Monaco GP review
So, Monte Carlo provided its usual combination of race, endurance test and demolition derby and also helped me to make a nice little profit as well. I don't think you can rate Monaco in the same way as other races - you know it's going to be a tactical race with little or no overtaking before it starts, so you don't feel that you've been cheated out of anything when positions change frequently.
Trulli was a worthy winner - keeping his head when all around him were losing theirs and, when it mattered, being damn quick round the trickiest circuit of the lot. It'll be interesting to see what sort of boost this gives him for the rest of the season as, for the first time in a while, he's not just outqualified but outraced Alonso and can now see the dizzy heights of second or third place in the championship beckoning him.
One thing that needs to be stated before revisionist Ferrari historians start claiming that Montoya cost them a win (because brake testing in the darkness of the tunnel is perfectly safe, of course) is that after Alonso's crash, there was no way Schumacher was going to win. At the time of his crash, Schumacher was leading, but he still had to make one more pit stop, whereas Trulli and Button had both made their final stop as soon as the safety car came out. Someone at Ferrari made a big mistake in not calling Michael into the pits the moment Alonso crashed and for once they were out-reacted by BAR and Renault calling their drivers in.
My question of the week is, given the abysmal level of his performaces this year, topped off with a De Cesaris-like mobile chicane weekend, why would Toyota even be considering getting Ralf Schumacher to drive for them, let alone pay him to it?
So, time for the ratings:
Good Race:
Renault: They were in with a chance of a 1-2 before Alonso crashed, and this weekend the blue cars were the ones to be in. If they can just squeeze some more power out of that engine then they could become a real threat to Ferrari for the rest of the season.
BAR: Didn't have the lucky breaks that could have got them a first win, but still very strong. Sato's starting to develop a worrying trend of blowing engines though, which needs to be investigated.
Toyota: Pretty much unnoticed, but the only team to get two cars to the finish in the points.
Average Race:
Sauber: Would probably have got a good race if fate hadn't stuck Fisichella into Sato's big cloud of smoke just after the start. A good run to 5th by Massa.
Jordan: Points! Precious, precious points! Now, can the prize money be used to pay for eye tests for Nick Heidfeld? He seems to have trouble noticing blue flags in front of him.
McLaren: Just on the cusp with 'bad' but a good qualifying performance might indicate them turning the corner, finally sorting out the new car's handling. Coulthard was unlucky to go out early.
Williams: Also just scraping into average, but only because of Montoya's 4th place. Someone really needs to get a grip in this team, and fast.
Bad Race:
Ferrari: On the back foot throughout the weekend, outraced by Renault, out-thought at the critical moments, a silly mistake from Schumacher and Barrichello nursing a failing car to the end. By their standards, that's a bad weekend.
Jaguar: They came, they started, they'd packed up and gone home before the race reached half distance.
Minardi: Embarrasingly slow, and desperately glad the 107% rule doesn't apply in qualifying anymore. Still, being that slow does guarantee camera time as they're constantly being lapped.
But, as I've said, I made a nice tidy profit on the race basically by spotting some good value in the odds earlier in the week. Both Renault drivers were available at such good odds (Alonso at 16/1, Trulli at 25/1) that an each-way bet on both of them meant I was guaranteed a small payout if just one of them finished in the top three. Given that they're the second-best team this year, and the Renault's historically been the best-handling of all the cars, it seemed good value, and proved to be excellent value, paying out at the equivalent of 7/1 when Trulli won.
Trulli was a worthy winner - keeping his head when all around him were losing theirs and, when it mattered, being damn quick round the trickiest circuit of the lot. It'll be interesting to see what sort of boost this gives him for the rest of the season as, for the first time in a while, he's not just outqualified but outraced Alonso and can now see the dizzy heights of second or third place in the championship beckoning him.
One thing that needs to be stated before revisionist Ferrari historians start claiming that Montoya cost them a win (because brake testing in the darkness of the tunnel is perfectly safe, of course) is that after Alonso's crash, there was no way Schumacher was going to win. At the time of his crash, Schumacher was leading, but he still had to make one more pit stop, whereas Trulli and Button had both made their final stop as soon as the safety car came out. Someone at Ferrari made a big mistake in not calling Michael into the pits the moment Alonso crashed and for once they were out-reacted by BAR and Renault calling their drivers in.
My question of the week is, given the abysmal level of his performaces this year, topped off with a De Cesaris-like mobile chicane weekend, why would Toyota even be considering getting Ralf Schumacher to drive for them, let alone pay him to it?
So, time for the ratings:
Good Race:
Renault: They were in with a chance of a 1-2 before Alonso crashed, and this weekend the blue cars were the ones to be in. If they can just squeeze some more power out of that engine then they could become a real threat to Ferrari for the rest of the season.
BAR: Didn't have the lucky breaks that could have got them a first win, but still very strong. Sato's starting to develop a worrying trend of blowing engines though, which needs to be investigated.
Toyota: Pretty much unnoticed, but the only team to get two cars to the finish in the points.
Average Race:
Sauber: Would probably have got a good race if fate hadn't stuck Fisichella into Sato's big cloud of smoke just after the start. A good run to 5th by Massa.
Jordan: Points! Precious, precious points! Now, can the prize money be used to pay for eye tests for Nick Heidfeld? He seems to have trouble noticing blue flags in front of him.
McLaren: Just on the cusp with 'bad' but a good qualifying performance might indicate them turning the corner, finally sorting out the new car's handling. Coulthard was unlucky to go out early.
Williams: Also just scraping into average, but only because of Montoya's 4th place. Someone really needs to get a grip in this team, and fast.
Bad Race:
Ferrari: On the back foot throughout the weekend, outraced by Renault, out-thought at the critical moments, a silly mistake from Schumacher and Barrichello nursing a failing car to the end. By their standards, that's a bad weekend.
Jaguar: They came, they started, they'd packed up and gone home before the race reached half distance.
Minardi: Embarrasingly slow, and desperately glad the 107% rule doesn't apply in qualifying anymore. Still, being that slow does guarantee camera time as they're constantly being lapped.
But, as I've said, I made a nice tidy profit on the race basically by spotting some good value in the odds earlier in the week. Both Renault drivers were available at such good odds (Alonso at 16/1, Trulli at 25/1) that an each-way bet on both of them meant I was guaranteed a small payout if just one of them finished in the top three. Given that they're the second-best team this year, and the Renault's historically been the best-handling of all the cars, it seemed good value, and proved to be excellent value, paying out at the equivalent of 7/1 when Trulli won.
Nick got away with this at 12:40 AM
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