Formula Renault 3.5 @ Monaco

[skells22]

its just the one race for the WSBR Formula Reanult 3.5. and it around the streets of Monaco which means one mistake and its a DNF

[wsrgo94]

Originally Posted by skells22

its just the one race for the WSBR Formula Reanult 3.5. and it around the streets of Monaco which means one mistake and its a DNF

Reminds me of a typical GP2 weekend. One mistake in quali and/or the feature race, and the weekend is done.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by wsrgo94

Reminds me of a typical GP2 weekend. One mistake in quali and/or the feature race, and the weekend is done.

This isn't a thread about GP2, so don't turn it into another GP2 bashing session

[ivanalesi]

Considering how well Sainz went last season, I guess it's his race to lose.

[skells22]

at least on the TV front next sunday if you want to watch it like its at 10am on next sunday via BT Sport, if you have not got it then it the normal wait until the tennis to finsih at 10.00pm on British Eurosport

[olev]

Originally Posted by ivanalesi

Considering how well Sainz went last season, I guess it's his race to lose.

He'll have to fight with Gasly & Jafaar in the 1st qualy group if my math is correct. Even if he's quicker, it normally means starting the race 2nd, which after the first corner is most likely 3rd (it's aaaaalways like this there).

Then, in group B, Sorensen was quick last year an so was Tech1 with Bianchi in 2012, so I expect him to fight for the pole with, in my opnion, Stevens and Rowland if he gets the hang of the circuit quickly. It happened to Jafaar last year; he never drove there before but soon he felt comfortable and he did a really good lap for the 1st qualifying group.

We'll see. Really looking forward to this race.

[wsrgo94]

Originally Posted by p-matt

This isn't a thread about GP2, so don't turn it into another GP2 bashing session

Eagerly awaiting your guidelines on what to comment on in this forum.

[Rob29]

Originally Posted by wsrgo94

Eagerly awaiting your guidelines on what to comment on in this forum.

Guess we need to wait until next Thursday at least? Interesting that GP3 is not doing Monaco-seems my favourite Beitske Visser is doing bothAnyway I spent a lot more time watching Monaco historic last weekend than anything at Barcelona!

[kotkot]

Well, let's not have big expectations towards the weekend, Monaco is a nice, difficult track but there are usually two scenarios.
Either nothing happens in the entire race, which is a great performance from the drivers but watching it is not that fun, or there is mayhem, crashfest. That could be entertaining but at the end of the day it's still not like clean battle for positions, and the chance for that is very little. The only thing I remember from the last two years is a Frijns - Magnussen incident.

[chunterer]

We know that this track rewards drivers with plenty of guts and well as natural talent. But, also drivers who know how to reign it in a bit. Going balls out every lap will either mean hitting a wall or killing the tyres.

I would tend to agree that Sainz ought to clean up but it also depends on whether Rowland can continue where he left off in Aragon. If he's on it every round from now on, he is defo a title contender.

I would like to see Sorensen up there, because we know how good he can be when a car is right?

[bella]

nato on pole, which is a nice story given he's a local boy from just round the corner in antibes. good to see someone stand in the way of the sainz train as well!

[ivanalesi]

Nato woke up from a long, long sleep and now Sainz gets a penalty for slowing down to white flags!? Jaafar is again fast in Monaco, a bit surprising for me.

[Go_For_Pole]

It shouldn't be, Monaco suits him very very well

[p-matt]

So glad I subscribed to Eurosport player to see this race live! Probably the dullest race I've ever seen around Monaco.

[olev]

Originally Posted by p-matt

So glad I subscribed to Eurosport player to see this race live! Probably the dullest race I've ever seen around Monaco.

I'm already used to the train-like races there...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmHrjWhCKU

[kotkot]

Yeah, the race was not as crazy as in GP2 but, the top five of Sainz-Rowland-Gasly-Stevens-Merhi easily beats the Palmer-Nasr-Cecotto-Leal-Pic team. This fact always makes up for the racing because at least you can be satisfied with the result. Seeing talents like Abt hitting trouble literally every race is not really nice.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by kotkot

Yeah, the race was not as crazy as in GP2 but, the top five of Sainz-Rowland-Gasly-Stevens-Merhi easily beats the Palmer-Nasr-Cecotto-Leal-Pic team. This fact always makes up for the racing because at least you can be satisfied with the result. Seeing talents like Abt hitting trouble literally every race is not really nice.

Well, if that helps you get the sleep at night...

I'm sorry, I cannot agree at all. We've had the GP2 field vs 3.5 field debate practically every weekend now, and I still maintain the future of F1 is in GP2. I predict Nasr, Palmer, Vandoorne, Marciello and probably Rossi will be in F1 in the next few years. I only think Sainz will make the jump out of the 3.5 drivers. Maybe Gasly, depending on whether or not he survives the Red Bull junior team.

Racing is in the entertainment business. Regardless of how good a grid is it needs to have a bit of excitement to draw the fans in. World Series by Renault have been so busy trying to position itself as a ladder to F1, and create an experience for the spectators that it seems to have forgotten about spicing up the racing. Honestly, I'd sooner watch a bonkers Auto GP race with complete no-hopers than a processional but pure 3.5 race.

[kotkot]

What is the purpose of junior single-seaters? To entertain or to select the most talented drivers? GP2 has become too popular and they know most of the audience don't care how good the drivers are, they just want to see people crashing.

GP2 is slowly turning into another International F3000.

Anyway, I have no problem with you preferring GP2, I just said my opinion.

[ivanalesi]

The processional bit is valid, because they also need to learn to race. This is something that F3 is also lacking and in this regard GP2 is also more relevant. But as we can judge so far this season, the mad tire saving is gone from F1, so there's no need to continue with this in GP2 and have Palmer battling Leal.
Put Vandoorne or Marciello in any other car and they'll be way faster than Palmer and co.
At the end of the day, F1 cars are quite complex, but you don't have 3 seasons to adapt to one of them, their spec is changing all the time and you need drivers able to adapt asap and this is what they call talent. That's why Valssecchi's place is in GTs. So yeah, Palmer, Ceccotto or Rossi might go in F1 with Caterham or Marussia for a season or two and they'll get out forgotten.
Only Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen will remember them fondly for screwing one of their races.

[p-matt]

Originally Posted by kotkot

What is the purpose of junior single-seaters? To entertain or to select the most talented drivers? GP2 has become too popular and they know most of the audience don't care how good the drivers are, they just want to see people crashing.

GP2 is slowly turning into another International F3000.

Anyway, I have no problem with you preferring GP2, I just said my opinion.

You're right in theory - the purpose of 3.5 or GP2 should be to select the most talented. But in the current climate it's more about who has cash or who has connections with an F1 team, and hasn't looked like a total liability in junior formulae, that end up progressing to F1. To be fair though, I think the cream has generally risen to the top in both FR3.5 and GP2. Except maybe Eurocup graduates that have unreal pace in 3.5 but are nowhere outside it, or drivers like Evans or Abt in GP2 that lose entire weekends through no fault of their own.

It's not drivers crashing that I want to see. It's close hard-fought racing with drivers willing to risk in order to pass, rather than processions. In what way is GP2 is "too popular"?! Most casual motorsport fans probably don't know much about it, and the hardcore fans are extolling the virtues of WSbR!

[kotkot]

Just because motorsport is all about money nowadays, that doesn't mean I don't want a different system.

How well did years of GP2 racing prepare Chilton or Gutierrez for F1? They were pretty miserable in their first season.
Also, GP2 is pretty popular compared to other junior series. Nothing beats F1 but the fact they are racing in F1 weekends and Sky broadcast and replay all the races definitely helps them.

[p-matt]

No doubt GP2 prepared Chilton. Without it he would have been much more out of h

[p-matt]

...his depth. Gutierrez is a strange one. He hasn't looked good since winning GP3. His F1 seat owes more to Carlos Slim than anything else.

I would argue though that 3.5 hasn't prepared Magnussen for F1. He's openly admitted that he's not used to running wheel to wheel in the middle of the pack. Although contrived, the reverse grid race in GP2 forces the stronger drivers to come through the pack. Kevin's also not been fully convincing in managing his tyres either.

[Rf1 Fan]

Originally Posted by p-matt

...his depth. Gutierrez is a strange one. He hasn't looked good since winning GP3. His F1 seat owes more to Carlos Slim than anything else.

I would argue though that 3.5 hasn't prepared Magnussen for F1. He's openly admitted that he's not used to running wheel to wheel in the middle of the pack. Although contrived, the reverse grid race in GP2 forces the stronger drivers to come through the pack. Kevin's also not been fully convincing in managing his tyres either.

i don't get that.

Ricciardo never came to Gp2 and he went great. Also Bottas.

I think it is more a matter of learning curve.

[p-matt]

Yes, but Red Bull prepared him very well indeed.