Topic: Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM..... - page 45. (Read 141450 times)

What an amazing Sprint Race with so many drama especially the crashes for the 3 riders who crashed when they were leading.
This race also another proof that Marc is not over yet, start the race from the 14th and he made a good start and continue the race with his best then took the 2nd position.
Sorry to Raul Fernandez, he did everything well before he made a mistake that make him crashed while he was leading with a good gap.
Now the question is, will Marc do the same again like what he did in the previous Le Mans race?

Yes, I believe Charles Leclerc will finish in a good position because it is his home race!! Strong support from all of his Monegasque fans! Hope there will be no inchident on the race.

It was very surprising during the Catalunya MotoGP Sprint Race today where Raul Fernandez fell while leading the Sprint, as well as Brad Binder who fell while leading after Raul Fernandez fell. And the same incident also happened to Bagnaia who fell while leading in first place after Brad Binder fell, making Aleix Espargaro the winner of the Sprint today, followed by Marquez in second place. This is really a quite tense Sprint and requires better technique to be able to survive until the end and hopefully tomorrow the race will be much fiercer than today.

Last hour of free practice has been completed with a super Leclerc in 1st position.
Let's see if he can lead the qualify too, it looks like a fight between him and Max.

Sainz is usually very strong in this track...

Some line movement in qualifying.  Looks like the books have priced in Leclerc's performance in FP2 and FP3.  He's line is at 1.57 rn with Verstappen behind him at 3.00.  I think there could be value with Verstappen at the current line.  The guy just finds a way to get ahead and be on top above everybody else.  It will be sooo hilarious if he does it.  

Anyway yeah...  Just a quarter of an hour to go guys.  Feeling really excited with this one as the crazy Dutchman is the underdog again. 

The Marquez brothers did not qualify for Q2 today and had to start the race on grid 13th and 14th for the Sprint today and the full race tomorrow. Meanwhile, Aleix Espargaro with Aprilia again made a surprise by setting a new record with such an amazing time today that it has put him at the front of the grid for the race and Sprint which will take place soon. I'm quite sure that if there are no problems with Aleix Espargaro, he could win or podium today and tomorrow because I see he is really quite stable on his Aprilia motorbike at the Catalunya circuit, Spain.

McLaren can be seen as the prime contender for pole position in the upcoming Formula 1 race,with a notable edge over Red Bull Racing,according to recent insights.Statements from Red Bull's Perez indicate an acknowledgment of being behind,suggesting a challenging outlook for the team.This sentiment positions McLaren as the frontrunner,with Ferrari also looming as a potential competitor and also Mercedes.

In contemplating the prospects,the likelihood of a McLaren driver securing pole position,such as Norris or Piastri,signifies a strong chance of victory in the race.The strategic advantage of starting at the front,providing a clear track ahead,could play a pivotal role in securing success.

Free Practice results still look quite interesting. We still see Hamilton right behind the leader. I wonder if this will reflect on his qualifying performance also. You know qualifying result is one of the most crucial things in Monaco. This is one of the few places where Mercedes can collect big amount of points. Overtaking is too hard as you know.

The current qualifying odds are below, on TrustDice. Leclerc is currently a huge favourite @1.61. I'm definitely going to give him a chance by betting on his pole. 

But it isn't worth for a single bet of course. I would rather bet on Norris to take the pole if I'm going to make a single bet.

2024 F1 Monaco Grand Prix - Free Practice Results (2)
Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Time
1   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m11.278s
2   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m11.466s
3   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m11.753s
4   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m11.813s
5   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m11.935s
6   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m11.962s
7   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m12.062s
8   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m12.099s
9   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m12.257s
10   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m12.260s
11   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m12.349s
12   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m12.366s
13   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m12.473s
14   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m12.554s
15   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m12.569s
16   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m12.577s
17   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m12.750s
18   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m12.790s
19   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m13.057s
20   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m13.773s

Ferrari ahead, will it will be time at home for Charles?

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/1049044/1/2024-f1-monaco-grand-prix-friday-practice-results

I do not think that Mercedes will get Sainz, but Williams would be more than happy to get one season of him. The reality is that we are going to see him go to Audi when they start so that means it is going to be just one season of him. And Mercedes will not want just one season of Sainz, they will want someone who will do better for the long term and I bet that after Hamilton leaves, they are going to try to get some driver who would be able to stay for a long time.

Williams on the other hand doesn't have a choice, they are a poor team who doesn't do all that well, so if Sainz accepts going there for one season, that would be lovely for them because they know that they are going to get one great season from a great driver that they normally can't.

This track is all about driver's skill but also the car can impact you a lot,the maximum speed on this track is 293-297 Km/h or just a bit more and this means it is a relatively very slow track that if the cars are setup near equal or someone have find the better balance of the car.It is all about driver's skill as I said paired together with a great setup for the track of tomorrow,that setup I am talking about can make a huge difference in the single lap to give someone the pole which most likely is going to be converted to a win.

In fact in this track I have never seen someone winning starting from 7th place or below and even place above 7th,usually most of the times it has been either P1 or P2 from the starting grid that have won the race here,that is why it is going to be a boring race and the pole here is much more important than any other track.

Yes and it was very scary.

With luck and skill he managed to avoid the collision.
A collision at that speed with a basically stopped car could be lethal.

Even if it is only F2, the speed there it is easly over 200 km/h

By the way, have you seen this? : https://x.com/RBR_Daily/status/1793999851698708486

F2 driver Isack Hadjar could have crashed into Miyata if he didn't have those insane reflexes.    Thankfully Formula drivers are focusing on improving their reflexes much more than a normal person. That tunnel is really dangerous for such moments. Because you are getting past it at full speed and there is a blind corner there which is open for accidents.

Coming back to F1, Hamilton was really impressive in FP1. But will he maintain a solid performance? I doubt that honestly as the car is generally so slow.

After announcing his retirement at the end of this season, during today's Practice Aleix Espargaro managed to set a new record with his quite epic time on an Aprilia motorbike at the Catalunya circuit today where he managed to set a time of 1:38.562 seconds in today's Practice session and placed him as the first and immediately qualify for Q2 for tomorrow. Meanwhile, Marquez failed to qualify for Q2 even though he was in first place in today's FP1 session, but this is certainly not a problem for him because Marquez can take this through Q1 tomorrow.

Yeah, the rumours linking Sainz with Mercedes have been out there for quite a while in fact. But I'm hearing about the Williams one for the first time. Another driver being linked with Williams lately is Bottas. Sargeant is losing his seat for sure after not being able to meet the expectations. He looked decent though when he was driving in F2 but it doesn't look like F1 is for him. 

Red Bull really offered Perez an extension?    I wasn't expecting that. Because after the drop in his performance in last times of the 2023 season I thought Red Bull would be more hesitant.

Williams looks like they're trying to be a great team again.  There are words swirling around that they're determined to get Adrian Newey to join them.  Dunno tho...  It feels like Newey will take at least a year off from F1.  He's been meaning to do it from what I've seen.

As for Red Bull...  Lol.  That means they've given up on Ricciardo.  Looks like the guy is washed.

Here's FP1.  Interesting result even tho we know most of them are in sand bagging mode.

2024 F1 Monaco GP FP1 Results

1   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m12.169s
2   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m12.198s
3   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m12.295s
4   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m12.396s
5   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari   1m12.397s
6   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m12.775s
7   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m12.789s
8   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m12.875s
9   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   Visa Cash App RB F1 Team   1m12.901s
10   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari   1m12.954s
11   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m12.984s
12   Sergio Perez   MEX   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m13.229s
13   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m13.248s
14   Kevin Magnussen   DEN   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m13.390s
15   Alex Albon   THA   Williams Racing   1m13.425s
16   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   MoneyGram Haas F1 Team   1m13.576s
17   Logan Sargeant   USA   Williams Racing   1m14.150s
18   Esteban Ocon   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m14.159s
19   Zhou Guanyu   CHN   Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber   1m14.570s
20   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m15.574s

It is likely that Sainz will join Mercedes next season - to fill the slot left by Hamilton. Sainz is not a bad racer, compared to Charles, he has a slightly superior performance, but it's just that at some points his luck runs out. I'm sure that his joining Mercedes will allow Mercedes to maintain their performance and it is possible that they can get a podium, but only if it is accompanied by good upgrades by Mercedes on their car. I'm quite positive about the possibility of Sainz moving to Mercedes, and I hope it happens.

From what I've been reading today about Sainz, I think he has a good chance of ending up in a completely unexpected destination in 2025 for many people... in fact he seems to be in "advanced talks" to take over from American Logan Sargeant at Williams .
Sainz has known since the beginning of this year that he will no longer stay at Ferrari for next year, they want to make room for Hamilton and he would certainly make an excellent pairing with Charles Leclerc.

The other vacancies sought by the Spaniard are at Red Bull and Mercedes. However, the bullfighting team is in negotiations to keep Sergio Pérez for another year alongside three-time world champion Max Verstappen, while the Brackley team's tendency is to promote the young Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is currently in Formula 2, to be the duo by George Russell.

New rumors today about Sainz.
He is rumored to have be in contact with 2 teams lately: Williams and Mecedes.

Following the rumors that links him to Mercedes, the voice has been turned off so it seems to Mercedes for him.


Redbull offered 1 year extention to Perez, he asked for 2. So at the moment Redbull has no second driver for the next year.

That's why McLaren and Ferrari need to get their sht together during qualifying...  If they get pole then more likely than not, they win the race.

Verstappen is at 2.40 to get pole.  This could be another spot the books are giving us some decent value 'preflop'.  :/


There's prolly gonna be some drizzle but no hard rain like those ones we've seen happen in Spa and Suzuka for like more than a couple if times.