It was the race that everyone wants to win. The most prestigious. The one that turns a Formula 1 driver into a legend. This time the honours of being crowned winner of the Monaco Grand Prix went to Max Verstappen. A downhill victory which was facilitated by Ferrari’s misfortune.
A tough day for the men from Maranello who partially made up for it with a second place from Carlos Sainz, in a weekend during which Mercedes suffered a lot: Hamilton grabs an anonymous seventh place while the disaster in the pits knocked out Bottas’ number 77.
Let’s start with the analysis by focusing on the first stint. The leading group Verstappen, Bottas and Sainz immediately kept a much faster pace than the rest of the competitors. From the first lap Max tried to create a gap on his pursuers. The table below is clear, with the Dutchman’s RB16B able to lap an average of two tenths faster than Mercedes and Ferrari. Valtteri , after trying to push while remaining attached to Max’s exhausts, began to suffer with the compounds.
When the Finn had to lift his foot to manage the compounds, Carlos Sainz came dangerously close. Although the race offered only one stop, it was the pit stop that changed the cards. Apparently Mercedes considered the undercut more powerful than the overcut. Hamilton, sparking the reaction of the rest of the drivers, was the first to stop and try to attack Gasly. Operation that in fact was not successful. On the contrary, the Briton was the driver who lost the most, losing the position to Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez. The Mexican was the last among the top drivers to stop. A shrewd move that of the Red Bull wall which, just like Aston Martin, had very clear ideas about the “weapons” at their disposal.
The overcut proved to be the winning weapon. The difference between used and new rubber was not very high, given the low degradation and the difficulty of the newly assembled compounds to reach temperature. Furthermore, the drivers who extended the first stint enjoyed some laps without traffic, essential to recover ground on the opponents who stopped early. From then on we witnessed the typical Monte Carlo train. The reigning seven-time world champion remained bottled up behind Gasly and decided to opt for a free stop thanks to the big advantage he accumulated over Stroll. In the second part of the race, thanks to the extra grip of the Soft he easily earned the extra point for the fastest lap.
A test in the shadows that of Hamilton: throughout the weekend he never found pace. The setup change made just before qualifying worked only for his teammate. The Finn, on Saturday, had the opportunity to even take pole if we look at his best sectors. While on Sunday, due to Charles’ retirement, he had a “comfortable” second place in his pocket, before losing everything at the pit stop, where a slight misalignment between wheel gun and wheel nut caused the machining effect that made it impossible to remove Valtteri Bottas’ wheel.
After Valtteri’s retirement, the Verstappen-Sainz duo had a race on their own, with a much faster pace than their rivals. At a certain moment of the race Verstappen had some “problems” related to the hybrid part of his Power Unit. Complications easily resolved with some changes to the ERS system parameters. The RB16B of Max had something more than Ferrari, a rhythm that the Dutchman managed best, aware that the Spaniard, author of an excellent performance, could not have the pace to attempt an attack.
A double-faced weekend for McLaren, on the podium with Norris and out of the points with Ricciardo. Although the pace of the papaya-colored car was slower compared to that of Ferrari, Lando’s great work limited the damage once again. While Ricciardo, almost unrecognizable, did not go beyond the twelfth position. Finally, Vettel’s performance was excellent. With the Hard compounds, the former Ferrari driver lapped on an average of 16.0, eight tenths slower than the leaders. Same step for the French of AlphaTauri that by falling in the undercut trap tempted by the Mercedes of Hamilton, has in fact very likely lost a fifth place at the expense of Sebastian.
Alpine scored points only with Ocon. After struggling with understeer all weekend, the Enstone strategists played their cards right. Starting with the red- striped Pirellis, Esteban was good at keeping the tires alive for a long time. Delaying the change made it possible to use the Mediums for the second stint, where the overcut was essential to score points. Same strategy used for Stroll, catapulted into the points after a less than optimal qualifying. An appointment, the Monegasque one, which gave Aston Martin some good points and good satisfactions.
With the race pace graph over the entire race, we can see how the drivers’ pace was quite fluctuating. The explanation, once again, must be attributed to the particular conformation of the circuit that winds through the streets of the Principality. The rear axle mounted tires limited the pace. In fact, in Monaco, the many traction points easily overheat the rear end, forcing the drivers to increase the pace in certain situations so as not to over-stress the compounds. While the front ones have a tendency to remain “fresher” due to less stress.
Ultimately a race with a sweet and bitter aftertaste for Scuderia Ferrari. Happy for the podium, disappointed for the possible victory thrown to the wind even before the start. Let’s not expect such a competitive SF21 in the coming weeks. Monte Carlo is a track where the importance of the engine is very low. This factor allowed the men in Maranello to enhance the characteristics of their car.
Already in Baku, however, the next appointment on the 2021 Formula 1 calendar, things will change. Although the excellent traction demonstrated in Monaco will also be present in the corners of the Azerbaijani circuit, the very long straights, where it will be essential to have a high speed, will put the SF21 car in serious difficulty. While the Lewis – Max duel, presumably, will come back to life.
Leave a Reply