What a bizarre situation...half the field now a lap down? Stewards had all this time to tell us what is going on and they didn't.
Looks like Williams is virtually a done deal for 2020 ..just a question of $$$$XXXXX paid into their account.
F2 parking lot at Rascasse after Mick tangles up with Tatiana (earlier) Image Unavailable, Please Login
Field is average. Loads of drivers in their 2nd/3rd year if not longer and should be totally dominating. None are. Schumacher showing some promise. He may need a 2nd year in F2 but no shame in that. Albon has done 2 years in F2 also and he's quietly the superstar of the new boys.
Mercedes to run red Halo on F1 cars as tribute to Niki Lauda Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/143614/renault-had-to-run-reduced-power-after-new-issue Renault Formula 1 boss Cyril Abiteboul has revealed that a conrod reliability issue handicapped the firm's engines in the first part of the 2019 season, but has now been addressed. While it was well known that Renault had suffered some MGU-K issues this year, the fundamental problem with its V6 had hitherto been kept under wraps. It came to light for Renault when Nico Hulkenberg retired in the second race of the season in Bahrain, forcing the team to adopt "containment measures" that reduced performance in China and Azerbaijan while a solution was sought. That was implemented when all four Renault-powered cars took new V6s at Barcelona and, having initially run them in a conservative mode in Spain, Renault is now confident enough to turn the engines up from this weekend in Monaco. "This winter we were given the opportunity to properly focus on power gain, and competitiveness gain," said Abiteboul. "What it meant was we consciously decided to focus on performance, to the detriment of reliability. "It means that a number of engines that should have been used on the dyno to secure reliability were actually used to develop performance. "What it meant was a very good start in terms of engine power, but reliability that was below standard. "Two reasons, one which you know which was the MGU-K, and one which you don't know, which was that Nico's failure in Bahrain was actually a conrod failure - so typically a part that you don't want to break, because it's a part at the bottom of the engine, and a fundamental part."
Tires and downforce - the equation in action for both Mercedes and Ferrari http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/26807751/the-friday-sessions-monaco-plays-mercedes-strengths-exposes-ferrari-weaknesses From the opening laps of first practice it was clear Mercedes would have an advantage in Monaco. As rival drivers ran up close or even nudged the barriers, both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas had track to spare as they traded fastest times at the top of the timesheets. Confidence is key on the streets of Monaco and from trackside it was obvious both drivers had plenty. By second practice, they started to stretch their legs. Even on the medium compound, Mercedes were able to match Ferrari on the softs and when Bottas and Hamilton switched to the fastest compound they emerged 0.7s quicker than Sebastian Vettel in third. Vettel had a clean lap without traffic -- the difference in lap time was down to pure performance. Throughout the season the Mercedes has proved the faster of the two cars in slow speed corners. Considering the W10 has the longest wheelbase in the pit lane, it seems somewhat counterintuitive -- and in stark contrast to recent years when the relatively long Mercedes has struggled in Monaco -- but under the 2019 regulations the world champions have turned one of their biggest weaknesses into a strength. Considering the Monaco Grand Prix is so often won from the front row and into the first corner, it's hard to predict anything other than a Mercedes victory on Sunday if the race runs normally. Any hope that Ferrari's recent struggles had been solved at last week's in-season test in Barcelona were thrown out the window almost from the get-go in Monaco. A difficulty getting the tyres up to the perfect temperature for peak performance was only exaggerated in Monaco, where a lack of high-speed corners makes it even harder to generate heat in the tyres. Charles Leclerc struggled more than Vettel, finishing the session in 10th place and 1.2s off the pace, as he visibly struggled to lean on his front tyres for grip and hit traffic on his hot lap. In Monaco, that creates a downward spiral of performance as the lack of grip rips into the confidence of the driver just as he needs to push to the limit to bring the tyres alive. "To be quick around here you have to explore the limits of the track to the last centimetre but doing that without hitting the Armco is not easy," Leclerc said after the session. "But we have to run as close to the barriers as possible and also get the tyres into the right temperature window which seems to be complicated this weekend." Ferrari appears to be off the pace ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. "What we are lacking is grip from the tyres because we are not able to make them work properly," team principal Mattia Binotto added. "That is down to an interaction of aero and mechanical and overall it's a balance and you may set up your car to be strong in high-speed and you miss some performance in low speed, but if a car is well balanced it works in high-, medium- and low-speed, so what we are lacking somehow is the optimum in all the conditions." While Ferrari has gone to great lengths to say it is not blaming changes to the tyres over the winter for its 2019 struggles, the fact that the tyres are now harder to get up to temperature is at the core of the team's issues in Monaco. Thinner tread on the 2019 tyres means they do not retain heat in the same way as they did in 2018, making the rubber less prone to blistering -- as the teams had requested -- but harder to keep at the right temperature. While Mercedes has found a way to keep its tyres in the right operating window, Ferrari is struggling and Binotto admits the car is fundamentally lacking downforce compared to its main rival. "The tyres this season are quite different to the ones of last year -- no blame, it is only a matter of fact," he said. "The main difference is last year we had a very good warm up on the tyres and we were focused on cooling the tyres as much as we could to keep them working because the lower the temperature, the better the grip. The tyres of this season are quite different in this respect and warm-up is a lot more difficult. "What we call the window -- the temperature you target to get the best grip from the tyres themselves -- in order to achieve that you need to heat up the tyres. So instead of cooling them down [as we did last year], you need to heat them up. "How can you achieve that? Certainly you can achieve it through braking temperatures, rims cooling, but overall it is downforce. And not only does the downforce add absolute value, but it is how you balance the downforce high-speed to low-speed -- it may be as well how you target your development in terms of efficiency versus maximum downforce. I think we have got a car that is somehow quite efficient -- you can see it on the straights -- but it doesn't mean we have the highest downforce in the pit lane."
Kimi Raikkonen has voiced his displeasure about the current layout of the Monte Carlo circuit, saying he does not “like Monaco at all”. Raikkonen finished inside the top 10 in both of Thursday’s practice sessions but it sounds like he cannot wait to get the first plane out of there come Sunday. “It might be a nice place to watch, but honestly I don’t like Monaco at all,” said Raikkonen. “It is no longer the track that I drove when I was here for the first time. “The swimming pool corner was tighter, the first corner had a barrier, and the rest was changed as well. “Before, the driver was able to make a difference here, but not anymore. “Now, the fast car is always at the top.” It is also Raikkonen’s 300th race weekend in Formula 1 and he is enthusiastic as ever about reaching the milestone. “I don’t want cakes, drinks, nothing. It’s just a number that means nothing to me,” Raikkonen told Auto Motor und Sport.
Kimi's 300th GP, here's some words from drivers and others inside the paddock. Especially nice what Leclerc re Kimi being supportive when Leclerc lost his father (Leclerc not even in F1 yet that year). Tweet— Twitter API (@user) date
F1 has announced that a minute’s silence will be observed on the starting grid for the MonacoGP at 14h53 CET in memory of Niki Lauda.
Not to mention the problems Pirelli overcame for them [emoji57] Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
Yep....''struggled'' in FP1-2 in Barcelona, tyre pressure dropped overnight by order of Pirelli, suddenly Mercedes is amazing. As if by magic!
Kimi today... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
