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May. 23rd, 2021
Forza, Pt II
May. 23rd, 2021 11:43 pmSo, Monaco...
The BBC, as they do every ten years or so, frets over whether Monaco is 'an exciting race'.
In the modern sense, no. 'tain't fer nothin' it's referred to as the 'high speed parade'. That being said, it's Monaco. A win at Monaco guarantees you eternal glory, in a way that winning the championship simply does not. It's like Indianapolis, in that sense. Like Indianapolis, and perhaps more even than Indianapolis, it requires perfection on every corner of every lap. And as much or more than either of these, it is a link to the distant past of automobile racing.
On to the actual race. The commentators were aghast that LeClerc chose to stand on his possibly-damaged gearbox, instead of swapping it out and taking the penalty. IMHO, he did exactly right. Ferrari isn't going to win the Constructors' title, so points are not at issue. Better to gamble for victory or nothing at Monaco. He lost, but he could have won *SO* bigly...
Bottas. That is quite possibly the most embarassing, stupidest cause that I have ever seen result in a retirement. Worse than having your pit crew set your car on fire, worse than a pit lane collision, worse than launching too soon and tearing out your fuel coupling. And from second, no less. Someone *had* to have cross-threaded the nut in morning prep, and either concealed it, or didn't even know it. Considering how they use these whacking powerful air-guns anymore, I lean strongly toward the latter. I'm guessing they put the nut on, then hit it immediately with the gun, instead of manually starting it.
The commentators referred to the hairpin at least once as the Leowe's Hairpin. The name's established by 50 years of history. It's not going away because the hotel got sold.
The Rascasse. On a whim, I went to look for their menu and found that it is actually online. It's both much cheaper than I'd expected, and much, much less impressive than I'd expected. Chicken nuggets with freedom fries is one of their offerings, and fairly representative. It interested me that pretty much everywhere, including the Rascasse, had big orange advertising banners for the Cafe de Paris.
The stands. They seem to have put up the entire set of grandstands, some of which were completely empty, others only partially occupied. I wonder if they were hoping to be open - it takes some six weeks, I'm told, to set all of that up, so the decision was made long ago. A nice chance for the locals to see the race.
The podium. A delightful result! Norris came in third for McLaren, who were sporting the old "Gulf ball" paint job. Most people associate that with the late 60s / early 70s, when it was heavily used, but in actual fact it extends back to the late 1930s, when it graced Harry Miller's "Cars from Mars" at Indianapolis. Sainz soldiered along to second, a welcome result. Verstappen, with his victory, managed to pull four points ahead of Hamilton in the championship, and placed Red Bull one point ahead in the Constructors'.
All in all, a good day.
*****
*
The BBC, as they do every ten years or so, frets over whether Monaco is 'an exciting race'.
In the modern sense, no. 'tain't fer nothin' it's referred to as the 'high speed parade'. That being said, it's Monaco. A win at Monaco guarantees you eternal glory, in a way that winning the championship simply does not. It's like Indianapolis, in that sense. Like Indianapolis, and perhaps more even than Indianapolis, it requires perfection on every corner of every lap. And as much or more than either of these, it is a link to the distant past of automobile racing.
On to the actual race. The commentators were aghast that LeClerc chose to stand on his possibly-damaged gearbox, instead of swapping it out and taking the penalty. IMHO, he did exactly right. Ferrari isn't going to win the Constructors' title, so points are not at issue. Better to gamble for victory or nothing at Monaco. He lost, but he could have won *SO* bigly...
Bottas. That is quite possibly the most embarassing, stupidest cause that I have ever seen result in a retirement. Worse than having your pit crew set your car on fire, worse than a pit lane collision, worse than launching too soon and tearing out your fuel coupling. And from second, no less. Someone *had* to have cross-threaded the nut in morning prep, and either concealed it, or didn't even know it. Considering how they use these whacking powerful air-guns anymore, I lean strongly toward the latter. I'm guessing they put the nut on, then hit it immediately with the gun, instead of manually starting it.
The commentators referred to the hairpin at least once as the Leowe's Hairpin. The name's established by 50 years of history. It's not going away because the hotel got sold.
The Rascasse. On a whim, I went to look for their menu and found that it is actually online. It's both much cheaper than I'd expected, and much, much less impressive than I'd expected. Chicken nuggets with freedom fries is one of their offerings, and fairly representative. It interested me that pretty much everywhere, including the Rascasse, had big orange advertising banners for the Cafe de Paris.
The stands. They seem to have put up the entire set of grandstands, some of which were completely empty, others only partially occupied. I wonder if they were hoping to be open - it takes some six weeks, I'm told, to set all of that up, so the decision was made long ago. A nice chance for the locals to see the race.
The podium. A delightful result! Norris came in third for McLaren, who were sporting the old "Gulf ball" paint job. Most people associate that with the late 60s / early 70s, when it was heavily used, but in actual fact it extends back to the late 1930s, when it graced Harry Miller's "Cars from Mars" at Indianapolis. Sainz soldiered along to second, a welcome result. Verstappen, with his victory, managed to pull four points ahead of Hamilton in the championship, and placed Red Bull one point ahead in the Constructors'.
All in all, a good day.
*****
*
