2021 Monaco GP Race Discussion

Visit us at f1fanfiction.comIn this episode we discuss:Were we back in 2006? - Ferrari Qualification controversySmooth Operator Carlos SainzOut of all luck Valtteri BottasMercedes cannot handle pressureLewis Hamilton, the cribbing and complaining boxDare you skip mid episodes messages!Blue flags in MclarenMore Top Gear references with Daniel Ricciardo's weekendRedBull strategy and Sergio Perez finds his mojoAston Martin and you've been Strolled!Haas and other amazing battlesFlags Flags everywhere; could have been with Hamilton too.Join us at Socials:Twitter: @f1fanfictionInstagram: @f1fanfictionF1 Fantasy Code: c3f7a33139Music:Intro: Howling (Sting) - Gunnar OlsenOutro: Your Intro by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Artist: http://audionautix.com/FanFiction By Anirudh Mendiratta @MontanaDesi on Twitter

**Introduction**

* The hosts, Akash and Sarang, express their excitement for the Monaco Grand Prix, which was canceled the previous year due to the pandemic.
* They note the controversial qualifying session, where Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari while attempting to secure pole position.

**Race Highlights**

* Carlos Sainz Jr. takes advantage of the situation and secures P2 for Ferrari, while Sergio Perez finds his mojo and helps Red Bull secure a strong position.
* Aston Martin has a great day with both Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll finishing in the points.
* Haas drivers Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher both finish the race, despite concerns about their performance.

**Mercedes' Struggles**

* Mercedes faces a challenging race, with Valtteri Bottas suffering a disastrous pit stop that costs him a potential podium finish.
* Lewis Hamilton also struggles, complaining about the team's strategy and receiving a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct.
* The hosts discuss Mercedes' inability to handle pressure and their apparent advantage in previous seasons.

**Other Notable Moments**

* Daniel Ricciardo endures a difficult race, facing blue flags from his McLaren teammate Lando Norris and struggling to maintain pace.
* There are several incidents of drivers receiving black and white flags for exceeding track limits at Turn 10.
* Max Verstappen comes close to lapping Hamilton, but the latter pits for a fastest lap attempt to secure an extra point.

## Carlos Sainz's Smooth Performance

* Carlos Sainz's impressive performance in Monaco is highlighted, with the hosts praising his ability to navigate the challenging circuit and secure a podium finish.

## Valtteri Bottas' Unfortunate Luck

* The podcast acknowledges Valtteri Bottas' unfortunate luck in Monaco, as he faced technical issues and a collision, resulting in a disappointing race for the Alfa Romeo driver.

## Mercedes' Inability to Handle Pressure

* The hosts criticize Mercedes' inability to handle the pressure of the Monaco Grand Prix, pointing out strategic errors and communication issues that hindered Lewis Hamilton's chances of victory.

## Lewis Hamilton's Frustration

* Lewis Hamilton's frustration with his team's performance is discussed, with the hosts noting his complaints over the radio and his apparent dissatisfaction with the team's strategy.

## Mid-Episode Messages and McLaren's Blue Flags

* The podcast briefly mentions the importance of listening to mid-episode messages and highlights McLaren's effective use of blue flags to manage traffic during the race.

## Daniel Ricciardo's Top Gear References

* Daniel Ricciardo's entertaining weekend in Monaco is mentioned, with the hosts referencing his Top Gear-inspired antics and his unfortunate lapping by his teammate, Lando Norris.

## Red Bull's Strategy and Sergio Perez's Resurgence

* The podcast praises Red Bull's strategic decisions and Sergio Perez's resurgence in Monaco, emphasizing the Mexican driver's strong performance and his contribution to the team's success.

## Aston Martin's Struggles and Haas' Exciting Battles

* Aston Martin's disappointing race in Monaco is acknowledged, with the hosts discussing the team's lack of pace and Lance Stroll's struggles. On the other hand, Haas' exciting battles and Kevin Magnussen's impressive performance are highlighted.

## Flag-Related Incidents and Hamilton's Potential Penalty

* The podcast mentions the numerous flag-related incidents during the race, including the potential penalty for Lewis Hamilton for allegedly ignoring blue flags.

## Conclusion

* The podcast concludes by summarizing the key moments and controversies of the Monaco Grand Prix, emphasizing the entertaining and unpredictable nature of the race. The hosts sign off, inviting listeners to join them on social media and tune in for the next episode, which will cover the upcoming Baku Grand Prix.

[00:00.000 -> 00:06.160] This is F1. You're behaving as if this is County League Racing Championship.
[00:06.160 -> 00:08.160] They really need to learn to rub their nuts.
[00:15.040 -> 00:23.360] Hello and welcome back to another episode with F1 Fan Fiction. This week, it's the Monaco Grand Prix,
[00:23.360 -> 00:25.000] the race that everyone waits for.
[00:25.000 -> 00:27.000] We are your hosts. I am Akash.
[00:27.000 -> 00:29.000] And I am Sarang.
[00:29.000 -> 00:30.000] And let's get into it.
[00:30.000 -> 00:35.000] We come back to the Monaco Grand Prix after missing last year.
[00:35.000 -> 00:38.000] So, it's all the more exciting this year.
[00:38.000 -> 00:43.000] And it's been a great race, an amazing qualifying, controversial.
[00:43.000 -> 00:45.280] I felt, I have to say I
[00:45.280 -> 00:53.320] felt like I was back in 2006 it was a red car it was a soft stopped car so
[00:53.320 -> 01:01.240] yeah you remember that right Michael Schumacher just parking his car in
[01:01.240 -> 01:07.600] Rascas and you know trying to block his rival that's Alonso
[01:08.560 -> 01:16.000] from getting a better lap than him. Though I have to hand it to Leclerc, his disciple let's put it
[01:16.000 -> 01:21.680] that way. He learned it better right because he crashed the car rather than literally parking
[01:21.680 -> 01:25.360] the car at Rasc, making it less controversial.
[01:26.240 -> 01:29.280] That was the must, you know, Ferrari master plan all along.
[01:29.840 -> 01:36.560] So I think like Binotto thought back when through Ferrari archives and it was like,
[01:37.440 -> 01:44.160] if we get a pole, strategy B, like just move to plan B, crash our car, we'll fix the car later.
[01:46.320 -> 01:52.300] be like just move to plan B crash your car we'll fix the car later. It was you know the perfect Ferrari plan. I feel that Charles was probably in the
[01:52.300 -> 01:57.440] mindset that you know he had nothing to lose as such and he had already had the
[01:57.440 -> 02:05.680] fastest lap he probably was pushing it right over the edge and he did go over the edge and hit his tire on the edge.
[02:05.680 -> 02:11.600] But yeah, so I think he knew that he had nothing to lose and yeah, he went for it.
[02:11.600 -> 02:17.840] What's ironical is, like most of the times when we say you have nothing to lose,
[02:17.840 -> 02:20.720] it's actually true, like just go for it, what's there to lose.
[02:20.720 -> 02:30.400] In this case though, he had everything to lose because they still don't know what's wrong with the car or at least they haven't made it public yet at the time of this recording.
[02:30.400 -> 02:41.600] They thought it was the drive shaft something it's the gearbox but they don't know and what ended up happening for our listeners here is he never started his race.
[02:41.600 -> 02:47.520] So the first time I saw a DNS in the table.
[02:48.240 -> 02:51.840] I was super confused when I turned on the race, right? Like I hadn't seen
[02:51.840 -> 02:57.040] Twitter or any news when I woke up. And like I went straight up tuned on the TV.
[02:57.040 -> 03:01.920] And I hear that the commentators are saying that he won't be starting.
[03:01.920 -> 03:03.920] I'm like, wait, what? What's going on?
[03:04.000 -> 03:06.560] that he wouldn't be starting. I'm like, wait, what, what's going on?
[03:12.880 -> 03:19.360] But I think that was good for Carlos, because I think all the resources, it was like all had hands on deck for, for Carlos, because everyone was focusing on his car. He was having a splendid
[03:19.360 -> 03:26.040] day because of that. P2, an amazing place to be for a Ferrari that, you know, wasn't even looking
[03:26.040 -> 03:28.160] promising before the season started.
[03:28.160 -> 03:33.600] Oh yeah. And you know, what I really appreciate about Sainz's performance today was that it's
[03:33.600 -> 03:39.440] just the fourth race, right, in a new team. He is not used to this car at all. And he
[03:39.440 -> 03:46.800] has gotten so comfortable in it. And yeah, P2 was just spectacular from him and given that you know how
[03:46.800 -> 03:54.080] where Ferrari was last year it's very difficult to even imagine that they would be comfortably in P2
[03:54.800 -> 04:02.640] yeah so that's that's really awesome. Yeah I think for Ferrari it's definitely a good comeback
[04:02.640 -> 04:05.140] if Carlos continues to perform like this,
[04:05.140 -> 04:08.180] he's gonna have to start learn some Italian words,
[04:08.180 -> 04:13.180] tazzi, ragazzi, and whatever Vatel used to say on the radio.
[04:14.360 -> 04:17.000] He's forgotten his smooth operator,
[04:17.000 -> 04:18.880] but we did see a shade of it.
[04:18.880 -> 04:20.920] I think like when he was being interviewed
[04:20.920 -> 04:24.520] before the podium, he was asked, how was it?
[04:24.520 -> 04:28.080] And he said, P2, yeah, that was easy.
[04:28.080 -> 04:30.680] Just a glimpse of our smooth operator there.
[04:32.120 -> 04:35.280] I think I remember him also complaining
[04:35.280 -> 04:38.000] or not complaining, but like just cribbing
[04:38.000 -> 04:41.760] about Botas slowing him down sometime during the race.
[04:43.280 -> 04:50.000] Oh yeah, that was really funny. I mean, he came on the radio and like, you know, he's basically like, Botaz is holding me up.
[04:50.000 -> 05:07.320] And yeah, that it's so ironic that a Ferrari was saying that about Mercedes, if you really consider what happened last year. Right. It was, it was an amazing race for Ferrari.
[05:07.640 -> 05:11.880] I think, uh, it's, it's the curse of Monte Carlo for,
[05:12.080 -> 05:16.960] for Charles that he's, he's yet to finish a race here.
[05:19.120 -> 05:22.800] Not just like, you know, win or something. He hasn't even finished a race.
[05:22.840 -> 05:26.360] That's something really insane.
[05:26.720 -> 05:31.400] And to think about it, like he's, he's like born and bought up in,
[05:31.920 -> 05:36.800] in Monaco, that's literally his home race and he hasn't even finished it.
[05:36.880 -> 05:39.560] And yeah, it's, it's, it's weird.
[05:39.560 -> 05:44.400] I feel, uh, I really imagine if, if, uh, you know,
[05:44.400 -> 05:54.600] Friday gets back their pace and they give Charles a championship winning card and still he wins the championship but still never finishes in Monaco.
[05:54.600 -> 06:05.120] I mean that's the most funny part which you mentioned. It's his home track. It's like you're playing hide and seek with your friends in your house
[06:05.120 -> 06:10.080] And you're the only one who keeps bumping into the furniture like this is my house
[06:10.080 -> 06:12.080] How can this happen to me?
[06:12.080 -> 06:14.080] Laughter
[06:14.080 -> 06:16.080] Oh man
[06:16.080 -> 06:22.800] Well at least you know it kind of played into science's hands and he landed on the podium. So, you know, that's that's great
[06:23.600 -> 06:27.920] Though I think a couple of people were really missing the podium today.
[06:28.720 -> 06:31.200] Yeah, dude, poor BOTAs.
[06:32.720 -> 06:39.200] It was, it definitely was a Mercedes P2, if not P1, given its BOTAs.
[06:42.880 -> 06:44.720] But that, I think, I think,
[06:50.560 -> 06:55.600] But that I think, I think, I think Toto was just pissed with the way Hamilton was performing. And it all came out on board as like, how dare you? How dare you? How dare you?
[06:55.600 -> 07:04.120] You know, to me, it seems like, you know, the parents are fighting and like, they are like really having, you know, issues with their marriage.
[07:04.120 -> 07:09.500] And basically, the parents bring out all their frustration on the kid, the kid being good as.
[07:09.500 -> 07:25.280] Oh man, he was having a stunner of a race, not a great start. I mean not a great start from a position advantage point of view but his race start was actually good. It's just that
[07:25.280 -> 07:29.500] the brilliance of Max that he you know parked his car facing towards the race
[07:29.500 -> 07:34.840] line knowing that Botaz actually had advantage because there wasn't a P1
[07:34.840 -> 07:39.740] car in front of him and he could have gotten ahead of him. It was just Max's
[07:39.740 -> 07:46.040] brilliance that prevented Botaz from you that lead. But nonetheless, he had a great start.
[07:46.040 -> 07:48.040] He was chasing Max down.
[07:48.040 -> 07:51.600] There was a good chance that he could have gotten a position
[07:51.600 -> 07:56.200] ahead of Max if the strategy would have worked out fine.
[07:56.200 -> 07:58.880] And ironically, it was the strategy that didn't.
[07:58.880 -> 08:00.720] And that pit stop.
[08:00.720 -> 08:02.320] Oh, man.
[08:02.320 -> 08:06.040] That's the weirdest reason for finishing a race.
[08:06.080 -> 08:10.400] Like, you know, like rather not finishing the race that I've ever seen.
[08:10.760 -> 08:13.800] It was so funny to watch. Like, I was so confused what's going on.
[08:13.880 -> 08:19.240] At one point I felt like, you know, the, the pit crew member basically just was
[08:19.600 -> 08:22.320] angry at Bottas or something. And he's like, you know, I'm not going to change your
[08:22.320 -> 08:23.560] diet to anything you want.
[08:26.160 -> 08:31.120] Yeah. I remember seeing it and it was like he's there the clock's ticking and I'm like okay
[08:31.120 -> 08:36.720] something's wrong poor Bhotas he just has a very bad pit stop on an amazing race and I'm like okay
[08:36.720 -> 08:41.600] change it change it one minute change it and then the commentators say they are not able to get the
[08:41.600 -> 08:49.120] nut off and I can see this guy fumbling with fumbling with this gun and I'm like get another gun and by the time they get
[08:49.120 -> 08:54.920] another gun they've already rubbed the thread off I'm like this is this is
[08:54.920 -> 09:05.000] f1 you're behaving as if this is county league racing championship they really They really need to learn to rub their nuts. Oh man. Oh man.
[09:05.000 -> 09:13.000] And this too from a team like Mercedes, right?
[09:13.000 -> 09:16.000] Like they've they are seven times world champion.
[09:16.000 -> 09:18.000] Think, let that sink in.
[09:18.000 -> 09:25.880] You know, though, something like this kind of shows how much of advantage Mercedes had even earlier.
[09:26.160 -> 09:28.220] It's not like Mercedes never makes mistakes.
[09:28.220 -> 09:33.040] They have made blunders even before, but it's, it's that, you know, as we had
[09:33.080 -> 09:36.080] talked about sometime earlier as well, that we were just joking about it, that
[09:36.380 -> 09:40.140] Hamilton finished the race on three tires, but that's the thing, you know, they
[09:40.220 -> 09:44.740] have such a huge or rather have had such a huge competitive advantage.
[09:44.740 -> 09:46.740] And what are the things, uh, these issues never came to the forefront, but I feel they have such a huge or rather have had such a huge competitive advantage over other teams.
[09:46.740 -> 09:52.780] These issues never came to the forefront. But I feel that since Red Bull has a really
[09:52.780 -> 09:57.860] competitive card, we might be seeing this more often. Because think about it. Like,
[09:57.860 -> 10:04.540] you know, have you ever seen Hamilton being P7 in qualification? It, it was really weird
[10:04.540 -> 10:08.000] to see that I was super confused what's going on during qualifications.
[10:08.000 -> 10:16.000] And to be honest, it also shows very evidently that, you know, even though they are seven times world champion,
[10:16.000 -> 10:33.560] they are not able to handle pressure that well. And they are just like any other team when it comes to handling pressure. And that's so evident with Hamilton too because twice or thrice he came on the radio being the complain box that he is.
[10:33.560 -> 10:50.140] And what pisses me off with him is that if he is doing good, you know, he just has one sentence for the entire team and wants to take all the praise. But as soon as things start going wrong, he just wants to push the blame away.
[10:50.140 -> 10:53.080] I mean, dude, you were not even able to get past Ghazalie.
[10:53.080 -> 10:54.080] Ghazalie.
[10:54.080 -> 10:56.320] Yeah, that was pretty hard.
[10:56.320 -> 11:01.480] I mean, the way he was complaining pretty much throughout the race after the pit stops.
[11:01.480 -> 11:08.760] I mean, I kind of understand the frustration that, you know, uh, basically what happened was if you saw that he was trying to play it safe at the start of
[11:08.760 -> 11:13.600] the race and like save his tires so that he could go longer and do a overcut on
[11:13.600 -> 11:13.960] Gasly.
[11:13.960 -> 11:17.000] But I think most of these decided to do an undercut instead.
[11:17.400 -> 11:21.680] And, uh, so kind of his efforts of saving the tires went to waste.
[11:21.680 -> 11:23.120] So he was a bit frustrated.
[11:23.360 -> 11:28.800] I can understand that, you know, as soon as he came out of the pits, he was complaining, but that complaining went throughout the race.
[11:28.800 -> 11:36.680] And that was quite annoying, very honestly to watch. I don't know. But as you said, like, you know, he.
[11:37.600 -> 11:46.620] I've seen this often that whenever things are not going his way, yeah, he kind of turns into a complaint box.
[11:46.620 -> 11:48.760] Yeah, made benefit of doubt to him.
[11:48.760 -> 11:52.740] I was gonna give, I didn't, I was gonna give him,
[11:52.740 -> 11:57.740] which is the fact that you're somewhere in P7,
[11:58.240 -> 12:03.240] if you are the driver of the caliber that has won seven times
[12:03.400 -> 12:08.440] I expect you to show that even on a track like Monaco.
[12:08.560 -> 12:10.600] Okay, I agreed that you can't be on the podium,
[12:10.600 -> 12:14.640] but at least gain those positions and be somewhere
[12:14.640 -> 12:18.500] so that you prove the driver that you are.
[12:19.640 -> 12:23.760] It was just boring seeing Hamilton
[12:23.760 -> 12:25.880] the way he was yesterday.
[12:25.880 -> 12:33.320] Yeah, that's, that's unfortunately, you know, I was kind of sad in the sense that I was
[12:33.320 -> 12:37.920] hoping to see a much spicier race in the front because I was hoping that, you know, first
[12:37.920 -> 12:41.080] of all, Charles and Verstappen would be going at it.
[12:41.080 -> 12:42.940] But unfortunately, that didn't happen.
[12:42.940 -> 12:49.440] And even during qualifications, I was hoping that Hamilton would at least be third or something. Because I mean, I completely expected that
[12:49.440 -> 12:53.040] from him, very honestly speaking, because, you know, this has happened in the past as
[12:53.040 -> 12:58.000] well. A lot of times I've seen this Hamilton, like really doesn't show his cards right up
[12:58.000 -> 13:03.920] till Q3. Yeah, does go slower. And you know, he generally puts in his fastest lap only
[13:03.920 -> 13:05.280] on the last lap of Q2.
[13:05.280 -> 13:10.440] Yeah. So I was completely expecting that but I was just really confused what's
[13:10.440 -> 13:16.520] going on. And around Q2 too I think like he was somewhere up like first four so
[13:16.520 -> 13:20.040] I was like okay he's got the pace he's just not showing it. Right. Yeah but he
[13:20.040 -> 13:26.000] just missed out on it. But for me I think another driver of the day was Gasly
[13:26.000 -> 13:31.940] because driving that Alfa Tauri he just did a it was a comeback race for
[13:31.940 -> 13:36.800] Gasly for me definitely because he was able to keep Mercedes and Hamilton at
[13:36.800 -> 13:44.560] bay for I mean half more than half the race albeit he had somewhat of fresher
[13:44.560 -> 13:47.360] tires but still I mean your Hamilton your
[13:47.360 -> 13:50.760] Mercedes you have the fastest car on the track
[13:50.760 -> 13:55.920] Monaco is probably not your strong suit because you know you're more better on
[13:55.920 -> 14:02.520] the straights blah blah blah but yeah Gasly keeping Mercedes at bay it was
[14:02.520 -> 14:05.120] just splendid to watch yeah and I'm kind of glad that finally Gasly keeping Mercedes at bay was just splendid to watch.
[14:14.720 -> 14:17.800] Yeah, and I'm kind of glad that finally Gasly had a good race because, yeah, I feel Alfatari in general was not having a good time till now. This might just be the race where things start turning for them.
[14:18.160 -> 14:21.280] So, yeah, credit to Gasly.
[14:21.280 -> 14:28.360] On the other side, I expected much from Sunoda too, but there wasn't much. I mean, not that he had a bad day or a good day.
[14:28.360 -> 14:34.280] He just wasn't feeling it right, I felt so. Yeah, I mean, I would say it was pretty much a bad day.
[14:41.120 -> 14:47.820] Hey folks, you are listening to F1 Fan Fiction, a podcast where we take the race week and
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[16:03.000 -> 16:05.000] And let's get back to the episode.
[16:11.000 -> 16:19.000] Yeah, I think it was a day where, you know, one of the drivers was having a splendid day whereas the other wasn't.
[16:19.000 -> 16:23.000] And we've seen that with Mercedes, we've seen that with Alfa Tauri.
[16:23.000 -> 16:27.440] It was also interesting to see a team like McLaren do that.
[16:27.600 -> 16:32.480] I feel so gutted for Daniel Ricardo.
[16:32.880 -> 16:34.560] Oh, man.
[16:34.560 -> 16:37.240] Seeing a blue flag on your own teammate.
[16:37.240 -> 16:38.480] I can't remember.
[16:38.480 -> 16:41.400] I can't remember I've ever seen that.
[16:41.400 -> 16:43.280] But damn. Oh, come on, dude.
[16:43.280 -> 16:45.440] Verstappen has been doing that for a while now.
[16:50.200 -> 16:51.640] Oh, damn.
[16:51.640 -> 16:52.640] That was dark.
[16:54.400 -> 16:55.520] True, but dark.
[16:58.160 -> 17:01.480] Yeah, either way, that was a very weird thing to see.
[17:01.480 -> 17:04.040] And, you know, Lando
[17:04.480 -> 17:08.240] lapping Ricardo, I was really shocked about that.
[17:08.240 -> 17:14.880] I mean, not just that, the fact that your teammate who is, you know, junior to you as such,
[17:14.880 -> 17:22.480] at least in sport. And yeah, and the person of Ricardo's caliber who has gotten two polls at
[17:22.480 -> 17:28.040] Monaco, won one race as well. And that too that too if you remember that race he had won it with some
[17:28.340 -> 17:34.260] Damage to his MG UK or something and that was a brilliant race that he has yet done. It was it was quite sad to see that
[17:35.400 -> 17:39.140] Man, he's he's called the king of Monaco, right? Like yeah
[17:40.080 -> 17:42.220] Celebrated there as a race winner
[17:43.000 -> 17:49.600] Yeah, it just hurts. And I, I mean, again, I'm going to give benefit of doubt to Lando where he
[17:49.600 -> 17:54.960] waved in courts, he was probably saying, dude, I feel for you.
[17:55.440 -> 18:01.120] It wasn't actually a wave, but I mean, we are, you know, gossipy people.
[18:01.120 -> 18:05.640] So that, you know what Lando waved passing Ricardo.
[18:07.160 -> 18:11.800] You can think about it as like the headlines on the newspaper, like driver
[18:11.800 -> 18:14.000] waves as he lapses his teammate.
[18:14.560 -> 18:17.560] Snobby driver waves as he lapses his teammate.
[18:20.160 -> 18:20.760] Oh, man.
[18:21.120 -> 18:24.760] Yeah, that was just rubbing salt on his wound.
[18:20.800 -> 18:21.500] Oh man. Yeah.
[18:21.500 -> 18:24.800] That was the rubbing salt on his boot.
[18:24.800 -> 18:30.100] He should have also shown a middle finger like bye get lost.
[18:30.100 -> 18:30.800] Stay back.
[18:30.800 -> 18:33.900] You want to be my teammate?
[18:33.900 -> 18:34.600] Stay back.
[18:34.600 -> 18:36.600] Yeah.
[18:36.600 -> 18:37.600] Watch my rear end.
[18:37.600 -> 18:40.700] I have a new contract.
[18:40.700 -> 18:41.200] You don't.
[18:41.200 -> 18:46.320] It would be so funny to see how this is. new contract you don't.
[18:46.320 -> 18:52.000] It would be so funny to see how this is there is so for folks who don't know the context
[18:52.000 -> 19:00.040] there was an episode where Ricardo was on Top Gear and Richard asked him I think it
[19:00.040 -> 19:06.040] was Richard or Jeremy Clarkson asked him, someone in the audience, sorry, someone in the audience asked him,
[19:06.040 -> 19:10.000] how does it feel to see the back of Lewis Hamilton?
[19:10.000 -> 19:13.000] And he raised a middle finger saying,
[19:13.000 -> 19:15.040] fuck you or something like that.
[19:15.040 -> 19:18.680] My question to him now is,
[19:18.680 -> 19:21.280] how does it feel to see the back of your own teammate
[19:21.280 -> 19:22.280] Landon Norris?
[19:22.280 -> 19:26.240] But yeah, overall I think like Ricardo was just having back of your own teammate Lando Norris.
[19:32.080 -> 19:38.080] But yeah, overall, I think like Ricardo was just having a poor day to see even the fact that Kimi Raikkonen overtaking him from pit stops.
[19:39.000 -> 19:41.520] Oh yeah, that was, that was quite weird, right?
[19:41.560 -> 19:45.760] And I was surprised that Alpha overtook McLaren, first of all.
[19:46.160 -> 19:50.640] And though, I mean, it was only possible in a pit stop as it was Monaco, as
[19:50.640 -> 19:55.120] everyone knows, you can not overtake in Monaco and that's what happened in the
[19:55.120 -> 19:55.640] race, right?
[19:55.640 -> 20:01.000] Like pretty much all the overtakes that happened did happen in pit stops.
[20:01.400 -> 20:06.640] And yeah, that's where kind of races were or you know positions were gained.
[20:06.640 -> 20:11.680] That was straight to strategy and I think Red Bull had a really good strategy, right?
[20:13.440 -> 20:20.880] Yeah, I think Red Bull's strategy was exactly what Mercedes had a race before.
[20:21.760 -> 20:25.920] It was well thought out, well planned, taking advantage of the situation
[20:27.520 -> 20:33.520] in that sense that they got Perez so up. I think Perez was flying way down behind Hamilton at one
[20:33.520 -> 20:52.160] point in P8, P9, something like that. And then I remember him seeing P1. I mean, he again went for the same old fact that I'm just going to keep running as much as these tires allow me, which worked out very well.
[20:52.160 -> 21:01.840] Because if I remember this right and Saran correct me if I'm wrong here, I think Max pitted, which let Perez go ahead.
[21:01.840 -> 21:03.880] So Perez was then the leader of the race.
[21:03.840 -> 21:08.280] Perez go ahead. So Perez was then the leader of the race. And then because he was the leader of the race, he had that free air to cut through
[21:08.280 -> 21:11.280] and gain more distance with everyone behind.
[21:11.280 -> 21:14.280] And because Red Bull knew that he hasn't pitted,
[21:14.280 -> 21:18.680] there was always this known fact that Max is still the actual reader.
[21:18.680 -> 21:23.680] But Perez has this advantage to pop up somewhere between P5, P6.
[21:23.680 -> 21:45.600] And that was like, you you know brilliant race by Perez because he is known for his tyre management skills and he completely proved his worth today by maintaining the tyres and you know staying out so long and the best part was that during the start of the race I did not think that he would be within, you know, the top five at all.
[21:45.600 -> 21:46.120] Yeah.
[21:46.200 -> 21:51.120] And it was just surprising to see him, you know, go up the board, uh, through
[21:51.120 -> 21:51.640] the race.
[21:51.720 -> 21:56.560] And even actually when he was at P2 or P1, I was not quite sure that he might,
[21:56.600 -> 22:00.600] you know, and I felt that he might end up behind Hamilton somewhere, but he really
[22:00.600 -> 22:02.240] capitalized on that situation.
[22:02.240 -> 22:06.200] He knew that he had to keep the tires till later on
[22:06.200 -> 22:10.760] and push everything then and gain some time.
[22:10.760 -> 22:14.560] Yeah, what was great there was like,
[22:14.560 -> 22:16.280] with you on that exact thought,
[22:16.280 -> 22:18.800] because I think race start he was behind Hamilton.
[22:18.800 -> 22:21.440] And I was like, again, Red Bull is missing
[22:21.440 -> 22:23.640] the second driver in front of Hamilton
[22:23.640 -> 22:26.320] to hold Hamilton back, know the second Mercedes back.
[22:27.320 -> 22:32.360] And then the whole tables are flipped in favor of Red Bull and I'm like this is just too brilliant.
[22:33.000 -> 22:40.040] The other fun part for me personally was as soon as Perez pitted and he came out he was in front of Hamilton.
[22:40.640 -> 22:49.200] And radio tells Hamilton that you know Perez is in front of you and Hamilton starts screaming again.
[22:49.200 -> 22:55.200] Oh my god he was fuming. How the hell is Perez in front of us? What are we doing?
[22:55.200 -> 23:06.440] Oh yeah that was really awesome I remember that. He was fuming he, you know, how can this happen?
[23:07.440 -> 23:10.000] Oh, yeah. I was like, yes, yes, both Red Bull there.
[23:12.560 -> 23:13.840] No, but that kind of shows, right.
[23:13.840 -> 23:17.240] You know, Red Bull made the right choice by going for Perez
[23:17.560 -> 23:20.920] because he is pretty much exactly
[23:21.400 -> 23:23.760] fitting into the shoes of the person that they need.
[23:24.000 -> 23:29.200] He's still a little missing out on what they need, but he's almost there.
[23:29.200 -> 23:33.600] I feel in the next two or three races, he would be much more comfortable in the car
[23:33.600 -> 23:38.440] and would be consistently, you know, right there on P4 or P3 positions.
[23:39.960 -> 23:43.160] Yeah, if Perez hadn't performed the way he did,
[23:43.400 -> 23:51.040] you know, combined with race engineering and the strategy, Red Bull today wouldn't have been top constructors
[23:51.040 -> 23:54.040] that they are just by I think one or two points that they are right now.
[23:54.080 -> 23:54.280] Yep.
[23:54.400 -> 23:55.640] Just one point, but yeah.
[23:55.680 -> 23:56.120] Yeah.
[23:56.560 -> 24:02.440] And I honestly feel I might, this is my honest opinion that I feel Potas is
[24:02.480 -> 24:05.320] actually should be the driver of the day because he
[24:05.320 -> 24:14.240] sacrificed his entire race just so that fans get to see some competition against Mercedes.
[24:14.240 -> 24:21.920] Oh this is the reinventing Botas that I totally got his reinvention wrong man okay I like
[24:21.920 -> 24:28.000] this new reinvention. I think as part of his reinvention he should also crash into Hamilton at some point.
[24:28.000 -> 24:36.000] But the strategies were on point right? Like the strategies were totally on point.
[24:36.000 -> 24:48.360] Aston Martin was the other one getting it so absolutely on point and correct. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, Ashton Martin had a wonderful day to day.
[24:48.360 -> 24:53.680] Like I feel that at the start of the race, it didn't feel like they would be
[24:53.680 -> 24:58.600] anywhere because when he was, I think where P eight, I think he seven or P eight.
[24:58.600 -> 24:58.680] Yeah.
[24:58.680 -> 24:59.720] He was into Q2.
[25:00.120 -> 25:00.520] Yeah.
[25:00.560 -> 25:00.880] Yeah.
[25:01.320 -> 25:03.080] And no, he didn't get into Q3.
[25:03.120 -> 25:06.700] Uh, I think this was the second race getting into Q3, which was good for him.
[25:07.120 -> 25:11.760] Uh, and, uh, stroll was somewhere even further back, like 15 or something.
[25:12.140 -> 25:18.820] And, uh, yeah, it was really awesome to see that they completely
[25:18.820 -> 25:20.340] managed their tires so well.
[25:20.660 -> 25:26.840] Uh, Wettel completely proved his worth. His, his experience kind of showed in this race because, uh, Monaco is a
[25:26.840 -> 25:30.480] very demanding track and, uh, yeah.
[25:30.680 -> 25:35.760] Jumping four positions up was, you know, I mean, obviously one of them he
[25:35.760 -> 25:40.080] got for free because of Botas, uh, I think, I mean, it's not Motaz's fault,
[25:40.080 -> 25:46.960] but whatever, uh, uh, but still, you know, jumping three positions is still a very awesome thing to do.
[25:46.960 -> 25:56.080] His, wow, like his, you know, lap when right after like Hamilton and Gasly pitted,
[25:56.080 -> 26:03.680] that lap was something he basically got some free air and just went for it. And yeah,
[26:03.680 -> 26:07.080] did you see? Oh yes. Okay. This I, we really need
[26:07.080 -> 26:12.840] to talk about this here. So did you see the time when like Wettel just got out of the
[26:12.840 -> 26:19.960] pits and Gasly and Hamilton were battling and at turn one when Wettel just joined the
[26:19.960 -> 26:28.160] pack. That's exactly when the whoever the race director was decided that you know this is getting too interesting.
[26:28.160 -> 26:34.440] You know people might just turn off their TVs after this. So he was like you know change it to something else.
[26:34.440 -> 26:38.280] Put some boring shit out there so that people are not entertained.
[26:38.280 -> 26:50.300] Yeah. Yeah. God knows what is happening because I remember myundle and Paul DeResta or someone, they were actually talking
[26:50.500 -> 27:01.700] and they were like, oh this is an amazing spot where Vettel comes out of the track. He is right besides Gasly and we don't get to see it.
[27:01.900 -> 27:03.500] And Stroll.
[27:02.000 -> 27:04.000] And we don't get to see it. And stroll.
[27:04.000 -> 27:06.000] And stroll.
[27:06.000 -> 27:08.000] And that happened again because they were showing
[27:08.000 -> 27:10.000] I think strolls but stop.
[27:10.000 -> 27:12.000] Yeah. No they were
[27:12.000 -> 27:14.000] showing something else. There was a replay.
[27:14.000 -> 27:16.000] Ok now that the replay is back.
[27:16.000 -> 27:18.000] Let's see how Vettel actually
[27:18.000 -> 27:20.000] over to Gasly.
[27:20.000 -> 27:22.000] And we don't get to see it again. This is the
[27:22.000 -> 27:24.000] second time they have done this.
[27:24.000 -> 27:30.600] It's very weird. Do you know that basically it's not FIA's fault here?
[27:30.600 -> 27:38.200] I would say because Monaco has some weird deal with FIA where they have their own race direction for this race.
[27:38.200 -> 27:48.000] And I don't get it. It's very weird. There were a lot of issues with the coverage this time. It just felt very amateurish. I don't know.
[27:48.000 -> 27:55.080] But I think the whole strategy thing and obviously veteran driving by Vettel played out fine.
[27:55.080 -> 28:01.640] Because at least he was able to overtake Gasly and ended up in P5.
[28:01.640 -> 28:04.800] Amazing points. I think he's super happy.
[28:04.800 -> 28:08.400] He was having a great day. So yeah,
[28:08.400 -> 28:11.600] Ashton Martin plays out perfectly well.
[28:11.600 -> 28:18.880] You know, I'm glad to see Vettel kind of getting back on his form a bit. I mean, obviously,
[28:18.880 -> 28:28.800] this is just the second race where he has had a decent performance. But if he continues this, I think Aston Martin can claw their way up on the T-Bullets.
[28:28.800 -> 28:35.000] It's good to see points. I mean, overall, where did Stroll also end up?
[28:35.000 -> 28:41.000] I think he was P5 and P8.
[28:41.000 -> 28:47.400] Oh, P5 and P8. That's amazing points for Aston Martin.
[28:47.400 -> 28:52.840] I think they overshoot by a big margin there.
[28:52.840 -> 28:59.680] I think the other good part with a few of these other teams also is that, you know,
[28:59.680 -> 29:01.080] Giovinazzi finished 10th.
[29:01.080 -> 29:06.740] There was such an amazing battle happening for position 9 between Ocon
[29:06.740 -> 29:13.920] and Giovinazzi and I have to hand it to Ocon. I think he's having a flying season so far.
[29:13.920 -> 29:20.920] I just you know I never paid attention to Ocon as much before as much as I've started
[29:20.920 -> 29:29.040] paying this season and it's just amazing to see him flourish and fight those battles.
[29:29.040 -> 29:33.000] Giovinazzi, again, I mean, we've said this in our podcast ourselves
[29:33.000 -> 29:36.800] that Giovinazzi has always been someone on the track.
[29:36.800 -> 29:38.480] Like, you never pay attention to him.
[29:38.480 -> 29:42.000] But it was amazing to see that battle 9.
[29:42.000 -> 29:46.760] And he's always been in that 1 second gap for so many laps.
[29:46.760 -> 29:49.960] Kudos to him for at least trying for that P9.
[29:49.960 -> 29:57.320] There was another good battle happening between Perez and Norris.
[29:57.320 -> 30:01.000] I think Norris was slightly starting to struggle with tyres.
[30:01.000 -> 30:05.000] Perez was trying to take that advantage and I was so elated that you know
[30:05.000 -> 30:10.360] hey while Norris could miss out there could have been two Red Bulls on the podium just
[30:10.360 -> 30:11.360] amazing.
[30:11.360 -> 30:18.500] Coming, I want to come back to the section of TV coverage and race direction and FIA
[30:18.500 -> 30:26.000] and I want to mention that for a track which has zero runoff except one, right?
[30:32.000 -> 30:32.440] What was it? Did they hire a new guy just to sit at turn 10 and be like, who's coming off of this?
[30:36.000 -> 30:36.040] They handed out black and white flags left and right.
[30:37.520 -> 30:37.560] What was happening at turn 10?
[30:39.800 -> 30:43.480] It felt like somebody was sitting there with a sniper, you know.
[30:44.160 -> 30:46.480] Yeah, it is black and white.
[30:46.480 -> 30:52.520] I mean, it kind of makes sense because by cutting that chicane, you can really gain
[30:52.520 -> 30:53.520] a lot.
[30:53.520 -> 30:58.400] But yeah, it was pretty weird to see like everybody was getting warnings from their
[30:58.400 -> 31:10.000] engineers that you know, behave, otherwise you're going to get a penalty soon. It felt like, you know, like parents scolding their kids, you know, for, you know, getting a note from the teacher.
[31:10.000 -> 31:16.000] Mazipin got it. Norris got it.
[31:16.000 -> 31:22.000] There were many, dude. I think Snoda got it. Schumacher got it.
[31:22.000 -> 31:28.160] Oh yeah, Schumacher got it. Talking about Schumacher, I wanna probably take a few minutes for Haas as well.
[31:28.960 -> 31:36.400] You know, we've sort of joked that we're gonna see a few incidents with Nikita, which there weren't.
[31:36.400 -> 31:40.560] Although, I'll give it to you that I did think Nikita crashed during quali,
[31:40.560 -> 31:48.960] but only to find out it was Schumacher. I think he didn't hear his dad's words correctly that you gotta park it not crash it.
[31:52.120 -> 31:55.440] But yeah, they both finished the race.
[31:55.480 -> 32:06.800] I think Schumacher does show that, you know, good racing skills where I think lap one race start was it where he overtook Nikita on the
[32:06.800 -> 32:16.000] on the main u-turn the slowest point on the yeah so nothing nothing to be spoken about and talked
[32:16.000 -> 32:21.520] about with Haas over there but I think nonetheless both drivers finishing on a difficult track with
[32:21.520 -> 32:25.200] us with an overtake good weekend weekend for us, I'd say.
[32:25.200 -> 32:29.280] And considering the fact that they have outright said that they're not going to work on this car
[32:29.280 -> 32:34.560] anymore, I feel they are going to have a terrible time through all the races.
[32:34.560 -> 32:41.840] I feel of them just finishing the races, not being, you know, lapped two or three times
[32:41.840 -> 32:44.560] would itself be a very big achievement for them, honestly.
[32:43.360 -> 32:47.760] not being, you know, lapped two or three times would itself be a very big achievement for them, honestly. Well, uh, you know,
[32:48.240 -> 32:50.280] talking about lapping cars,
[32:50.520 -> 32:55.480] there was this one moment where it really felt like Westapen might actually
[32:55.640 -> 33:00.720] lap Hamilton at a point. It was, it was so bizarre.
[33:01.720 -> 33:10.120] I think Hamilton basically got a call to box so that he could go for the fastest lap and gain one point away from Max.
[33:10.120 -> 33:13.480] And he pitted and he came out and...
[33:13.480 -> 33:15.880] The interesting part, let me interject that.
[33:15.880 -> 33:21.240] The interesting part there was I think right then Sunoda was having a fastest lap.
[33:21.240 -> 33:25.760] And because he was outside of the first 10 position and points, he couldn't have gotten point for the fastest lap and because he was outside of the first 10 position and points he
[33:25.760 -> 33:29.760] couldn't have gotten point for the fastest lap so technically no one gets the fastest point.
[33:29.760 -> 33:31.760] That would have been really awesome right?
[33:31.760 -> 33:41.660] Yeah so like he, like the engineer came, sorry he got out of the pit you know pit and he was I think on the
[33:41.660 -> 33:46.320] preparation lap you know to like recharge his batteries and
[33:46.320 -> 33:48.520] everything so that he can go for that fastest lap.
[33:48.520 -> 33:53.960] And Max was like approaching him because I think he had just lapped Lance Troll and he
[33:53.960 -> 33:56.260] was kind of getting close to Hamilton a bit.
[33:56.260 -> 34:01.520] So the engineer comes on and says that, you know, probably this is not the right time
[34:01.520 -> 34:30.560] to go for the fastest lap because you might get blue flagged. Obviously Hamilton was kind of pissed about that. That would have been something. That would have been so hilarious. That would have been the cherry on top and we just missed that. Yeah then I wouldn't have cared if Hamilton wins the championship because now I've seen everything in my life. Yeah. And I think, you know, overall Monaco generally is a very boring race, honestly.
[34:30.560 -> 34:34.120] And this time it was a lot more interesting.
[34:34.120 -> 34:40.360] Yeah. There was not a lot of action on the track itself, but, you know, there were some great strategies in play.
[34:40.760 -> 34:52.000] And there was, you know, a lot of twists that were going on like Charles not starting and Ricardo getting lapped by his teammate and stuff
[34:52.000 -> 34:58.000] and yeah it was Max's weekend and like he was just amazing.
[34:58.000 -> 35:06.080] Yes, that's about it. There's nothing much to be said about this race so let's call it
[35:06.080 -> 35:14.040] a day and until until the next race which we meet a week after now in Baku
[35:14.040 -> 35:19.000] that's all from F1 fanfiction these are your hosts signing off
[35:19.000 -> 35:26.400] bye bye
[35:19.700 -> 35:21.700] you