Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Monaco

  • Traditional venues at risk

    Formula 1 boss, Stefano Domenicali has said “pedigree” is not enough for established venues to be safe from the upcoming calendar shake-up. After the Russian Grand Prix got cancelled last month, Formula 1 is still planning to hold a record 23-race season in 2022.

    There is space in the current Agreement for 25 races to be held in a season, this would create space for new venues to join the calendar, but even if it did go to 25 races, F1 will still need to disappoint some hopeful promoters.

    Domenicali gave an insight into the current discussions saying that there are promoters who have expiring deals and it is likely that some of them will drop off the calendar. There is a possibility that some of the venues could appear on a rotational basis with other venues.

    Apparently the choices of the tracks will be announced soon, and there shall be some new grand prix’s coming aswell. But it is not easy to plan everything in advance for example China.

    What tracks could these be?

    It is understood that France, Monaco, Belgium and Mexico have yet to secure a deal beyond this year…

    The French Grand Prix’s future is the most uncertain, despite recent encouraging words of support from the countries president, Emmanuel Macron, whilst Domenicali suggests that traditional venues like Monaco and Spa- cannot assume their places are guaranteed.

    We know we have to balance the arrival of new races with historic grands prix, and tracks that must continue to be part of our calendar. The arrival of offers from new promoters has an advantage for the F1 platform, and that is to force the organisers of traditional grands prix to raise their level of quality, in terms of what they offer the public, and infrastructure and management of the event. It’s not enough to have a pedigree any more. You also have to demonstrate that you are keeping up. There is also a lot of interest in the Far East. Guanyu Zhou’s arrival in Formula 1 is attracting attention and does not surprise us. Beyond Ferrari, in the end, it is the drivers who make the interest in this sport grow in their countries. We have seen it in Brazil, in Spain and there are many other examples. From China we have had new requests to host a grand prix, and Zhou has yet to have his first race.

    Stefano Domenicali

    My Opinion-

    I can no way see Monaco or Belgium come off the calendar this year, especially Belgium as there have been changes made to the track. I do understand though that they shouldn’t automatically have a spot on the calendar, as that is not fair to other countries which all have to go through the same process of extending the circuit contract.

    Also interesting saying that there could potentially be some new grand prix’s, obviously we have had the Las Vegas announcement but it sounded like there was more than one. I think F1 needs to be sensible about how many more new tracks or returning tracks will be coming back on to the calendar, as it could get silly very quickly.

  • Monaco track layout revealed

    Formula E, FIA and the Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM) has revealed the track layout for the 2022 Monaco E-Prix, which is Round 6 of the World Championship.

    The 19 turn, 3.337 km track will see the cars climb the hill at Sainte Devote and travel through the iconic Place du Casino, Mirabeau, Grand Hotel Hairpin and Portier.

    DS TECHEETAH’s Antonio Felix Da Costa claimed victory last season in one of the most exciting races in the history of Formula E with a overtake at the exit of the tunnel on the final lap of the race- the series’ first on the full Monaco circuit.

    Between the top six runners, there were 28 overtakes during the race. The circuit last year incorporated a modified chicane at Turn 11, which will disappear this year to make way for the traditional track.

    The change of layout is to align with the highest standards of motorsport, it shows once again how Formula E continues to progress.

    The 2021 Monaco E-Prix remains one of the finest races in Formula E history with an unprecedented number of overtakes. Our drivers are used to driving in street circuits which is why Monaco, one of the most iconic circuits in the world that all drivers know inside out, is particularly suitable for showcasing the unique style of Formula E motorsport. We can’t wait to see what the 2022 race and the drama that awaits.

    Frederic Espinos, Sporting Director, Formula E.

    Using the full Monaco track layout successfully last year was a major step forward for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. This year, we are taking the final step, removing the minor modifications that were made for Formula E, so that we can to see our drivers and cars performing on the historical layout. This is another major achievement for our discipline and we look forward to another exciting race on the streets of Monaco.

    Javier Maffioli, Formula E Head of Even Operations at the FIA.

  • Round 5- Monaco Race

    Well well well, we now have a new championship leader! Max Verstappen is leading the championship for the first time and by only 4 points!

    The Monaco curse continues for Charles Leclerc! He was meant to start on pole however he did not start due to an issue with the left driveshaft… however not all bad for the Ferrari team as his team mate Carlos Sainz finishes on the podium in second!

    Lando Norris on the podium again for the second time in 5 races! He is on fire, I am extremely happy for him🙌🏻 he had to defend from Perez towards the end of the race but he managed to hold him off and hold onto that podium!

    Now onto the Mercedes… not a very good weekend for them at all, Bottas was in second came in for a pit stop then a wheel nut got stuck meaning he couldn’t carry on… now onto Hamilton he started P7 and also finished P7 with fastest lap, they tried an undercut on Gasly with the pit stop but it just didn’t work unfortunately😣

    Somebody I have to mention is Sebastian Vettel! Could his luck be changing? He started P8 and finished P5! His team mate Lance Stroll also finished in the points in 8th, so could this possibly be a turning point for the team?

    Pierre Gasly as-well! What a man! Drove absolutely beautiful and no mistakes too! He finished in P6👏🏻

    Now we’ve got a 2 week break until the 6th round which is Azerbaijan! And that’s on the weekend of the 4th to 6th June🤞🏻Lots of drivers will be wanting to redeem themselves their so it’s all to play for once again 🔥

  • F2 Monaco- Day 3

    So on the last day for Formula Two we had Sprint Race 2 and the Feature race, heres how it went👀

    Sprint Race 2-

    Marcus Armstrong was meant to start P1 for the Sprint Race however he was forced to start from the pitlane due to not being able to join the starting grid… He then had to pull over with further issues. Petecof’s weekend is still going down hill as he had to retire from the race after clipping the barrier on the opening lap.

    The start was amazing, Piastri managed to nick P1 from Lawson however when the track started to dry Lawson knew his opportunities were lessening, however he managed an inside move at Rascasse which allowed him to scamper in front.

    Marino Sato and Christian Lungaard became the latest casualties of the Monaco circuit, Sato’s race ended early due to loosing his car at Turn 1, Lundgaard locked up and then ended up going into Mirebeau.

    The safety car then came out as Bent Viscall clipped the back of Beckmann’s car once the safety car went in, Lawson got a clean restart with only a minute left, he managed to pull an 8 second gap over Ticktum while Piastri held onto third.

    After the race it then got announced that Liam Lawson was disqualified and no longer took the win for the second sprint race, following an investigation after the race, the stewards fount that Lawson used a different throttle map at the race start which was a breach of technical regulations, Article 3.6.5. This now means Dan Ticktum got P1, Oscar Piastri P2 and Juri Vips P3.

    Feature Race-

    With drier conditions than the mornings race, it could mean Pourchaire enjoyed a dream start, he got a clean launch to pull away from Shwartzman who didn’t manage to challenge him.

    The front eight were all on the soft tyre as Shwartzman chased Pourchaire he managed to close the gap to under a second and within DRS range. Sprint Race winner 2 Dan Ticktum did have Juri Vips arriving in his rear view mirror, that was when Ticktum decided to get a move on and he managed to catch up with Piastri who was in P3. Carlin opted for the undercut and called Ticktum in for super softs which sent him back to P6, however the move didn’t work out as Piastri got called in the lap after and came out for P5 ahead of Ticktum.

    There was three VSC’s needed within the space of two laps, firstly for Marcus Armstrong as the DAMs driver went into the wall, then for Lirim Zendeli who also went into the wall. Then the third was for Ticktum as he braved a bold move on Piastri but ended up in the barrier as there was no room.

    With only six laps to go, Zhou was the only one who hadn’t pitted but also had 15 second gap over Pourchaire, but the ART driver was lighting up the time screens with purple sectors one after another. The championship leader eventually opted to head in at the end of Lap 37 returning in fifth behind Shwartzman.

    Pourchaire finished in P1 making him F2’s youngest ever race winner at 17 years old, we then had Piastri in P2 and P3 for Drugovich.

    What’s next?

    We now have two weeks until the next race weekend where we will be in Baku on June 6th-8th.

  • Round 5- Monaco Quali

    WOW… All I can say is wow… what a qualifying! So much happened I felt like I was watching a race 😂 but that is the joys of a circuit like Monaco!

    To start we only had 19 drivers competing in qualifying today as Mick Schumacher took a heavy hit in FP3 and wasn’t able to compete in qualifying as there was chassis damage.

    The Ferrari’s are on fire this weekend! As it stands Leclerc is in pole position at his home grand prix! However he had a pretty big crash at the end of qualifying which could result in him having a new gearbox which would mean a 5 place grid penalty.

    The rest of the top 10 are the following, P2- Verstappen, P3- Bottas, P4- Sainz, P5- Norris, P6- Gasly, P7- Hamilton, P8- Vettel, P9- Perez and P10- Giovinazzii.

    I’m so mixed feelings about the top 10, obviously absolutely gutted for Hamilton, but at the end of the day it’s not like this is the last race of the season, theres lot more races to come🤞🏻… Vettel is back into Q3 which I think lots of people are happy about including himself! He does look more comfortable in the car now than on other weekends, lets hope him getting into Q3 is more regular now!

    Now onto Daniel Ricciardo, he didn’t manage to put the McLaren into Q3 as he missed the checkered flag, but and thats a very big but I feel like he could redeem himself tomorrow, his won at this circuit before which we all know as the “redemption” could he maybe get himself to finish in the points tomorrow?

    Someone who did shock me today is Perez, his starting in P9 I expected him to be a bit better than that as in FP3 he finished P5 and FP1 he finished P1 so it will be interesting to see what kind of strategy he has tomorrow and if it will be effective enough…

    Predictions:

    My predictions for the top 5 tomorrow are P1- Verstappen, P2- Bottas, P3- Sainz, P4- Norris and P5- Hamilton and also I think Hamilton will set the fastest lap🙌🏻

    Obviously I would love to see Vettel and Ricciardo finish in the points aswell! I do think its all too play for tomorrow, especially on a track like this where anything could happen😬

    The race starts a 14:00pm (BST) and 15:00pm (CEST), now all eyes onto tomorrow👀

  • F2 Monaco- Day 1 & 2

    Wow what a long break that was from the first race! I know we had testing in April but even with that what a long time! Anyways i’m happy to see the F2 cars back on track and even more so in Monaco!🤩

    Day 1-

    First up we had free practice heres what happened! First of all there was three stoppages in the opening 20 minutes of the session, where Marino Sato came to a halt on track which brought out a red flag. The second stoppage was required after Gianluca Petecof’s Campos went up into smoke. Then the final stoppage was because Bent Viscaal managed to clip the wall so the VSC was required.

    The results from free practice was Shwartzman first with a 1:22.041, he was followed by Ticktum with a 1:22.564 and then he was followed by Vips who had a 1:22.628!

    Now onto Qualifying, they had to split the grid up into two qualifying groups because it is standard for Monaco.

    The 17 year old, Theo Pourchaire will start the feature race in pole position on Saturday afternoon making him the Formula Two’s youngest ever pole sitter in Monaco! In P2 is Shwartzman who topped qualifying group B with a 1:21.403, behind him is Piastri in P3 with a 1:21.443.

    Day 2-

    Now onto day 2 which is just made up of one sprint race and its a reverse grid of how the top 10 qualified, meaning Zhou will start P1 and let me tell you I think he was very happy with that as thats where he finished at the end of the 30 laps.

    Robert Shwartzman didn’t have a lucky day today as he pushed too hard and whacked the wall of Casino Square, which forced him to retire after attempting to get back out. Lundgaard got away brilliant at the beginning however that all came to a crashing hault when he started to have smoke come from the back of his car, which brought him to a stop with a yellow flag. Petecof doesn’t seem to be having a good weekend here in Monaco as he collided with the wall and stopped on the track which brought out a full safety car which could of potentially changed the entire race… There was then a fourth retirement by Marino Sato as he put his car into the wall.

    It ended up being a 1-2 podium for UNI-Virtuosi and they was joined by Williams test driver Roy Nissany in his first Formula 2 podium. Starting in P1 for tomorrows second Sprint Race is Marcus Armstrong after pulling off a last minute and risky move on Daruvala, Armstrong will be next to Liam Lawson as he is starting P2 tomorrow and then Oscar Piastri in P3…

    The second sprint race tomorrow will be starting at 7:20am (BST) and 8:20am (CEST) and for the feature race it will be 16:15pm (BST) and 17:15 (CEST)

  • Monaco

    Finally we are back racing again and we are also back at Monaco after not being here since 2019! This is the home grand prix of Charles Leclerc and lets hope its a good one…

    Whilst were on the topic of Charles Leclerc he will be wanting to have a good weekend as since his been in F1 he has never finished his home race… Really hoping he does well this weekend and let’s hope the past doesn’t come into it on race day🤞🏻

    The Monaco circuit is the toughest one out of all off them as its very narrow and known for not much overtaking. Sunday we are blessed with 78 laps of this beautiful circuit which has 19 turns and only one DRS zone.

    Now onto track limits (and yes I know who would of thought Monaco has track limits!😂) The FIA will be monitoring Turn 10 as F1 race director Michael Masi said: “A lap time achieved during any practice session or race by leaving the track and failing to negotiate Turn 10 by using the track will result in that lap time being invalidated by the stewards”

    Predictions for Qualifying:

    My top 5 for qualifying is P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Leclerc, P4: Bottas and P5: Sainz…

    I would like to see Pierre Gasly get a good qualifying result too! His highest qualifying result this season has been P5 so I feel like maybe he could be the underdog of qualifying… Another driver i’d like to see get a good result is Vettel! I feel maybe this weekend could be his? He knows this track so well so hopefully he can pull something out of the bag on Saturday!

    Times for Saturday are: FP3- 11:00am (BST), 12:00pm (CEST) and Qualifying- 14:00pm (BST) and 15:00pm (CEST). Remember there is no free practices tomorrow as they were on today (Thursday) however tomorrow there is Formula Two on at 10:45am (BST) and 11:45am (CEST)

  • McLaren’s special livery

    Last night it got announced on social media that McLaren have a one-off special livery for this weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix.

    McLaren are bringing back the iconic blue and orange colours of Gulf Oil back into Formula One. The British teams initial association with Gulf dates back to the days of team founder Bruce McLaren, when the companies use to work together in F1 and Can-Am racing in the late 60’s and early 70’s. They then renewed their relationship last July, when Gulf Oil came on board as a strategetic partner.

    Norris and Ricciardo have also got new racing suits and race team kits which match the new livery, they are also having new helmets for this weekend however they are a one-off bespoke retro helmet designs which will then be raffled off for the teams mental health charity partner, Mind.

    Personally, I absolutely love it! I just think it looks so clean and sharp and obviously it’s got history about it- I have seen lots of comments on social media about people wanting it to stay and I would like it to however I think the McLaren will go back to its normal colours for Azerbaijan.

    The action this weekend gets underway on Thursday so you get to see the new look for McLaren one day sooner😉