2007 Monaco, Monte Carlo

[BlackSamurai]

Monaco going to start with Hamilton in the WDC lead.

Question: Will Hamilton win his first F1 GP at Monaco?

Hamilton's history on Monte Carlo
"The venue of the next showdown is Monaco where Hamilton has driven three times in lower formulae and won on each outing."
source:
Formula One news: Alonso plays down Hamilton threat - GPUpdate.net Formula One

 

[keithkeat]

finally u back to action on f1 tread samurai.......lol.......cause last race didn't see anything from u.....

ok, back to buzz.....yeah, he did win in monaco but not in F1......i'm sure he will not get what he want......

 

[BlackSamurai]

keithkeat, i missed the Australia GP, Spanish GP. Very bad personal record.


everyone can start a thread for the GP, just try to make it clean and tidy at this section.

 

[keithkeat]

best way is..u just get one season tread lo........hahaha......only edit the front page.......just an idea.....

 

[BlackSamurai]

rojak the thread i foreseen.

 

[zan]

monaco is a narrow circuit, 1st corner must be really tight squeeze between top 4 cars...alonso-massa incident may be in order....

i noted at last race, on the podium, felipe splashed champagne to hamilton and like wise but not alonso. fernando looked upset too...is he blaming felipe for his lost?

 

[Daniel Lee]

Lewis stand a big chance to win the Monaco GP.

 

[BlackSamurai]

source:Formula One news: Monaco chassis preview - GPUpdate.net Formula One

Monaco chassis preview

21 May 2007

The roads in the Principality may feel billiard-smooth at the wheel of a road car, but they are the equivalent of cobbles for the rock-hard suspension of a Formula 1 car. The public roads are not only bumpy, but sharply cambered and very slippery - especially on the traffic markings that are dotted around the circuit. The track surface is particularly low grip in the early part of the weekend, and it continues rubbering-in until the final lap of the Grand Prix on Sunday. To cope with the variations in track surface, ride heights are raised between 5 and 7mm relative to the norm.




In order to maximise the car's grip, teams use softer suspension settings than normal. They help the car to ride the bumps and changes of camber. The surface also means that the wheels must be able to move independently to cope with the bumps, and teams will soften the anti-roll bars to achieve this. Special attention is paid to suspension camber angles too. Teams run fairly high negative camber, but not so much as to make the car unstable at the rear in the bumpy, high-speed braking zones. The key objective is to give the driver a neutral, driveable car that he can have confidence in around the circuit.
Monaco demands the highest downforce levels of the season. Contrary to popular belief, the primary benefit does not come in the corners, as many of them are taken at such low speeds that mechanical grip is of greater importance. Rather, the gains from high downforce come under braking and acceleration, keeping the car stable into the corners - and ensuring optimum traction on the exit.

The famous hairpin at the Grand Hotel is the tightest of the year - along with the sharp turn at Rascasse. This demands the highest steering angle of the season, some two times greater than anything required in Barcelona. Traction control and the differential are tuned to help the car turn on the throttle, while special notches are usually cut in the top wishbones to ensure the necessary steering lock can be applied.

The two types of Bridgestone Potenza tyre used during the weekend will be the 'soft' and 'super-soft' compounds. While the 'soft' compound was used as the softer tyre during the Australian GP weekend, it will be the harder compound during this weekend's race. The 'super-soft' has not yet been raced, but was tested extensively at Paul Ricard HTTT last week with good results. The same two tyre types will also be used at the next race in Montreal.

 

[BlackSamurai]

source: Formula One news: Monaco engine preview - GPUpdate.net Formula One

Monaco engine preview

22 May 2007

Superficially, Monaco may seem the least demanding engine circuit of the year, with just 46.6% of the lap spent at full throttle. Appearances, though, do not reflect reality. The bumpy surface means the engine can easily over-rev if the wheels leave contact with the ground - and special attention will be paid to tuning the control systems to stay within the 19,000 rpm limit. A driveable engine and good torque from very low revs are extremely important.

Closely-spaced gear ratios are used at this circuit in order to optimise acceleration, and get the most from the engine at slow speeds. The gearbox will have to cope with 53 gearchanges per lap - a total of nearly 4150 per lap.

With the engine running at full throttle for so little of the time, you might think cooling is not a problem - but you'd be wrong. The engine is only cooled by the car's movement through the air, and the absence of long straights coupled with the slow average lap speed makes cooling tricky. This is exacerbated by the fact that the short gear ratios mean the engine is often running at high revs. Bodywork is therefore sometimes opened up to ensure the engine stays within its operating temperature limits.

 

[zan]

good info. wow! 4000 gearchanges in about 300km.

but mclarens and ferraris would not have reliability problems. my 2 cents lah

 

[keithkeat]

kimi learn what msc did last year!!!!zzzzzzzz
another nightmare for him......hope tomorrow he run 1 stop strategy......lol

 

[prodigy]

Even if he runs a 1 stop strategy, he won't be anywhere near the top 3 in my opinion. That is barring any incidents like raining, safety car and etc.

Darn it, i'm gonna miss this race again. Got some guest from Japan and have to take care of them.

 

[MiLd7]

um.... the nice race will begin soon!!!!!!!!! hope got nice moment happened!!! alonson if not happy can hit the massa's ferrari later!!! kekekekekekeke so petronas get champion lor!!! if not malaysia how boleh oh!!!!!!!!!

 

[BlackSamurai]

Hamilton didn't manage to claim his first F1 champion at Monaco. Hamilton disappointed face show on the podium. S.Speed gain 9 positions for the race, Bravo for the American driver.

1 point for Kimi, and now Alonso and Hamilton have the same point. McLaren have 20 points more than Ferrari in WCC. Looks very strong for McLaren. Prior to the season start I even make fun of McLaren and Alonso, both of them show that

1. They overcome the tyres issue (From Michelin to Bridgestone)
2. 2 new drivers come aboard without any issue.
3. Overcome the engine reliable issue.

McLaren great work done. If Ferrari continue their performance like this, 2007 may have already over at here.

Btw, do you think Kimi preserve his engine for Canadian GP? Since there is close to no hope of overtaking under normal racing condition at Monaco.

JT sent a strong signal out, "Schumi can replace me.."!
Saw Mika and Schumi at Monaco, once again.

 

[DDgreystar]

monaco F1...fun to watch.......but dis time round abit monotonous as well....the front runners r the ones to go up on the podium.......but ok enuff la.....at least Alonso n Lewis provided som intra team entertainment....n in fact LAP the 4th car a renault !!!!.....i think dis is 1 of their biggest win so far to put on such fast performance........

still reminiscing a monaco f1 few yrs back.....when it was heavily raining....the 1st lap ....starting from grid.....coming to 1st corner already had 14 cars PILED UP.....man dat was the most memorable 1 ;)

 

[zan]

Kiimi will struggle from now on....

unless Ferrari can improve their performance, Massa will also struggle.

McLaren team is bulletproff this season.

 

[BlackSamurai]

No wonder Hamilton is not very happy on the podium.
I was told that Team order is band?

Dennis: We decided Alonso would win


source: Formula One news: Dennis: We decided Alonso would win - GPUpdate.net Formula One

Dennis: We decided Alonso would win

28 May 2007

Ron Dennis admitted that the McLaren team decided in advance that Fernando Alonso would win the Monaco Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren boss said that it was frustrating having to make the call but claims that the possibility of the safety car coming out demanded a change of strategy.

"An outstanding result for the team. Both Fernando and Lewis drove so well and responded excellently to the team's wishes of bringing both cars home safely in what was a memorable one-two result and McLaren's 14th victory in the Principality," Dennis said.

"However there is some disappointment because of the different strategies we needed to follow to cope with a potential deployment of the Safety Car which has happened four times in the last five years. Consequently you virtually have to decide in advance which one of the team's two drivers will claim the victory."

Lewis Hamilton fought hard through out the race to allow his one-stop strategy to give him the lead only for his team to change him to a two stop programme.

"Once the first round of pitstops had taken place we reverted Lewis from a one-stop strategy to the faster two-stop strategy and at the same time slowed both cars down to conserve the brakes. As a team we would like to race but this circuit requires a disciplined approach and as a result we can leave Monte Carlo with the maximum amount of points," Dennis added.

 

[BlackSamurai]

keithkeat, MiLd7, vampyriaerotica got the poll vote right. Congratulation, but ... it's pre-decided by Ron Dennis at the beginning of the race .

 

[prodigy]

Mclaren totally blitzed the rest of the guys with their superb pace last Sunday. I was listening to Massa's comment after the race whereby he says that Mclaren were way too quick and even if they'd put in 150%, they would not been able to catch up with Mclaren.

But frankly, i do think Mclaren's win isn't that alarming in the sense that they'll dominate the rest of the season but rather the fact that they had a good setup in low aero dynamics race. So far we've seen a rather yo-yo performance from both Mclaren and Ferrari with neither both showing their more supreme over another, unlike the years of Michael whereby if Ferrari dominates, they'll win many races in a row. We'll see towards the middle of the season which team is more superior. At the moment, its still too early.

 

[si|verfish]

My hunch is that the McLarens generate more mechanical grip than the Ferraris, which have the better aerodynamics and rely on it to generate grip and downforce, therefore "struggling" at Monaco. Certainly, the main changes to this years Ferrari have mainly been to benefit aerodynamics.