The Monaco GP is usually quite processional (85% of Monaco races have been won by someone in the top 3) but there’s a chance of rain during the race today.
Yesterday’s Quali ended with PER in the barrier at Portier (Turn 8) and SAI in the side of PER, and at the same time ALO was in a different barrier!
Grid: LEC, SAI, PER, VER, NOR, RUS, ALO, HAM, VET, OCO, TSU, BOT, MAG, RIC, SCH, ALB, GAS, STR, LAT, ZHO
Pit lane is open; cars can head to the grid
Everyone has made it safely to their positions
Sounds like there might be a problem with NOR’s car
Spots of rain as the national anthem plays
Crowd are putting up umbrellas
Looks like the teams are bringing wet tyres to the grid
Forecast says about 5mins of rain, so they’ll probably start on inters
Start procedure suspended
“Change in climatic conditions” means it’s declared a wet race
Air temperature 22°C; track 32°C
9min delay of the start, but the rain might be ending then so which tyres to use?
Formation lap will be behind the Safety Car – doesn’t that mean they have to use full wet tyres?
Chaos as mechanics run up and down the grid with various tyres
Radio for VER, “Start delayed”; “What are we waiting for?”
Formation lap will start at 16mins past the hour behind the SC
The rain is getting a little heavier
Race control adds “on extreme wets” on their notice about the formation lap
Some drivers are switching helmets to ones with heated visors
SC leads everyone away on the formation lap
LEC a bit sideways as he puts the power down in his Ferrari
A couple of puddles but they’re already creating a dry line
2nd formation lap behind SC
Radio from VET reporting a lot of rain
Radio from RIC, “Wetter than I thought it would be”
Radio from LEC, “It’s raining like crazy”
Red flag
SC leads them into the pit lane
Most drivers are out of their cars and in their garage
The poor mechanics look soaked through
Meanwhile some drivers are changing into dry race suits
50mins since the race should have started
The rain seems to have eased up, and the radar suggests the end is nigh
How long before race control ask birthday boy Berndt Meylander to do some laps in the safety car to check on conditions?
Race control: 10 minute warning
Looks like we might see a restart at 5mins past the hour
Surely the SC should do a few laps before then?
Radio for OCO, “Looks like there might be some rain later on”
“Race will resume at 1605 local time behind the safety car”
Resume? I didn’t think the race had started?
01/77[SC]: SC leads everyone out of the pit lane
They’re all still on full wet tyres, as required
There’s standing water as they exit the tunnel, but generally the track looks ok
LAT’s in the barrier at the hairpin, but he’s reversed out and is on his way again
STR tapped the wall; he’s got a right-rear puncture
Not a good start for the Canadian pair
02[SC]: STR and LAT both pit
SC in at the end of this lap
LEC starts backing everyone up
GAS pits; takes on inters
03: Everyone makes it through Turn 1
04: GAS on inters struggling for grip in a few places
05/77: LEC, SAI, PER, VER, NOR, RUS, ALO, HAM, VET, OCO, TSU, BOT, MAG, RIC, ALB, ZHO, SCH, GAS, STR, LAT
SCH pits for inters
06: LEC f/lap 1:39.679 on full wets
Yellow flag
GAS f/lap 1:39.431 on inters
07: SAI f/lap 1:37.9
VET and TSU pit for inters
08: SAI and VER both hang their tails out into Portier (Turn 8)
RUS cut Nouvelle chicane as he closed on NOR
09: LEC has 3sec lead over his teammate
10/77: LEC, SAI, PER, VER, NOR, RUS, ALO, HAM, OCO, BOT, MAG, RIC, ALB, ZHO, GAS, VET, SCH, TSU, STR, LAT
LEC f/lap 1:36.588
GAS has caught ZHO but how will his inters cope when he has to go off the dry line to make a pass?
LAT runs wide in Turn 1
11: ALB uses the escape road at Sainte Devote (Turn 1)
12: LEC f/lap 1:35.323
ZHO cuts the chicane and holds on to P13 – he should let GAS pass
GAS inside ZHO at Mirabeau (Turn 5)
13: LEC f/lap 1:35.077
GAS looks for a move on RIC but the McLaren squirms under braking
Radio from PER, “It’s definitely inters now”
14: GAS makes a nice pass on RIC for P12
VET looking for a way around ZHO
Radio SAI, “We’re going to go straight to dry”
15: SAI f/lap 1:32.995
GAS f/lap 1:32
16: HAM pits; inters go on
BOT has MAG and GAS on his tail
17: PER pits from P3; inters go on; rejoins P5
Radio for SAI telling him to pit; SAI thinks it’s better to wait for dry tyres; “stay out”
Yellow flag; SCH broke his front wing but is heading
18: NOR pits from P4; inters; rejoins P7
HAM inside OCO into Turn 1; OCO turns in, makes contact
19: LEC pits, followed by VER
Inters for both
LEC rejoins P3; VER P4
Black and white flag for RUS for exceeding track limits
SAI f/lap 1:25.135
SCH pits; hard (dry) tyres go on
20/77: SAI, PER, LEC, VER, RUS, ALO, NOR, OCO, HAM, BOT
ALB pits; hard tyres
HAM still trying to pass OCO
21: HAM harrying OCO for P8
22: SAI pits from P1; hard tyres
LEC pits too; hards; he’s not happy about that
OCO pits, releasing HAM
23: PER pits, followed by VER
PER rejoins P1 ahead of SAI
VER rejoins P3 inches in front of LEC
Did both Red Bulls cut the pit lane exit line?
NOR pits
HAM pits
ZHO and SCH tap wheels
24: SAI touches the wet and almost loses it on the main straight
RUS f/lap 1:23.633
MAG pits, retires
25/77: PER, SAI, VER, LEC, RUS, NOR, ALO, HAM, OCO, STR, BOT, VET, GAS, RIC, TSU, ZHO, SCH, LAT, ALB
NOR f/lap 1:22.845
5sec penalty for ALB for leaving the track and gaining an advantage
26: Radio from VER, “I smell burning”
SCH has had a big impact
VSC deployed
27[VSC]: Replay shows SCH’s Haas spun around, hit the armco, spun across the track, hit the tecpro barrier; the car split apart but SCH walked away from it
SC deployed
30/77[SC]: PER, SAI, VER, LEC, RUS, NOR, ALO, HAM, OCO, VET, GAS, RIC, STR, TSU, ZHO, LAT, ALB; out: SCH, MAG
Red flag – race suspended so they can rebuild the barrier
Everyone heads back to the pit lane
Apparently there’s a power failure in the TV compound!
SkySport think there may also have been a local power failure just before the start, which may be why race control paused it
Race control: resume at 1715 local time, rolling start
Lapped cars can overtake … which suggests they’re do the first lap or two behind the SC
Replay of Ferrari telling LEC to box for hard tyres then just as he entered the pit lane they tell him to stay out and LEC hits the steering wheel in frustration
31[SC]: SC leads everyone out of the pit lane
PER and VER are on medium tyres; SAI and LEC on hards; rest of the field is split between hard and medium
Lapped cars may pass the SC
32[SC]; Lapped cars are now making their way around toward the rear of the pack
Race control: SC will enter the pits; rolling start
PER backs everyone up, preparing for the restart
33: PER locks up into Mirabeau, flat-spotting his new mediums
34: HAM tucked up behind ALO
ALB f/lap 1:20.929
35/77: PER, SAI, VER, LEC, RUS, NOR, ALO, HAM, OCO, BOT, VET, GAS, RIC, STR, TSU, ZHO, LAT, ALB
PER f/lap 1:20.677
Radio for VER, “29 laps” expected because the time limit will expire before they complete all 77 laps
OCO given 5sec penalty for the incident with HAM
36: PER f/lap 1:19.801
LEC f/lap 1:19.112
Radio for HAM telling him ALO’s been told to defend P7 rather than try to move up
37: SAI f/lap 1:18.962 – he would have DRS behind PER if was enabled (which it should be in a lap or two)
FIA timing chart now shows time remaining rather than laps
38: SAI f/lap 1:18.150
39: SAI f/lap 1:17.081
ALO nearly 15sec behind NOR as he focuses more on defending from HAM
40/77: PER, SAI, VER, LEC, RUS, NOR, ALO, HAM, OCO*, BOT, VET, GAS, RIC, STR, TSU, ZHO, LAT, ALB (*OCO has 5sec penalty)
30mins left
41: PER f/lap 1:16.475
42: VER f/lap 1:16.273
43: PER f/lap 1:16.260
44: ALO now has a train of HAM, OCO, BOT, VET, GAS, RIC, STR, TSU and ZHO behind him
Won’t be long before PER closes to lap them
45/77 (23mins left): PER, SAI, VER, LEC, RUS, NOR, ALO, HAM, OCO*, BOT, VET, GAS, RIC, STR, TSU, ZHO, LAT, ALB
46: ~20 laps left
Radio from HAM asking how far he is behind the lead pack; Bono says ALO is well off the pace
49?: ZHO nearly rear-ends TSU as he looks to take P15
ALB pits, retires
ALO has picked up his pace
16mins left: NOR pits; new mediums; still easily P6
PER’s front right tyre is showing graining
54?: Radio for OCO telling him to push up (to HAM) because he has a 5-sec penalty
SAI tucked up behind PER
55/77: order is unchanged because it’s a procession
10mins left: SAI has DRS behind PER, but VER has DRS behind SAI, and LEC very nearly has DRS behind VER
The top 4 train has almost caught the bottom 10 train
9mins left: TSU used the escape road at Turn 1
PER now closing up to lap ZHO
LEC now has DRS behind VER
7mins: TSU pits from P17/last
PER doing well to defend P1 from SAI
5mins: Lap 60? Still the same order
TSU runs wide in Turn 1 again
3mins: Top 4 lap ZHO; next is LAT
2mins: LAT moves aside and the top 4 lap him; there’s a big gap before they catch STR
Radio for NOR telling him PER is easing off to try to reduce the number of laps; NOR says he’s going flat out, no more comms
NOR has DRS behind RUS
Zero time = final lap: SAI has dropped back, out of DRS range of PER
PER takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: PER, SAI, VER, LEC, RUS, NOR, ALO, HAM, OCO*, BOT; VET, GAS, RIC, STR, LAT, ZHO, TSU
*OCO’s 5-sec penalty will drop him out of the points
DNF: ALB, SCH, MAG
Fastest lap: NOR 1:14.693
No mention of penalties for both Red Bulls crossing the pit lane exit line 🙁
Post-race penalties:
OCO’s 5-sec penalty for causing a collision drops him from P9 to P12
ALB also had 5secs (leaving the track and gaining an advantage) but he retired (DNF)
As for PER and VER crossing the pit lane exit line, the stewards decided neither deserved a penalty [F1]
Hmmm, so the FIA’s stewards still favour Red Bull – not really a surprise there.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.perez-and-verstappen-retain-monaco-results-after-stewards-dismiss-ferrari.4DH9l5Bb0JxqHf4reXn7SF.html
“FIA officials subsequently revealed that a power outage had led to the failure of the starting system and as officials debated how to start the race, the outage had led to fears that the start system would not work and therefore, in the interests of safety, opted for rolling restarts for the remainder of the event.” [pitpass]