2024 Monaco GP: Post Race Analysis

Monaco is nearly always a horrendous snooze fest, but this might have been the worst race ever. A crazy start in lap one, lots of carnage which results in a Red Flag. I think it's crazy F1 officials erase all that happened on lap 1 to restart the race as per grid position, minus 4 cars. But that's F1 for you. After that it was 77 laps of follow the leader that thank godness for fast forward as there might have only been 15 laps worth watching in the entire race. Drivers were literally trying to drive slower. That is NOT racing.

Ferrari win. That's fantastic. Charles 100% deserves a Monaco victory. It's extra special to witness all his emotions as this was truly a crown jewel for him. He's proven to be a bit of a master around Monaco but some bad luck and some bad strategies have cost him in the past. Carlos could only follow, but we found entertainment in his strategy thoughts throughout the race.

McLaren follow the leader, nowhere to go. Strong race, 2nd best car.

Mercedes was the start of a new train. First car on mediums they chose to go slower than those on hard tires. Almost looked like a strategy blunder by pitting Hamilton and not telling him to push, which allowed Max to push and keep position, but left Russell vulnerable to a late attack. But despite Max being in a better car, being a better driver, and having MUCH fresher tires, there was really no risk of passing. Lame!

Red Bull definitely didn't have the best car but likely had strong race pace. Not that we'd ever get to see it. Follow the leader, nowhere to go. Max pushed for 1 lap after Hamilton pitted, and that was the entirety of his race. Perez got hosed, even in a fast car he was never likely to score points. The damage bill for them will be enormous though.

RB Visa was not a follow the leader deal either. Yuki must have made it a goal to go as slow as humanly possible without getting passed. Good quali meant good points.

Williams owe everything to Albon. A brilliant quali meant good points. Logan had the luxury of being able to drive 4 seconds below the limit and he still looked like a donkey out there.

Alpine. Oh, Alpine. Gasly again had a magnificent quali that gave him points but was nearly destroyed in lap one by a brutal pass attempt by his teammate. Ocon has to be the worst teammate. He has plenty of speed but is horrible at wheel to wheel racing and flat out being a jerk to his teammates. Very very strong words from the team boss.

Aston Martin. After another strangely dismal quali performance by Alonso which let Stroll start ahead, Alonso was forced to create a gap to allow Stroll a pitstop. Why? Because even driving 4 seconds off the pace Stroll was not able to manage his tires. In a poetic justice Stroll shows how awful he is and drives himself into a wall in clean air with no pressure and ruins his race. What a clown.

Sauber had the worst car and it didn't matter. Follow the leader with nowhere to go.

Haas. A lot of people said after Miami that Magnussen is a dangerous driver and he definitely proved that today. What a brain dead move. He barely has his front wing along Perez heading up the snaking Rivage. Absolutely should have backed out of it, instead he didn't and destroyed 3 cars. How on earth he avoided penalty is beyond me.

Driver of the Day: Nobody. No driver really drove like a race car driver. If one had to pic, then I guess Leclerc. Charles had track position and controlled the race to his advantage.

 

Upon further review, it does look like Perez was farther to the right than any car ahead at the point of impact. This does suggest a squeeze play. I think Kmag wasn't nearly far enough along side to warrant being given room on a part of the track that was inevitably going to close. 50 meters ahead and every car ahead of them was right against the right side wall. Perhaps a penalty wasn't deserved.

 

In 2024 refueling is allowed in pretty every other major racing series. How many deaths or injuries have occurred because of this?

There is zero reason why F1 can't invest in safer, standardized refueling rigs with several redundancies to prevent infernos.

 

Different race strategies
Faster race pace
Less fuel and tire management
More excitement

That was easy.