He picked up his pace with some impressive in-laps, which were traffic-free (as Raikkonen was caught up behind some slower cars), and a good stop meant he emerged clear of his team-mate in first place. Vettel stayed out five laps longer than Raikkonen and pitted on lap 39. The ultra-soft had very little degradation and around a seven tenth advantage, so it was surely going to be the best tyre to be on. Keeping in touch with Raikkonen through the first stint put Vettel in a strong position, with the ‘overcut’ working much better than many expected. Definitely a missed opportunity and no wonder he was even more downbeat than usual afterwards. His pace was comparable – but not quite so as consistent – as Vettel’s, but when he realised he was behind him, he backed off. It wasn’t a super-quick pitstop, so maybe they just missed the window they wanted, but it still cost him time and (most importantly) track position. Ferrari must’ve known traffic could play its part too, but still stopped Raikkonen. Raikkonen pitted just after Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas, who were both doing solid but not spectacular sector times on super-softs. Of course, this was denied, but the Raikkonen pitstop call doesn’t make a whole lot of sense really – maybe it’s just another one of Ferrari’s occasional strategy errors. Some have suggested Ferrari directly favoured Vettel by giving him a stronger strategy, in order to maximise track position. Qualifying is even more crucial around the streets of Monte Carlo and with a strong start, the battle for the win came down to the pitstops. He was starting from the best place on the grid after a stunning qualifying lap, but Raikkonen wasn’t quite so happy (let’s be honest, when’s he ever that smiley?) after the Monaco GP. Nevertheless, there was still some scope to do something different and plenty of strategic headlines to delve into: How Raikkonen lost the race Hamilton’s recovery to seventh place came after a disappointing qualifying session, where traffic and yellow flags saw him eliminated in Q2.ĭespite high temperatures, the low-grip track surface and durable nature of the Pirelli tyres limited strategy. Kimi Raikkonen lined up on pole position but it was Sebastien Vettel who claimed victory, extending his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton to 25 points. The 2017 Monaco Grand Prix was far from a thriller, but with the new breed of Formula 1 cars, was that really much of a surprise? Monaco GP F1 Strategy Report Podcast – our host Michael Lamonato is joined by Matt Clayton, Australian Motorsport Editor,. Race 6 – 78 Laps – 3.337km per lap – 260.286km race distance – very low tyre wear
0 kommentar(er)
