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2018 Monaco Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: F1 isn't always about wheel-to-wheel racing. It's been like that forever. Some fans tend to forget that. It's also about manufacturers and constructors. It's also about technology. And, it's also about witnessing a performance like at Monaco this year -- a driver overcoming all odds to nurse an ailing car to victory against his pursuers. And that can only happen at a place like Monaco.

TRACK: Of course, the flip side is, that can only happen at a place like Monaco. It takes a track devoid of passing to pull off a feat like Ricciardo did.

EVENT: All those yachts. That view gets you every time.

QUALIFYING: Ricciardo is super human, Verstappen watches the whole affair from the sidelines, and the number ones on Ferrari and Mercedes do their thing.

RACE: Nobody deserved to win Monaco more this year than Ricciardo, and watching him perform with an injured car under the intense pressure he faced while seeing Vettel's attempts foiled by graining tires made the race worth it.

START: The pole sitter at Monaco has one job -- to get away cleanly with the lead. Ricciardo did that, and the rest was history.

RICCIARDO: Once the MGU-K went, it set off a chain reaction of issues with the car, some the common fan may not be aware of, which this excellent ESPNF1 article describes. That makes what Daniel did even more exemplary.

VERSTAPPEN: At first, we thought, well the slowing Sainz in FP3 could easily upset Verstappen's trajectory enough to temper some of the criticism towards Max. However, it does appear Verstappen had enough road and time to straighten the wheel out, tap the brakes, and get the car under control just enough to salvage the situation. Granted, things happen very quickly at Monaco. But, Max being Max, even during a practice run, he had to try to continue the lap at maximum speed.

RED BULL: Their 250th grand prix entry was a win. Just like their 100th and 150th.

VETTEL: Salvaged what he could and more importantly, closed the points gap to Hamilton.

HAMILTON: Salvaged what he could and thankful Verstappen had his problems, or Lewis would have been looking at a fourth place finish.

OCON: Excellent all weekend long, outshining his teammate.

GASLY: A great run by Pierre.

HARTLEY: During all the practice sessions, Brendon looked great and looking like he was going to salvage his career. Then, unlucky circumstances produced a lousy qualifying result which carried over to his race.

SAINZ: Carlos was primed for a better result, but Renault went the wrong way on their strategy.

ALONSO: Fernando should have done Indy again...

LECLERC: Losing brakes at Monaco is not what you ever want. Especially for the hometown hero.

HAAS: Surprising how totally out to lunch they were at Monaco after the season they were having. Especially, after the speed they showed at Barcelona, fully expecting that to carry over to Monaco.

WILLIAMS: A comedy of errors on Sirotkin's car. A plethora of issues with Stroll. Overall, simply a weekend to forget in a season of weekends to forget.

GRID GIRLS: At Baku, we learned that if you sing, you can be a beautiful woman in a beautiful dress on the grid. At Monaco, we learned that you don't have to sing, you just can't hold a number board to be a beautiful woman in a beautiful dress on the grid. However, hold that number board, and all hell breaks loose. It's so complicated understanding all these rules...

INDY: First Ricciardo at Monaco then Will Power at Indy. Australian race fans are celebrating like no other nation can on the greatest day in racing.

ABC: Thank goodness Indy is finally leaving ABC next year. Once the stalwart of sports broadcasting, they have become a sickening display of one inaccurate statement and platitude after another.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Redemption.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 1 -- Ricciardo's first victory at Monaco which should have come two years ago. It's also the first time he has won a race from the first two rows. And Monaco is the one and only track Ricciardo has ever gotten pole on.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Ricciardo became the third Australian to win at Monaco. Mark Webber did it in 2010 and 2012 in a Red Bull-Renault. Jack Brabham was the first back in 1959 in a Cooper-Climax from the third starting spot, 20 seconds ahead of Tony Brooks. It was also Brabham's first win as well as the first World Championship Grand Prix victory for an Australian driver. Another first -- the first win for the factory Cooper team (Coopers had won previously in the hands of the Rob Walker Racing Team).

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Christian Horner trying to get Ricciardo in mucho trouble with what would have been a major etiquette faux pas, "Give Prince Albert a shooey."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: When talk within the team of retiring the car due to concerns of a massive MGU-K failure damaging the engine, Horner put that to bed when he declared the only strategy one can take at Monaco, "I said 'Look, we're in the lead of the Monaco GP, we're keeping going.'"

SCHEDULE: Both Honda and Renault are bringing major updates to their power units to Canada. Their performance will severely impact Ricciardo and Red Bull's decisions on 2019 and beyond which will set off the dominoes for other decisions throughout the grid.

Copyright © 2018 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Ricciardo 78
2. Vettel 78
3. Hamilton 78
4. Raikkonen 78
5. Bottas 78
6. Ocon 78
7. Gasly(R) 78
8. Hulkenberg 78
9. Verstappen 78
10. Sainz 78
11. Ericsson 78
12. Perez 78
13. Magnussen 78
14. Vandoorne 77
15. Grosjean 77
16. Sirotkin(R) 77
17. Stroll 76
18. Leclerc(R) 70
19. Hartley(R) 70
NC Alonso 52

Time of Race
1:42:54.807

Margin of Victory
7.336 sec.

Safety Car
None

Lead Changes
None

Lap Leaders
Daniel Ricciardo

Fastest Race Lap
Max Verstappen

Pole Position
Daniel Ricciardo

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Hamilton 110
2. Vettel 96
3. Ricciardo 72
4. Bottas 68
5. Raikkonen 60
6. Verstappen 35
7. Alonso 32
8. Hulkenberg 26
9. Sainz 20
10. Magnussen 19
11. Gasly(R) 18
12. Perez 17
13. Ocon 9
  Leclerc(R) 9
15. Vandoorne 8
16. Stroll 4
17. Ericsson 2
18. Hartley(R) 1

  Team Pts.
1. Mercedes 178
2. Ferrari 156
3. Red Bull 107
4. Renault 46
5. McLaren 40
6. Force India 26
7. Toro Rosso 19
  Haas 19
9. Sauber 11
10. Williams 4
 
 

2024 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Japan
China Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco
Canada Spain Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Azerbaijan Singapore United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Qatar Abu Dhabi

2023 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Azerbaijan
Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco Spain
Canada Austria Great Britain Hungary
Belgium Holland Italy Singapore
Japan Qatar United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Abu Dhabi

2022 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Emilia Romagna
Miami Spain Monaco Azerbaijan
Canada Great Britain Austria France
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Singapore Japan United States
Mexico City Sao Paulo Abu Dhabi

2021 Thoughts
Bahrain Emilia Romagna Portugal Spain Monaco
Azerbaijan France Steiermark Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Russia Turkey United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Qatar Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi

2020 Thoughts
Austria Steiermark Hungary Great Britain Anniversary
Spain Belgium Italy Tuscany
Russia Eifel Portugal Emilia Romagna
Turkey Bahrain Sakhir Abu Dhabi

2019 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
Mexico United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2018 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2017 Thoughts
Australia China Bahrain Russia
Spain Monaco Canada Azerbaijan
Austria Great Britain Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2016 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Russia Spain
Monaco Canada Europe Austria
Great Britain Hungary Germany Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2015 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore Japan Russia United States
Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2014 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia Bahrain China
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan Russia
United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2013 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Great Britain
Germany Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore South Korea Japan India
Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2012 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2011 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Turkey
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi Brazil

2010 Thoughts
Bahrain Australia Malaysia China
Spain Monaco Turkey Canada
Europe Great Britain Germany Hungary
Belgium Italy Singapore Japan
South Korea Brazil Abu Dhabi

2009 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Turkey Great Britain
Germany Hungary Europe
Belgium Italy Singapore
Japan Brazil Abu Dhabi


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