[Official] Rate the race: Monaco Grand Prix

[Oldtony]

Gave it a 7. Monaco is ALWAYS a different challenge.
It is unique, a change from the sameness that is developing more and more in the hunt to make F1 more attractive to the casual fan.
It was a race for the purists. DRS virtually irrelevant, drivers (and teams) rewaded for thinking rather than just barging, and being penalised (by the circuit boundaries) for making a mistake.
A welcome novelty in the increasingly clinical, made for TV, bulletproof car era that we are experiencing.
And great to see Brittney get a well deserved win!

[MagnetON]

7, enjoyed it.

[GT6]

only gave the race a 3 the incidents and whole atmosphere is great but the race itself is little more than a procession, changes needed but difficult to see how they could be achieved

[John Turner]

I know all the drivers want a Monaco win on their CV and clearly great skill required to keep it out of the barriers, but as race it's complete pile of crap and has been for years. Overtaking is a 'close your eyes and hope' job! Armco Bender is right! 3 and that's generous!

[Grandpa_Rob]

Well it did have a bit of everything, gave it a 7 .

[JamesH]

Much better than the usually Monaco,

So going to give it a 2.

Why people think this is a good circuit for F1 racing is beyond me. Yes, it's a challenge for the drivers, and on board footage is amazing (but then, it always has been). But it's not a racing challenge.

[v8man]

Most boring Monaco race I have ever watched thanks to the bloody tyres, even worse than any fuel conservation race that we have had in the past from any category

[ECW Dan Selby]

7.

Enjoyed having a race where it was a struggle to overtake and you had to EARN it, not just catch a free pass.

Tyres didn't dominate as heavy, so that's good, too.

Also, with every passing year, Monaco becomes that bit more insane. Love it!

Selby

[ECW Dan Selby]

Originally Posted by JamesH

Much better than the usually Monaco,

So going to give it a 2.

Why people think this is a good circuit for F1 racing is beyond me. Yes, it's a challenge for the drivers, and on board footage is amazing (but then, it always has been). But it's not a racing challenge.

In fairness, are free passes racing, either?

Selby

[chillibowl]

I know people hate processions but this was the best procession ever. Surely thats got to be worth something.

I've never seen so many cars so close to each other for the entire race and not once did I hear a single driver complain about their tires overheating because they were folowing so close.

Fast laps were being set all up and down the grid, probably the least amount of difference in lap time since the new 3 (now 2) teams came in. With so many so close to each other plus the confined space of Monaco we were actually treated to seeing some good skill and a lack of it from those who are a cut below.

And I suspect if we actually got to see Kimi's last laps heroics on TV ( huge mistake not showing it) this race would have gotten higher scores from people.

Anyways I got what I want from Monaco.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

Anyways I got what I want from Monaco.

Yep, I suppose Vettel not winning has to count for something......

[TrapezeArtist]

Each race I read through this thread and wonder if people were all watching the same race. Anyway, I enjoyed it. Even bringing out the pace car (euphemistically termed a "safety car") actually improved the race, which is a novelty. I gave it a 7, but I think I might have been slightly mean.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by chunder

I want to watch a race, not a reliability trial thanks

Monaco has always been about looking after some aspect of the car, be it brakes, fuel, gearbox, engine, tyres, whatever.

In the so-called 'Golden era' it was very much the case that some part of the car was going to limit lap times or it would most likely fail in the race if you didn't look after it. The 80's turbo engined cars were never allowed anywhere near their full potential during races, for example, because you could never carry the required amount of fuel for that to happen and could never run at full power for too long a period, and so the previous turbo era was actually an economy formula and also a reliability trial. And sometimes the tyres were much worse than anything Pirelli have recently made.

[stripedcat]

I gave it a 7. Nico did good. Plus, we had mainly one stopping cars. It's a shame that it was a little bit of a tyre conservation contest at the beginning, but Sutil, Pérez and Kimi more than made up for that. When it's dry at Monaco then overtaking is always difficult, but I did feel that this was one of the better races from there.

[sublimao]

Nico Rosberg won well deserved the GP Monaco exactly 30 years after his father.
Monaco is Monaco.
Before to write it is boring or it is just a parade, please remember who raced here or who won here. I do totally agree that nowadays it is almost impossible to overtake, but the history, the surroundings, the
glamour make this race unique and I would not change this track with Yas Marina or Macao or Shangai or........

[Mekola]

Interesting line-up for the podium. And best teams. Almost the sames who performed better at early 2009. 7 for my satisfaction.

[andy666]

6 , Enjoyed this race but still felt a bit of cruising going on , but it's Monaco the challenge to the drivers creates excitement and tension .

[awrb]

I really enjoyed the race, thought it was a bit different with all the cars in that one big train. Yes it's difficult to pass here, but there were more moves in that race than the whole of the 2002 season*. I fond it funny that everyone moans when there is too much passing due to DRS and tyres, but when there's a race where DRS isn't an easy pass and the tyres hold together enough for a 1 stop race everyone moans that there wasn't enough passing.

And yes Marbot, Monaco and Formula One has always been about preservation and getting the car to the end, usually needing to back off for some reason. But we didn't have internet forums back then to rile each other up and convince ourselves that whatever we don't like is the worst thing ever!

*Not a real statistic, but it can't be far off

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

I know people hate processions but this was the best procession ever. Surely thats got to be worth something.

I've never seen so many cars so close to each other for the entire race and not once did I hear a single driver complain about their tires overheating because they were folowing so close.

Fast laps were being set all up and down the grid, probably the least amount of difference in lap time since the new 3 (now 2) teams came in. With so many so close to each other plus the confined space of Monaco we were actually treated to seeing some good skill and a lack of it from those who are a cut below.

And I suspect if we actually got to see Kimi's last laps heroics on TV ( huge mistake not showing it) this race would have gotten higher scores from people.

Anyways I got what I want from Monaco.

On the other hand, I could have won that race with a 25ft wide Citroen 2CV (race spec engine of course, not point in going too slow) Again it would have been a procession, and all the cars would have been really close to each other, no overheating tyres etc. And Perez would still have crashed in to someone. As would Maldonado. Not that dissimilar to the race we just had really.

[neiltb]

4, I blame the track. Nico could have done 1.40s and no one could have done a thing.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by JamesH

On the other hand, I could have won that race with a 25ft wide Citroen 2CV (race spec engine of course, not point in going too slow)...

id give that a 10!

starting at about the 2min mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvJp1X3qiog

[Born Racer]

It's always interesting to see the spread of results on this poll for Monaco. Personally I went for a 9, because I love the Monaco Grand Prix and it still looks like the quickest circuit for me (ironic given it's the slowest) and it was a good race which, although the drivers weren't on the limit, offered the usual fine margins between success and failure and the dramatic results that led to (I'm not a "fan" of crashes, but the ones we saw highlighted the nature of the place in an exciting way).

Re: overtaking, it'd be interesting to get some stats on that. Did Barcelona have much more other than DRS passes?