F1 Madness

Tag: monacoGP

  • Button Confirmed as Alonso’s Replacement in Monaco

    Button Confirmed as Alonso’s Replacement in Monaco

    McLaren have confirmed that Jenson Button will make a come back out of his sabbatical to drive for the team in the Monaco Grand Prix to replace Fernando Alonso who will be taking part in the Indianpolis 500.

    Button was replaced by Stoffel Vandoorne at McLaren for the 2017 season. While saying that it was a sabbatical it could’ve effectively be seen as a retirement from the sport. While not having set foot in competitive racing since his break from F1 Button feels that he is fit and up to the task of driving in Monaco.

    “I’m thrilled to be making a one-off return to Formula 1 racing, and I couldn’t think of a better place to make that return than my adopted home Grand Prix: Monaco,” said the Briton.

    “I’ve won the race before, in 2009, and it’s one of my all-time favourite racetracks. It’s a tricky street circuit on which a good driver can really make a difference – and, although the McLaren-Honda MCL32 hasn’t begun the season well, I think it may be more suited to Monaco than to the faster circuits that Fernando and Stoffel have raced it on so far this season.

    “OK, I realise we won’t have a realistic chance of repeating my 2009 victory, but I think we’ll have a opportunity to score world championship points, which will be very valuable to the team in terms of constructors’ rankings.

    “As for Fernando, I hope he not only fares well at Indy but enjoys it too.

    “It’ll be a great experience for him. He’s an excellent driver, as we all know, and he’s very experienced, so, although super-speedway driving techniques will be all-new to him, I expect him to get to grips with it all pretty quickly.

    “And on Sunday evening, after the Monaco Grand Prix, I’ll sit down and watch him do his stuff on TV. I’m looking forward to that too.

    “But most of all I’m looking forward to pitting myself against the unique racing challenge that is the Monaco Grand Prix. I’ll drive the MCL32 around Monaco in the McLaren sim beforehand, and I reckon I’ll be ready for the race after doing that.

    “I’m supremely fit, having done a lot of triathlon training recently, so I have no worries on that score. And it’ll be nice to say ‘hi’ to all my old Formula 1 mates too, and hopefully to give the fans something to cheer about.”

  • Red Bull Puts Ricciardo’s Pit Stop Blunder Down to Tyre Unavailability

    Red Bull Puts Ricciardo’s Pit Stop Blunder Down to Tyre Unavailability

    Red Bull have revealed that Ricciardo’s pit stop  blunder was down to unavailability of tyres required because they were at the back of the garage.

    The race started under safety car conditions and once the race got going he was able to open up a good lead over the Mercedes pair. After his first stop on the intermediates after starting on the full wets, he was able to stay close to 1st place driver Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton chose to stay out on the full wet tyres, a move that would later prove to be a race winning move.

    As conditions improved and a dry line started appearing and drivers switched over to dry weather tyres. Hamilton came in for a set of ultra softs first, Ricciardo was in the pits a few laps later. It was supposed to be a routine stop for the Australian and he was expected to rejoin the race in the lead.

    Red Bull did not have any tyres ready for him and Ricciardo was delayed in the pits. He eventually rejoined the race behind Hamilton.

    The plan, according to Red Bull was to fit the softs on Ricciardo’s car but then changed their minds to fit on the super softs that he ran during Q2.

    Believing that there was enough time to get those tyres ready for Ricciardo it soon emerged that the tyres were at the back of the garage which sent the mechanics scrambling for tyres at the back of the garage.

    “Based on how we are set up here in Monaco, the pit wall is upstairs and the garage is downstairs,” said Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner

    “The tyres are on heat both in the garage and behind the garage, and unfortunately the set of tyres that were called for were not readily to hand, and were at the back of the garage.

    “There was a scramble with the mechanics, originally having the soft tyre ready, the yellow tyre. And when that change [to supersoft] was requested to go to the super soft, those tyres were actually right at the back of the garage.

    “A very disappointing day.

    “We as a team owe Daniel a huge apology today as we failed to support him in the way we did to get him to his first pole position yesterday.

    “The delay at his pit stop cost him the lead and despite some excellent driving to get close to Lewis, he couldn’t get past, as is so often the case here in Monaco.

     

    Photo Credit: Red Bull Racing