Okay, I'll start it and that title should be enough to get the message across.

Monaco is the one F1 race that I make sure to watch what I can and know all parts of the track. Good stuff, I especially enjoy the "speed shot" slo mo going through the left-tight combo down on the waterfront. Those guys are haulin' *** and the greatest respect goes to their car control.

I was happy to see the outcome with Trulli getting his first win even though I would have preferred to see Button and BAR get their first. It was one of the more exciting F1 races of recent time from the unbeleivable start by Sato, his blow up and the catastrophic events of the visually blocked track, Alonzo's dumb move to give Ferarri a chance then whatever the hell happened to M. Schumacher, down to the two man battle at the end that probably looked closer than it really was. The story of the race kept changing so you did need to see the whole thing.

About the Schumacher/Montoya incident, it will be interesting to see what Michael has to say about it. He obviously locked the tires up in the tunnel and Montoya had no reason to forsee Schumacher's big slow down, tried to take evasive action and hit him. In the end interview, Button said it was slippery in the tunnel when the car was not at full speed. I think you can't really put much blame on Montoya for hitting Schumacher just like Coulthard can't really blame Fisichella for running into him in the oil smoke, white out. Unforseen things happen fast and sometimes you can't react fast enough to evade the situation. It will be interesting to hear Schumacher's POV.

I can't say I am a big Renault fan but they seemed to have "horse for the course" as they had the pole, led every lap and got the win. I just wish more F1 races had this many twists and were that interesting literally from flag to flag.

 

that was a very good race.

5 more laps and button would have won

 

Excellent race. Definitely anything but booring.

Micheal's comments will be very interesting. I'm sure, in fine F1 tradition, it will most definitely be the other guy's fault. Alonso already has indicated Ralph was to blame for *him* driving into the wall. Ummm....whatever dude, you're the fool that tried a pass in the tunnel in the marbles at 160mph

I have never seen so much smoke come from a car as what spewed out of Sato's. Damn!

 

this was a great race, probably the best one this season. Alonso said Ralf sped up while he was in the tunnel and that's why he couldn't pass. Now whether that's true or not is the question. He's pretty pissed at Ralf (understandibly so) but should've just waited until the straight right before the Nouvelle Chicane to pass him. I really don't think Ralf should have his license revoked as Alonso said it should be (unless he DID intentionally run Alonso off).

Good work for BAR, too bad about Sato though. He's got some bad luck with engines... I wonder if there's a driver factor included in there though...

 

As the type of F1 fan that does not miss a race if it can in any way be avoided, that really was one of the most interesting races in recent memory. Of course this whole year thus far has been really interesting, due mostly to the competition level we have seen this year among BAR, Renault, BMW, and of course, Ferrari. Honestly, though, I think it would have been more interesting if Michael had been there at the end. He might not have won his 6th in a row, as the Renaults were "Trulli" the class of the field, but it would have been close. He obviously had some issue when he locked his brakes in the tunnel, which led to his collision with JPM. My first instinct was to say "F***ING MONTOYA!", but after seeing the replay, I really don't see how it could have been avoided on his part. When they showed Michael walking up to the Marshall's office, I would be willing to bet that he was not going up there to bitch about Montoya's actions, but to tell them personally that it was not Montoya's fault. Schumacher rarely makes ANY mistakes, but when he does, he is the first to admit it.

Kudos to BAR and Button for a remarkable drive, but I think Jarno probably had him in check the whole time. Still, glad to see the Hondas have raised the "BAR" to the next level. Sorry for the stupid puns, but I could not help it...



Modified by Lyonel 13H4 at 12:26 AM 5/24/2004

 

if neither schumacher or alonso had made their terminal mistakes, i would think race would have still ended renault 1st and bar 2nd. schumacher would need to pit again regardless, so button would get back into 3rd place. trulli and alonso were running at an identical pace and we could see that button was clearly faster than trulli in the final 6-7 laps. so, button would've caught up alonso and found a way to pass, but he would use up so much time battling that trulli would have won easily. altogether a great race, i was cheering button to the end.

 

Best race of the season by far. I noticed when Michael Schumacher returned to the pits, I heard a loud bang in the backround as if he threw his helmet in frustration. Then the cameras were turned away. It must have been a glitch in his CPU. Machines do make mistakes. Again, great race.

AJ

 

Alonso's mistake is going to rank right up there with Mansell's "wet paint line" error a bunch of years ago. There are a LOT of ways to lose an F1 race, particularly so at Monaco.

There's going to be a lot of armchair FIA-ing this week about whether BAR should have parked Sato's car before the big pop. It would have been WAY above the call of duty - and very honorable - had they decided to do so, but it is spurious to suggest that they SHOULD have done so. They wouldn't have gotten squat for credit if they had, so...

K

 

that was one hell of a race, I was litterally on the edge of my seat pushing for Button to win

Its going to be interesting to see what f1 is going to say about Sato's engine and Schumacher getting knocked out like that.

 

Thank goodness. finally an nail biter of a race. Congrats to Jarno. 119 races before his first win is a long wait. Freddy Alonso looked like he just goofed in the marbles. Michael, Michael, Michael, what were you thinking? You locked up (smoking) your left front to put heat in your rotors at lowered speeds in a dark tunnel and expected JPM to go where? MS rarely makes mistakes but that one was pushing it. Unless Jarno made a mistake I just can't see Button getting around the Renault that late in the game and that even between the two cars. Great drive by Jenson. Good race!!.
Barry H.

 

check this out:

http://www.planet-f1.com/news/story_15696.shtml

 

Lots of people have been quick to jump at Ralf for that Renault ending up in the Armco.

He lifted but nobody forced Alonso to take the opportunity but Alonso.

 

i don't think the tv coverage really provided good enough footage for viewers to make a legitimate call on that one.

would i have attempted that same pass? 170mph pass on the outside where i know marbles are in a dark tunnel? no thanks. i'll wait another 2 seconds and go by under braking safely. i can definitely understand his frustration though being held up for a half lap.

 

Well we don't need really good coverage to make a call. We just like to make them. Yeah I know Freddie said Ralfie sped up on him. I think the comment on TV was he could have made that pass coming out of the tunnel. How many passes does one see in the tunnel. We saw two today and both were crashes.
Barry H.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by apexinghonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> How many passes does one see in the tunnel. We saw two today and both were crashes.
Barry H. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Button passed someone (think it was a Jordan)in the tunnel right after Alonso wrecked at full speed and held on. Granted, most of the track was clear of junk, but still a ballsy move. None the less, it was a great and exciting race. Hopefully next Sunday is just as entertaining...

To bad it didn't help him get the win...

 

I caught the last 17 laps. I really thought Button was going to go all the way, what was the final difference, like .500?

I really need to find a way to get SPEED.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FrostySol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Good work for BAR, too bad about Sato though. He's got some bad luck with engines... I wonder if there's a driver factor included in there though...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think sitting on grid all that time with the engine running didn't help Sato. Look at his start -- he was probably thinking, "I really gotta get this thing moving!"

Pat

 

Man these guys really don't lke each other...

From Palnet-F1:

"As you say in English, **** happens and it did today. When the accident happened I was leading the race so the situation is that the race leader was knocked out of the race after being hit by a back-marker," he bemoaned. "I am sure there was no deliberate intention on [Montoya's] part and I accept the stewards' decision bu it was a bit stupid of him to wrongly estimate the situation that led to a collision."

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tnord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">check this out:

http://www.planet-f1.com/news/story_15696.shtml</TD></TR></TABLE>


Of all the stupid promotional BS I've ever seen, this one has to go down as one of the dumbest. Wow. That wasn't even a hard hit into the tire wall.

 

My opinions of the race, and please feel free to disagree:
*Sato over-revved trying for a good (all important at Monaco) start and blew up his own engine.
*Alonso was stupid, even if Ralph sped up, because Ralph is known to do crap like that.
*MS vs JPM, Sh!+ happens, that's racing (even though it was under the caution)
*The diamond incident was an insurance scam, the real diamond was probably never installed on the car.
*Last but not least, that was the best race of the season so far.

 

Anyone hear that Montoya may be in a BAR for '05? Fricking Joan Paula in a BAR.

Ugghhh.

 

Anyone else think MS brake-checked Montoya?

Just me, huh.

 

So much to talk about!

First of all, Honda is blaming the aborted start for Sato's engine letting go. He overheated it waiting, and then having to do the second formation lap. According to Rubens though, he jumped the start. I tend to agree, because he made up WAY too many places for that to be a legal start.

As for the Schumi/JPM thing, MS claims that he was warming up his brakes for the restart, and he always does. The contact did not occur the first time he slammed on the brakes in that lap, it was the second or third. In other words, JPM knew he was doing it, and was following too closely under the circumstances.

Button drove a great race, but Trulli intentionally slowed down at the end, because he knew that even if Button caught him, he would never get by. It gave us BAR fans a bit of false optimism - Button was NOT going by him for the win. Renault had the better car for the race this week.

JPM is trying to get out of his contract with McLaren, which is where all these rumors are coming from. I don't see him going to BAR, but that is just my gut talking - no proof. Maybe he is willing to stay at Williams if Ralf leaves?

Matt

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedracer33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So much to talk about!

First of all, Honda is blaming the aborted start for Sato's engine letting go. He overheated it waiting, and then having to do the second formation lap. According to Rubens though, he jumped the start. I tend to agree, because he made up WAY too many places for that to be a legal start.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I thought it looked like he got off way to fast too. DC said that Sato's engine was smoking on the second parade lap, but I think it'd be silly for Honda to pull him off just b/c he might blow up...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Button drove a great race, but Trulli intentionally slowed down at the end, because he knew that even if Button caught him, he would never get by. It gave us BAR fans a bit of false optimism - Button was NOT going by him for the win. Renault had the better car for the race this week.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Button probably wouldn't have gotten by him, but even before Jarno started slowing a bit he was catching him... Unless Jarno was taking it easy for about half of the race

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">JPM is trying to get out of his contract with McLaren, which is where all these rumors are coming from. I don't see him going to BAR, but that is just my gut talking - no proof. Maybe he is willing to stay at Williams if Ralf leaves?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Maybe he'll go back to IRL so he can whine there I was surprised that he apologized to the Scuderia for hitting MS though. At least he has the ability to be a good sport

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedracer33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

As for the Schumi/JPM thing, MS claims that he was warming up his brakes for the restart, and he always does. The contact did not occur the first time he slammed on the brakes in that lap, it was the second or third. In other words, JPM knew he was doing it, and was following too closely under the circumstances.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry, but there is no way to spin the fact that MS picked a dumb place to do it that time. He had a quarter of a lap in sunshine and loads of straightway before the green.