F.1 – Gp Monaco: THE POINT

In Montecarlo the unknown element and the mistake are always around the corner and the last ten laps have not lived up to expectations. A Grand Prix driven by external factors, thanks to the contact of Grosjean-Verstappen and the “suicide” tactics that Mercedes has put in the hands of Nico Rosberg’s success, tearing from Lewis Hamilton, who until then had dominated the Monegasque weekend.

Beyond the undisputed supremacy of Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid, as evidenced by the advantage gained by Hamilton before the entrance of the Safety Car, the pit denied a well-deserved victory for the English because of superficiality and too much pride. A praise to Nico, also for his sportsmanship when he claimed to have been particularly fortunate in this circumstance. Certainly the “C” factor has its weight, even in races. Mercedes has completed the sixth Grand Prix with the same power-unit, synonymous with strength and competitiveness.

All others have a great work to do although I have seen a good compaction performance. Big step forward by Red Bull, McLaren-Honda and Force India. Rumours did not forget to have won four World Championships and now they are advancing. First points for Button who brought McLaren to the eighth position, racing on interesting chronometric results, as well as Sergio Perez, who finished behind Raikkonen, in seventh place. Weekend undertone for the Finn who, in my opinion, raced short of its possibilities, in addition to having made some mistakes too. He had to be in front of the RB. Commissioners’ decision was correct to not penalized Daniel Ricciardo for the contact with Kimi, but I don’t find correct the decision against Alonso, who was forced to retirement because of reliability problems. We are in Montecarlo and the essence of F1 should be also these contacts.

The results has been decided, however, thanks to Grosjean-Verstappen’s contact (the Dutch driver will pay with five penalty positions in Canada GP). The 17-year-old of TR gave us the only overtakings and was recovering in spite of the problem at the pit stop. Beyond the impetuousness, he was the author of a great weekend. Without defending him, I’d like to see Grojean’s telemetries, because I had the impression that the French have greatly anticipated the braking.

Now we go to Canada.