Ian, As for myself, even with a pretty good memory and a correct knowledge of F1 history, I find it hard to remember which edition was actually the last great race in Monaco? 1982? Rgds
I knew you would! Remember when France blockaded the principality? (at the drop of the hat, 1964, when De Gaulle was furious about their "lack of reaction" towards the french tax evasion...) Rgds
Not true. I've seen some telemetry and not one of them goes through it flat initially. They *all* lift slightly. Then they tighten the belts, take a deep breath and go for it once the track improves some. It remains one of the great tests in the sport; That Mark surprised the Schu (?) around the outside a few years back makes that move all the more impressive. Definitely not a cup of tea IMO! Cheers, Ian PS, FWIW, when I did my "F1 driving experience" there, we were told to *brake* going down the hill! I got severely reprimanded for not doing so in the F3 training car.....
Take out the nouvelle Chicane and the left-right-left at the Piscine. This gives you two longer straights and that stupid kink at Nouvelle would be eliminated. Also, they could rev limit the car to 13,000 to make it more exciting.
There's a reason for the Nouvelle Chicane. The speeds at the end of that straight would be too great to be safe. That's why they put it in. Too bad Perez used it as a bully tactic and spoiled the purpose. The track at Monaco doesn't make sense for today's cars. However, the race is unique and actually fun to watch (a LOT more fun than some of the newer tracks!!!!). I can think of 5 tracks that should go before Monaco because of their general dullness. Keep it. If you see it in person, the way these cars go around the swimming pool is amazing. It's like they had straight at full speed into a brick wall, do a flick to the left and a flick to the right and then right on the gas again. What balls it must take to look at that right in front of you and still press down hard.
+1 Another +1. "Boring"? Not IMO. Just to add, it's *never* made "sense"! It's always been an "anomaly" (or anachronism ) on the calendar. Indeedy!..... Cheers, Ian
They have done nothing but flub up this course, it used to be much better the further back in time you go. I couldn't believe how bad it has become when I caught some coverage yesterday. The new curbing chicane at St. devote and the chicane after the tunnel have turned this into a parking lot. The last time the course was good was in 1985. They made the chicane worse for 86 but still not the joke it is today. And take a look back to the 60's when it looked totally open. a lap in 1982 watch @ :59 to see the almost non-existant chicane [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezUPYdpPx2A]Alain Prost lap in Monaco GP on board camera car Renault F1 1983 - YouTube[/ame] how quickly they go thru @1:35 [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihNaa2uRrrI]F1 Monaco GP 1983 Start - YouTube[/ame] 1965 amazing, no pool, no rascasse [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ixBkiGsme4]F1 Monte Carlo 1965 Race - YouTube[/ame] exciting drivers and cars can still be exciting [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg3WCsDKZTg]Jean Alesi sliding through Monaco with Tyrrell - YouTube[/ame]
Dude! With all due respect, you should probably learn the layout before making such non-sensical suggestions...... There are no hairpins after the tunnel! I assume you mean what's now known as turn 6? One of the most iconic corners in all of F1..... Don't mess with it! Cheers, Ian Image Unavailable, Please Login
The race track is in a beautiful setting but have you been there, I have several times and actually got to the podium area in 81. I was amazed at just how narrow the track is. I wouldn't want to overtake at 40mph let alone 200mph. There is no room and if you do manage to pass someone you need total co-operation to pull it off successfully. It can only be best described as a procession of multi million pound cars. Lapping at that speed Rosberg needed Perez behind him to show him how to do it. It was awful to watch. Punching the air after the win summed it up beautifully, bet he couldn't believe his luck
We lament the redesign of Sebring to the "Mickey Mouse" circuit it is today when they took it off of the North-South runway. We lament that Le Mans added the chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight. Never the less, the events continue to thrive. What to do about Monaco? There are portions of the circuit which look as though they could widen it, especially where there are pedestrian sidewalks. There has to be a compromise somewhere. If they can take Sebring off the runways and add chicanes to the most famous flat out straight piece of track in all of racing, they can modify Monaco with some outside of the box thinking and the event will survive, no? BHW
Why the need to change the Monaco circuit? Passing is nearly impossible because it is so tight. But it is the narrow band between the armco, which takes away the normal runoff area where driver errors remain without consequences. Monaco is driving on a razor's edge and that's a good thing. The very nature of Monaco, which makes passing difficult also virtually assures a race rich of other incidents. What's wrong with a race in the calendar that is different?
turn 6 should always stay but 10 and 11 need to go, it just causes controversy every year and just/unjust decisions for the drivers and is a roll of the dice , that old footage above is close to how the track should be but the terminal speeds the cars can do today is just inviting a disaster IMO
No other track requires such pure concentration of the driver. At least in qualifying. I like it for that and a variety of reasons but the main one to me is that it is essentially the same track that Fangio, Stewart, and Senna drove. The rest of the calender is filled with modern "proper" race tracks. Let me have my history.
How about Formula E? According to a friend who attends Monaco each year, they've banished the Ferraris, Porsches, Bentleys, Rolls Royces, et.al., at the Casino to the back lot in favor of the Smart Cars and hybrids which are now on display at the front of the Casino each night. My friend is devistated. Ha! BHW
If you want to win at Monaco, you need to start at the front. Thus those who can set up their car to get maximum advantage of the tires for 1 or 2 laps will typically win.
This topic is completely silly. Tracks should not be adapted to cars, heck that is what America did and created ovals and is that what we really want? No I. Cars should be designed to suit tracks, and IMO Monaco is absolutely the best driver test there is period. Pete
I've been to Monaco for the gp a bunch of times. It's not a great place to watch the race but it is a cool track. The parties etc are great the whole place is taken over for the race From a driving perspective it's amazing narrow yes but you can pass out of casino into,Poitier And along the front straight.... But you have to be fast and smooth For the fans it's not so good as you only can see a small part of the track. Being there and having it on tv and seeing the cars is just so cool It alike being on your own pit wall!
I beg to differ on overtaking, Rosberg controlled the field at a snails pace and won!! that says it all. Perez on the other hand overtook and caused mayhem. Had it not been for others jumping out of the way he would have took out most of the field. The other issue is that when you look at other circuits and the hoops they have to jump through on safety, that seems to be forgotten for Monaco. Take the British GP, Silverstone had to spend millions to improve the infrastructure and circuit etc just to keep the venue. Monaco has nothing like the facilities other now have. Keep the nostalgia , that's for books, we need history made, not relived
Well said. Since when is no passing a great race. Only here for some on Fchat. This should be a non points race or a 1 lap timed race with each car on track alone. Money going to charity etc. Its not a race at all when a car that is slower than most, wins by just backing up the field on a street, not a track. That is not racing in the accepted sense. All the money spent on a car unable to use its actual 'racing' capability. Leaving Monaco, long over due.
