Ramblings, predictions on Monaco GP...

pburns

Monaco can sometimes throw up a few surprises...

IMO Kimi and Hamilton will go really well. Hamilton considers himself something of a Monaco specialist and despite his shunt there last year KR usually has huge speed there also. Massa has never shown well at Monaco and Kovalainen didn't shine there last year (he was going through a bad patch though). If Kova does manage to outpace Hammy here I predict a HUGE hissy-fit 'cos I think Lewis is already a little rattled by the Finn's qualifying speed...

BMW have been making very positive noises about this track. Maybe the best chance so far of a Heidfeld/Kubica victory? I have a feeling this could be their weekend.

Alonso of course has won the race a couple of times. I don't think it's one of his absolute best tracks but you can never count that guy out.

Webber and Trulli should punch above their weight also...

Frank Bullitt

Its going to be tight no doubt, the gap won't be what it was last year which to me shows how Ferrari have really improved. Kimi is really calm this year, a huge improvement in maturity, he would usually race the wheels off his car but now he knows that points and not wins are important, his fastest lap at Paul Ricard was faster than Hamiltons so we'll see how it pans out.

I'm already pissed off with the british press continously saying "this is Hamiltons favorite track so he'll go well here", if i say its my favorite track will i go well here?

I can see it being tight, but the fact that the gap between Ferrari and McLaren is significantly smaller than it was last year shows how much Ferrari are the team to beat.

Catcher86

pburns wrote: »

Monaco can sometimes throw up a few surprises...

If Kova does manage to outpace Hammy here I predict a HUGE hissy-fit 'cos I think Lewis is already a little rattled by the Finn's qualifying speed...

I totally agree. Even when Hamilton has outqualified Heikki, Heikki has been faster some of the time when you factor in what lap they pitted on.
I have been having a feeling about Heikki these last few days, and I think I will back him to win.
Pole is vital so they will all be running pretty similar strategies with one or two taking a little extra risk by fueling a little bit lighter e.g BMWs I think they will have to be brave and go 2 laps lighter if they want to challenge for a win.
While most teams will be running strategies for pit stops in the low to mid twenties, I think Alonso might take another huge chance like he did in Barcelona and go for pole and fuel for 16-18 laps. It will be harder to overtake him on this track, but he would need luck with the pitstops.

Prediction: Heikki for front row and win.

pburns

Catcher86 wrote: »

I totally agree. Even when Hamilton has outqualified Heikki, Heikki has been faster some of the time when you factor in what lap they pitted on.
I have been having a feeling about Heikki these last few days, and I think I will back him to win.
Pole is vital so they will all be running pretty similar strategies with one or two taking a little extra risk by fueling a little bit lighter e.g BMWs I think they will have to be brave and go 2 laps lighter if they want to challenge for a win.
While most teams will be running strategies for pit stops in the low to mid twenties, I think Alonso might take another huge chance like he did in Barcelona and go for pole and fuel for 16-18 laps. It will be harder to overtake him on this track, but he would need luck with the pitstops.

Prediction: Heikki for front row and win.

Nah, don't think so (although it would be great)...

Hamilton is genuinely quick around Monaco, it suits his driving style I think. He seems quite adept at slow-speed corners and has had success here in GP2. Added to that, I think McLaren will favour him strategy-wise to keep him sweet - they've already allowed him take on a non-McLaren personal sponsor (Reebok). I don't think they've done that since the Senna days...

Kovalainen gets equal equipment in that team but all things being equal they'll favour Hammy strategy-wise. The Finn is keeping his head down, his mouth shut and quietly proving himself and if he plays his cards right may elbow himself a bit more power within the team.

Not this weekend though... Hammy will have the edge in Monaco I reckon. But Kimi or one of the BMWs (or even Alonso!?) could win...

Biro

I have a feeling that it'll be Hamilton's weekend. I'm not a fan though, let me get that striaght!
However, if one were looking for an outside bet, I'd be putting that on Kubica. If he qualifies on Pole (no pun intended!) he'll be in with his best chance! He's bound to win sometime!

dsmythy

Probably Lewis to get back to winning ways. Maybe run a little lighter on fuel to get on that pole and try to make the gap before the pits. Maybe Heikke with 1 or 2 laps more in the tank.

This might be a good chance for Mark Webber to get a top 4 finish. He qualified 6th last year even though he didn't finish the race. He can really show off his credentials here. He's fast becoming one of my favourite drivers.

Oh and one other thing the bbc weather models have a chance of rain predicted for the region at the weekend as well as lacklustre temperatures. Another thing to keep an eye on. Although whenever rain is mentioned it never seems to arrive.

elmolesto

dsmythy wrote: »

This might be a good chance for Mark Webber to get a top 4 finish. He qualified 6th last year even though he didn't finish the race. He can really show off his credentials here. He's fast becoming one of my favourite drivers.

Mark webber is lousy imo.

I think Lewis will take the monaco gp down, I just hope for some rain to make the race interesting.

Ghost Train

mclaren were great in melbourne on the semi street circuit, think it will be close between mclaren and ferrari, hamilton is due a good race and looked great there last year, as long as he doesn't mess anything up I'd say he could do it, could also be the start of a battle between heiki and hamilton, was where it kicked off last year between alonso and hamilton

Turbodreams

elmolesto wrote: »

I just hope for some rain to make the race interesting.

now that would be interesting! street circuit with no TC in the wet! hope so!
with regards pole, i think bmw will sacrafice alot to get kubica on pole.

eoiner-galway

im gonna put 30e on hamilton e/w ..... i would put it to win, but its just too risky to tell.... i dont have that much confidence in him sunday..

what do you guys think

Lucy Lu

It was raining there for last practice on the Saturday last year and it was interesting but it had dried up for quali which was a pity. A wet quali or race would be good alright.

I reckon Lewis has a good chance alright but I would like to see Heikki pull out a surprise poll.

Monaco brings a lot of challenges.

Frank Bullitt

Id love to see a wet race, would throw up all sorts of surprises, I'm not sure who will win but i get the feeling that Kimi will still be leading after the race.

dsmythy

60% chance of rain is the figure being tossed about with Sunday being more likely than Saturday for it. With all this promise it's bound not to rain.

I'm in two minds whether rain is a good thing or bad for the Monaco race. On the good side, it won't be a procession but on the bad it could be an awful race with no traction control and all that. Stoppages all over the place and not much racing. We may not see the full laps being completed.

I'd probably rather it rained somewhere else other than such a tight track.

LEIN

Fernando Alonso to win!!:D

hunter164

What times the race start?

LEIN

I think lights go out at about 1. build up will prob start at noon