This column is linked to the forecast and will be a regular
feature that looks back at some of the predictions made and other issues
arising from the race just gone, in this case Monaco.
Just for a moment, let’s forget about the whole tyre testing
debacle that’s engulfing Mercedes right now. They had scored pole position in
the three previous races and yet pretty much sank down the field without trace.
Not in the principality though.
Here they knew exactly what they needed to do. After locking
out the front row they set a slow pace to look after the tyres. Sebastian
Vettel described it as being stuck behind a bus. But when they needed to be
quick such as around the pit stops, they used the pace they’d kept in reserve.
Nico Rosberg in particular was able to open up a gap at will
and then control it from then on. It was impressive driving. The only thing
denying them a 1-2 was a safety car and Lewis Hamilton holding back in the pit
lane just that little bit too long.
So now let’s return to the tyre testing. The tyres didn’t affect
Mercedes in the way they had, was this because of the Pirelli test? I don’t
believe so. As I’ve said before Mercedes struggled with tyre wear last year and
yet were competitive in Monaco. This is because Monaco has a less abrasive
surface and is full of slow corners.
This means that the energy going through the tyres is
significantly less. It could well be the same in Canada which is all about
traction onto long straights, something the Mercedes had already proved it was
good with in Spain’s final twisty sector. The surface is also similar to
Monaco, so they could be in line for another decent showing.
However, it was noted that by rival teams that Mercedes were
approaching their use of the tyres differently but I don’t think we’ve seen the
last of their tyre issues. They’ve said so themselves but it seems to me it’s
something inherently built into the car. It can’t be pure coincidence that the
last 2-3 years they’ve suffered with excessive tyre wear.
Which makes the tyre test even more significant; if they had
been told by the FIA they can use their 2013 car (in the regulations if you’re
going to test you have to use a 2 year old car as Ferrari did in Bahrain when
Pirelli asked them to test some tyres, as current cars in season testing is
banned) on the condition the test was available to everyone, then to fail to do
so does make it seem, as Red Bull put it, underhand even if they had some sort
of approval.
The other condition the FIA specified was that the car would
be run by Pirelli, this did not happen. You’re always learning in Formula 1
even if Mercedes didn’t know the compounds they were running and most of the
compounds were for next year although one could have been used in Canada too
but it has been recently announced will not be used.
You begin to see why the other teams are in such uproar
about it. It looks as if this case will go to the International Tribunal, an
independent body separate from the FIA. They will assess the report from the
Monaco stewards and can hand out penalties including fines, bans and
exclusions.
I would think a significant fine will be handed out if they
are found guilty as surely they won’t hurt a manufacturer which has been so
supportive of Formula 1 and will be supplying a great deal of the grid with new
regulation engines next year.
We got our first
safety car of the year in Monaco, in fact we got two safety car periods and
a red flag to boot. So at least that was something I got right but it was
fairly obvious. If we have a quick run through some of the other predictions
I
made I said tyres wouldn’t be as
significant a talking point. Well I got that bit slightly wrong, although I
was talking about them not being such a significant factor in the race.
I thought Mark Webber
would be able to outperform Vettel too, but it’s just not working for him
this year. He showed great pace all weekend and looked to have a little edge in
Thursday’s practice sessions but wasn’t able to get the lap in when it mattered
in qualifying. Webber is already 50 points behind Vettel, that’s two race wins.
He needs to beat him in Canada otherwise a supporting role will not be far
away. Of course whether he’d support Vettel after Malaysia is an entirely
different story.
Force India had a
good run to get both cars into the points, but it could have been so much
better for them. In Q1 Paul di Resta was left stranded on worn tyres as the track
conditions improved and he was left down in 17th on the grid. He had
looked quick all weekend, and would have been battling higher than the 9th
position he was eventually rewarded with. Adrian Sutil did get into Q3 and
battled hard from 8th to 5th.
Both McLaren’s did
get into Q3, but I said Jenson Button was the one to look out for. I was
wrong it was Sergio Perez, I think after the reputation he is picking up at the
moment most of the drivers will be keeping an eye on their mirrors for him. I
don’t think he was overly aggressive to be honest, but perhaps he is risking a
bit too much on occasion, and I don’t think the final move on Kimi Raikkonen
into the Nouvelle Chicane was really on, which punctured Kimi’s left rear and
lead to Perez’s retirement.
Button managed to grab sixth by the end but it’s now three
weekends in a row where arguably, Perez has been the stronger driver. Jenson
will be keen to put the young Mexican in his place in Montreal, a track he’s
won at in the past.
Perez left a mark on Kimi, but Kimi seems to want to leave a
mark on Sergio. He was more than disappointed,
Kimi seemed angry, well a laid back angry, when he suggested that drivers talking to
Perez won’t help, ‘maybe someone should punch him in the face’. Kimi would have
every right to feel aggrieved as that move dropped him down the field and he
went from 4 points off the title lead to 21. Not a good day.
It was a very disappointing weekend for Ferrari too. They
have a significantly stronger car than last year, but they are not making the
best use of it. They didn’t have the pace on Sunday that has been there all
year. Hopefully for them this is just a small blip, because really you could
make a strong case why Alonso should be leading the championship, the fact that
he isn’t shows the whole team, including Alonso haven’t been at the same level
as they were in 2012.
They came into Monaco on a fairly dominant Spanish Grand
Prix performance and were one of the favourites to contend for victory, but
qualifying is still a problem and the race where Massa suffered a suspension
failure and Alonso’s pace was poor was unexpected. Alonso looked asleep as he
was passed three times with moves he just didn’t seem capable of reacting too.
Of course being the driver he is I feel sure he’ll be back
on top form in Canada, but last year this wouldn’t have happened, he and the
team would have maximised everything to get the best result they could, and I
think it’s fair to say they could have done better than 7th.
This will all make Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull rather
happy. They were probably slower than three teams in Monaco and yet came out
with a double podium; not a bad days work. Red Bull are obviously held back by
the tyres, that being the case though, they haven’t looked at all like being
the fastest out there all year, yet they have come away with 2 victories and
are leading both championships quite comfortably at the moment despite their
tyre complaints.
Vettel is doing well, in fact he is doing an Alonso of 2012 and is getting the best results that
are available to him, he’s not been out of the top four all year whereas Alonso
has suffered a retirement and two low top 10 placing’s while Kimi has also had
a couple of low top 10 points positions.
Vettel is the only one getting the job done every weekend at
the moment, if the rest want to stop him getting a fourth world title, they’re
going to have to up their game, and quickly.
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