"He is a two-time World Champion and probably the best driver here."

Mr Men · 28 May 2012 at 13:32

FrankJH said:
LH will NEVER go to Ferarri with Alonso there (Im sure Alonso has it in his contract he is No 1 there, so it works massively in his favour for him if LH was to join) its not worth the risk.

Does he really have it in his contract, or just another throwaway comment made without any evidence?

Glaucus · 28 May 2012 at 13:32

And Alonso recons it's Hamilton he needs to beat, they seem to be praising each other up a lot.

MooMoo444 · 28 May 2012 at 13:33

dannyjo22 said:
Alonso obviously cannot believe his luck, the car is poo and he's still at the top end. It's a good job for everyone else they didn't build a half decent car.

One thing for sure this year, who ever takes the title it's looking like they will be able to lay claim to winning a title in the car that wasn't the best! Certainly if a ferrari or red bull win it!

The season is an anomaly though. If McLaren hadn't REPEATEDLY messed up with LH and somewhat JB, then the championship would look massively different. For example, LH would most likely have won in Barcelona, not to mention all the other times his team has let him down this year.

Alonso is definitely up there by fortune rather than merit.

Owenb · 28 May 2012 at 13:42

jaybee said:
I would have to agree that this season is becoming a tyre lottery. It's fake. I love F1 but this season doesn't feel right.

Well I think this was one of the more normal races of the season- it was a traditional Monaco GP. Put it on Pole(or 2nd in this case!), keep it between the barrier's and pick up the winners trophy. That plus all the guys that one would except to be fighting for the podium were, except maybe Kimi, while rookies that looked like superstar's at some other tracks were crashing out.

FrankJH · 28 May 2012 at 13:46

Mr Men said:
Does he really have it in his contract, or just another throwaway comment made without any evidence?

Well given Ferrari always sign a No1 and No2, and have done for the last 20 years plus - unless you think Massa is the No1 and the double world champ is No 2.......

Any other team you might have a point, but surely not with the Prancing Horse

MooMoo444 said:
The season is an anomaly though. If McLaren hadn't REPEATEDLY messed up with LH and somewhat JB, then the championship would look massively different. For example, LH would most likely have won in Barcelona, not to mention all the other times his team has let him down this year.
.

The car just isnt fast enough in race trim - its as simple as that (its bad enough in quali, but it just goes backwards on race day).

Apart from when he started at the back (which was harsh, but stupid from McLaren's point of vew) he has stayed the same or gone backwards when comparing grid position to race result

Mr Men · 28 May 2012 at 13:53

FrankJH said:
Well given Ferrari always sign a No1 and No2, and have done for the last 20 years plus - unless you think Massa is the No1 and the double world champ is No 2.......

Do they? Was Kimi signed as no1 in his contract? Alonso is no1 as he is the better driver, you are suggesting he is no1 because his contract says so?

mp260767 · 28 May 2012 at 14:16

MooMoo444 said:
Alonso is definitely up there by fortune rather than merit.

he's gone up in my estimations this season so far, yes he's had some decent bits of luck, but he's driving a mare of a car when you watch some of the slow mo shots and the work he's having to do.

getting a bit fed up of the drivers complaining about the tyres, all the "not being able to drive fast cos we have to save the tyres", this is from the same people that can't go full pelt all the time anyway cos they underload the car with fuel ?

currently its keeping the championship nice and close, no run away leaders at the moment, and no one able to stick there neck out to bet on the next gp

.

MooMoo444 · 28 May 2012 at 14:19

mp260767 said:
he's gone up in my estimations this season so far, yes he's had some decent bits of luck, but he's driving a mare of a car when you watch some of the slow mo shots and the work he's having to do.

Oh dont get me wrong, I'm not saying Alonso isn't an amazing driver. Comparing him to Massa in the same car is more than enough! :cool:

It's just the angel that sat on vettels front wing last year is now sitting on alonso's

Glaucus · 28 May 2012 at 14:24

mp260767 said:
, but he's driving a mare of a car

Was, that ferraris a pretty darn good car, after the testing tweaks they've made.
When the teams are so close, finding a couple of tents can take you for q2 to top of q3, I fully expect it to bounce around a lot this year. One team hasnt got 0.5-1 second lead and as such it's far easier for teams to gain the missing tenth and leap frog several cars.

Mr Men · 28 May 2012 at 14:25

MooMoo444 said:
Oh dont get me wrong, I'm not saying Alonso isn't an amazing driver. Comparing him to Massa in the same car is more than enough!

It's just the angel that sat on vettels front wing last year is now sitting on alonso's

Alonso is driving amazing, what others do around him is not up to him, he can only do his best. Just because Lewis and McLaren are not a complete package like Alonso and Ferrari are right now does not mean Alonso is lucky.

You could attach luck to nearly every single driver doing well if you were that way inclined.