As teams all pack their equipment and prepare to head over to Spain for next week’s race, LV BET looks back at the weekend action and analyse some of the key moments in the race. We will talk about Alonso and his missed chance of a potential win, Red Bull’s underfloor exposure, rain and it’s effect on races and much more.
ALONSO MISJUDGEMENT
On Saturday, Fernando looked on it from the word go. After Sergio Perez binned it in Q1, it looked like Fernando could have a straight fight with the reigning world champion. Fast forward to the last few minutes of Q3, Alonso placed his Aston Martin in pole position with Max Verstappen on a flying lap, but was not improving enough in the first two sectors to steal away pole. Much to the surprise of the mechanics in the Aston Martin’s garage, Max Verstappen put in a mega last sector to put him on pole position by just 0.084 of a second – talk about fine margins.
Come Sunday, Alonso opted for the hard compound tyres, but was aware that Esteban Ocon, who was third, could potentially jump him. Luckily, that did not happen and Alonso was well in command of P2. As we have mentioned in the preview of the race, rain was forecasted throughout the weekend, but on the day it looked like it had passed the circuit. Around 53 laps into the race, rain his the circuit, at first localised which prompted Alonso to take the decision to go into the pit and put on some fresh slick tyres, which was ultimately the wrong decision, meaning he had to put again one lap later for intermediate tyres. Should that call had been intermediate tyres right away, he could have been closer to Max Verstappen and maybe in a better position to overtake. This was a rare misjudgement from the Spaniard, in a season where only through a strategic bad call from Red Bull could see Alonso win a race.
RAIN
As we always come to the conclusion after an F1 Monaco race, the dry running was a bit boring to watch, with not much action, except for the opening laps, where most of the overtakes were done. Soon after 50 laps of the same order which did not produce much drama or a spectacle. Once the rain started hitting the circuit, drivers were basically driving on soap, with most of the running that weekend done on dry conditions. Many drivers found it difficult to keep their car in a straight line, with Kevin Magnussen exploring every escape road, George Russell reversed unsafely onto the circuit before Perez clattered into the back of him, and Lance Stroll tested the strength of the barriers on multiple occasions. Even the best drivers in the wet found it difficult, Max Verstappen had a couple of hairy moments, but his 30-second lead afforded him to make a couple of mistakes and retain the lead.
The rain proved how strong F1 cars are, as amongst all that chaos, only two cars retired and weren’t forced due to a collision.
EXPOSED UNDERFLOOR
As many are aware, Formula 1 is a highly political sport, where teams are looking to get the edge over their rivals at every given moment. Now Red Bull this season, have a target on their back due to obvious reasons. Storming the field, winning every race this year and last year, they exceeded the cost cap, which made them enemy number one in the paddock. Their performance on the track was heavily questioned, as they had an unfair advantage. As we stated above, Sergio Perez had a nightmare in Q1 as he crashed and got knocked out of Q1 as a consequence. Now that just about sets the scenario.
Monaco being Monaco, moving an F1 car could only be achieved by a tower crane, and so Sergio’s car was lifted high up for everyone to see the underfloor of the Red Bull. Many have stated that such photographs could help other teams pinpoint what the reigning constructors champions are doing to produce downforce and generate that raw speed. Adrian Newey would have been livid seeing his masterpiece being suspended in the air for all the world to see.