The Mercedes driver led from the very first lap to the chequered flag, not necessarily putting to bed the tyre issue. While Monaco is without doubt the most technical track on the calendar, it's technical for drivers skills not the balance of the car. It never has been a true test of the car.
Nevertheless, Rosberg had a great drive and I always would have liked him to get the first win over [team mate] Lewis Hamilton during their time at Mercedes. The German looked in control the whole race, almost like he was never pressured from behind. Fluent pit stops and no arguments, a lot of fortune from two safety car periods.
Hamilton did of course get screwed over by the first safety car period. A huge crash from Felipe Massa was deemed enough to launch the Mercedes SLS, but I personally thought this was unnecessary. He wasn't in a dangerous enough place and all the debris was in the run off area (only a little at the impact point further up). Yellow flags would have sufficed. It definitely gifted F1 fake Sebastian Vettel 2nd place. The flukiest driver on the planet was once again given points on a Silver platter.
Great drivers from both the Force India guys. Adrian Sutil proved that overtaking at Monaco is possible if you focus, and Paul di Resta developed an amazing attack, overtaking on the outside of turn 1. He was a fantastic spectacle to watch, and my driver of the day.
Other drivers from Jean-Eric Vergne and Max Chilton really gives me faith for the future of the sport. Maybe now we can stop looking for rookie drivers and get more experience on the grid for next season.
Unfortunately that's all the nice I can say about the race. I don't like Monaco anyways and I knew it would not be a great day for my favourite driver, Kimi Raikkonen so I was hoping he could do some form of damage limitation.
But oh-no, he proved once again he will not overtake unless he absolutely can. While this may sound a great thing to do, and ultimately secured him 3rd last year, it's not good enough for a title finish. Here's why. Say over the course of two or three races, Kimi builds like an eight point lead over Vettel by just finishing once place above him each time. What happens after that fourth race when Vettel flukes the win and Kimi gets stuck behind a slower car? He has all that work to do again.
That happened at Monaco. First off I thought (before the safety car) Lotus would have gone for a 1-stop less strategy from everybody else, but they opted against it. Then after the red flag from a horrific crash from Pastor Maldonado, he stayed on soft tyres when everyone else switched to super softs. This may have seemed the bright thing to do with thirty laps remaining, but as it turned out degradation never really kicked in, and the super softs were the smarter option.
None of this mattered of course because thanks to a feisty Mexican (more on him soon) Raikkonen suffered a puncture. But Kimi has no one to blame but himself. He should never have been in that position in the first place. He spent far too much time behind Mark Webber at the start. The Red Bull driver was very slow and Raikkonen failed to capitalise. Then the same sob story happened when he got stuck behind Hamilton AGAIN. I dunno what it is when he's stuck behind the Mercedes cars!
Raikkonen wasn't all there this weekend, it's almost like he wasn't trying. This conservative nature has to stop, or he's lost the championship. Although overtaking cause team mate Romain Grosjean his place in the race (and the next following a 10 place grid penalty for hitting Daniel Ricciardo) Kimi needs to take the risks soon.
McLaren also had a very disappointing day, and it's official: I am no longer a Jenson Button fan. I have never seen a more whiner driver in the history of the sport. He cries every race because Sergio Perez is quicker than him, and then he tries to get Perez a penalty! Unbelievable.
McLaren also issued team orders, but there is a very good chance this was FIA issued after Perez cut the chicane after the tunnel to avoid contact with Button. He soon got it back with a phenomenal over take, showing he had more skill than Button on the day.
However Perez was well out of order for hitting Raikkonen. He had no right to try that overtake, Kimi didn't leave him room because he wasn't supposed to heading into that turn! Perez had to retire and then blamed it all on Kimi! Although as I said, Kimi should not have been in that position in the first place, Perez should have known better. Where's his penalty?
The Ferrari's drove the nail into my coffin topping off a bad day for me. Massa endured a heavy shunt but I am glad he's okay. Alonso just didn't have any pace and was overtaken by nearly every driver on the track.
I had a day off work, so this is the only race I got to watch live. Unfortunately I had to watch it on Sky. I dunno where Sky hire their commentators but I'm glad they give mentally impaired people jobs. David Croft got over excited and then realised it was just a replay. To quote Montana: "what a fucking idiot."
I'm not happy and I'm feeling quite pessimistic about Canada which is disappointing considering I thought it would be the best race of the season. I don't know what to expect now. If my favourite drivers who I consider to be the most talented are letting the side down race after race, then it's going to be an easy season for Vettel.
And yes, I would let Raikkonen punch Perez in the face. Better yet I'll pay for all legal fees.
FINAL RESULT (BBC):
1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes 2:17:52.056
2. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull +00:03.888
3. Mark Webber - Red Bull +00:06.314
4. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes +00:13.894
5. Adrian Sutil - Force India +00:21.477
6. Jenson Button - McLaren +00:23.103
7. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari +00:26.734
8. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso +00:27.223
9. Paul di Resta - Force India +00:27.608
10. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus +00:36.582
11. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber +00:42.572
12. Valtteri Bottas - Williams +00:42.691
13. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber +00:43.212
14. Max Chilton - Marussia +00:49.885
15. Giedo van der Garde - Caterham +01:02.590
16. Sergio Perez - McLaren retired, 72 laps
17. Romain Grosjean - Lotus retired, 63 laps
18. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso retired, 61 laps
19. Jules Bianchi - Marussia retired, 58 laps
20. Pastor Maldonado - Williams retired, 44 laps
21. Felipe Massa - Ferrari retired, 28 laps
22. Charles Pic - Caterham retired, 7 laps
hey Nathan, first congrats for such a fine piece... Really enjoyed reading d whole of it except d part about Kimi. agreed he shud've taken some chances but what if he d tried n landed at d same spot where perez is today.... we all r calling him reckless. idiot, clown n wat not. n he deserve it for sure but c'mon we've seen Kimi racing in d past too b4 monaco dis year n we can't deny he is aggressive... he wont leave or quit unless his car leaves his support or he crashes,moreover pressure of looking at a record makes it tougher dis year n to finish Lets leave him alone buddy he knows wat he is doing.......... ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for getting in touch!
DeleteI have no doubt Kimi is an aggressive driver, Brazil 2007 comes to mind, and Abu Dhabi last year, even Australia he controlled it well.
Unfortunately, last year (aside from the slow development of the car) he spent far too long trying to get by Schumacher, and this year he seems to have difficulty getting by Hamilton, Spain springs to mind where he spent several laps behind him. If he wasn't as conservative I reckon he could have fought for the race win. That being said his tyres were a mess.
The championship won't come by coasting it all season, we need to see a win very soon or the title is in doubt!