Monaco GP

[Phang]

its the best GP in years. go watch it

[Madina]

already watching - and its goooooood

[Structural Integrity]

**** **** ****...

Missed it! Missed the start!

When did it start?

[Stew]

bout 30mins ago, a toyota had a problem on grid so they didnt go 1st time.
Then sato blew up, fisichella nailed it into barrier, hen SC for few laps!

[JC]

I hate Schumacher, but he is ****ing awesome.

[Stew]

Fully agree.
Has he actually overtaken anyone (not in pits) this season though?

[JC]

Not that i can remember, but he's never needed to.

[Tomkat]

Monaco is easily the best course

Pity we're getting smashed in the cricket

[Structural Integrity]

Originally Posted by Stew

bout 30mins ago, a toyota had a problem on grid so they didnt go 1st time.
Then sato blew up, fisichella nailed it into barrier, hen SC for few laps!

[at0mic.c0w]

Originally Posted by Stew

Has he actually overtaken anyone (not in pits) this season though?

Drivers' Season Total
=====================

                 AUS MAS BRN SMR ESP
====================================
  6  Montoya       3   1   0   0   2
  5  Fisichella    1   4   0   0   0
  5  Webber        0   3   2   0   0
  5  Alonso        0   2   2   0   1
  5  R Schumacher  0   0   3   0   2
  4  Panis         1   3   0   0   0
  4  Klien         2   0   1   1   0
  4  Button        0   1   1   0   2
  3  Bruni         1   2   0   0   0
  3  Coulthard     0   0   1   2   0
  2  Sato          0   1   1   0   0
  2  Trulli        0   0   2   0   0
  2  da Matta      0   0   2   0   0
  2  Räikkönen     0   1   0   1   0
  2  Massa         0   0   0   2   0
  1  Heidfeld      1   0   0   0   0
  1  Pantano       0   1   0   0   0
  1  Baumgartner   0   1   0   0   0

  0  M Schumacher  0   0   0   0   0
  0  Barrichello   0   0   0   0   0
------------------------------------
 57                9  20  15   6   7

taken from here

[JC]

YAY \o/

[Structural Integrity]

WTF?!
WTF did Schumacher do there in the tunnel? He braked?
Heh... I wonder what they are going to blame this one on.

[at0mic.c0w]

i don't know the rules but from what the commentators said schumacher can go at whatever speed he likes.

[JC]

He had to brake because the safety car went slow, then Montoya was going too fast to avoid Schumacher.

At least thats how i saw it all.

Edit:

Seems Schumacher might have been braking to heat up his tyres as well.

[at0mic.c0w]

coincidence that this happened in the tunnel where they don't get on board pics ?!?

[JC]

According to our commentators Schumacher tried warming his tyres up in the tunnel and locked a wheel. Seeing as their are no brake lights on a forumula 1 car Montoya had no way of telling Schumacher was suddenly going to brake, so isnt to blame.

[wu_trax]

finally a race worth watching.

[Phang]

that's the best race since Spa 98 (or was it 99?)

[Zar]

gp became boring when they introduced even more stupid safety rules.

i) everytime a yellow flag comes up, all the hard work that the driver has done to "shave" off those few seconds, amounts to nothing. Cars all end up in one big line - if this happens in the middle/end the entire race was pointless

ii) once you're in the lead, its usually hard to be overtaken other than in the pit stop.

iii) a fair % of your chances lie with you team and car. if you have a crap team and crap car, no matter how good you are... you wont do well.

conclusion: gp sucks

[JC]

Originally Posted by Zar

i) everytime a yellow flag comes up, all the hard work that the driver has done to "shave" off those few seconds, amounts to nothing. Cars all end up in one big line - if this happens in the middle/end the entire race was pointless

You'ld rather have drivers in fatal crashes to make the racing more interesting?

A yellow flag waving doesnt cause everyone to back up and lose their lead. A safety car does, but thats always a last resort.

ii) once you're in the lead, its usually hard to be overtaken other than in the pit stop.

At Monaco yes, at most other tracks overtaking is possible on a few of the corners. Montoya never seems to have a problem overtaking.

iii) a fair % of your chances lie with you team and car. if you have a crap team and crap car, no matter how good you are... you wont do well.

Its always been that way and always will be in any form of motor racing. The best teams have the best performance and pick up the best drivers from the lower teams. The only way to change that would be to stick everyone in a go cart. Schumacher would still win though.

[Zar]

Originally Posted by JC

You'ld rather have drivers in fatal crashes to make the racing more interesting?

A yellow flag waving doesnt cause everyone to back up and lose their lead. A safety car does, but thats always a last resort.


At Monaco yes, at most other tracks overtaking is possible on a few of the corners. Montoya never seems to have a problem overtaking.

Its always been that way and always will be in any form of motor racing. The best teams have the best performance and pick up the best drivers from the lower teams. The only way to change that would be to stick everyone in a go cart. Schumacher would still win though.

oh? it must have been the few races a few years back where safety cars ruined the whole race. In that case im just stereotyping.

As for tracks? Hmm if its possible to overtake in monaco - maybe it is better than some of the other un-overtakeable tracks ive seen.

How about introducing caps that prevent cars from being better than each other (other than minor and i mean MINOR flexibilities that allow the individual driver to cater for his taste).

[JC]

Originally Posted by Zar

As for tracks? Hmm if its possible to overtake in monaco - maybe it is better than some of the other un-overtakeable tracks ive seen.

I meant Monaco is the hardest track to overtake on, at all the other ones it isnt that bad.

They are introducing new rules in a few years to ever things up for the smaller teams. Reduced engine size, got to keep your engine for 3 races, only 1 tyre manufacturer etc.

[MrL_JaKiri]

Originally Posted by Zar

iii) a fair % of your chances lie with you team and car. if you have a crap team and crap car, no matter how good you are... you wont do well.

conclusion: gp sucks

This is true for every single team based sport.

[Zar]

Originally Posted by MrL_JaKiri

This is true for every single team based sport.

perhaps, but other sports dont have so much emphasis on another technology. Its mostly the fact that the car can make you win or lose that affects it so much. Other sports wont have something that can severely affect the outcome to the degree GP does.

[Nondescript Human]

Originally Posted by JC

Its always been that way and always will be in any form of motor racing.

I heard about some new motor racing project where each team has exactly the same components/cars, but I can't remember what it was going to be called.

Anyway, at least F1 was actually worth watching for once this weekend. I usually end up wondering why I just wasted a couple of hours watching Schumacher winning again.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Nondescript Human

I heard about some new motor racing project where each team has exactly the same components/cars, but I can't remember what it was going to be called.

Is that the world cup one?

2 drivers from 10 different countries i think and everyone driving the same car.

Not sure if thats just a concept at the moment or is actually going to happen.

[pablissimo]

I thought that's what CART racing was?

[Stew]

Originally Posted by JC

Montoya never seems to have a problem overtaking.

Alonso did


What made todays race interesting? Crashes! Especially Schumi goin out! How to make it interstin - problem solved - ban Schu and poor oil all over the track!!

[Nodrog]

Originally Posted by Zar

perhaps, but other sports dont have so much emphasis on another technology. Its mostly the fact that the car can make you win or lose that affects it so much. Other sports wont have something that can severely affect the outcome to the degree GP does.

In Athletics it's your chemist that makes you win and lose

[Vaio]

Originally Posted by Nondescript Human

I heard about some new motor racing project where each team has exactly the same components/cars, but I can't remember what it was going to be called.

Anyway, at least F1 was actually worth watching for once this weekend. I usually end up wondering why I just wasted a couple of hours watching Schumacher winning again.

It's called F3000. It's been running for a while

Vaio

[Vaio]

Originally Posted by pablissimo

I thought that's what CART racing was?

No, in CART there are different chassis used.

Vaio

[Nondescript Human]

Originally Posted by Vaio

It's called F3000. It's been running for a while

Vaio

Oh okay. Guess it didn't make much of a splash then.

[Vaio]

Originally Posted by Nondescript Human

Oh okay. Guess it didn't make much of a splash then.

The series gets next to no TV coverage, Eurosport over here which is usually a highlights package shown a couple of days later which is a shame as, at times, the races have been quite entertaining. For next year it is being replaced by GP2, a series that Renault are supplying the engines for.

Going back to the F1 race, would everyone say this is the first RACE of the season ?

Vaio

[JC]

Every other grand prix was a race for 2nd place.

[Stew]

It was the first FULL RACE of the season.

The previous 2 have been races up to 1st pit stops.