[Race] The GROAT - Round 2 - 2019 Interlagos vs 1996 Monaco

[crmalcolm]

2019 Interlagos
In the race, Verstappen got off the line well and defended against Hamilton, who moved ahead of Vettel. Despite temporarily losing the lead after being held up by Robert Kubica in the pits at the start of lap 22, Verstappen got back ahead of Hamilton at the end of the lap after both of them caught up to Charles Leclerc, who had then not pitted after starting fourteenth on the grid. The safety car was deployed on lap 54 after Valtteri Bottas pulled off to the side of the track due to a problem with his oil pressure, and Verstappen opted to pit whilst Hamilton did not. When the safety car came in at the end of lap 59, Verstappen immediately took the lead back from Hamilton on the start/finish straight, and Alexander Albon overtook Vettel for third place. With fresher tyres after pitting under the safety car, Leclerc overtook Vettel as well at the first corner on lap 66, but in an attempt to get back past Leclerc on the next straight, Vettel made contact with his teammate, damaging each other's suspensions and putting them both out of the race. Debris from Vettel's shredded tyre scraping against his car floor also damaged Lance Stroll's suspension, and the safety car was called out once again, with Hamilton pitting and dropping behind Albon and Pierre Gasly. After the safety car came in at the end of lap 68, Hamilton got back past Gasly, but on the penultimate lap, he collided with Albon at Turn 11, dropping back behind Gasly and robbing Albon's chances of his first podium. Verstappen went on to take his eighth victory, also his first double. Going side-by-side towards the finish line, Gasly beat Hamilton to second place, earning his first podium and Toro Rosso's third podium overall. Hamilton, with a damaged front wing from his contact with Albon, was soon to be demoted from third to seventh with a five-second time penalty after being deemed responsible for the collision, giving Carlos Sainz, Jr. his first podium after having started from the back of the grid, also marking McLaren's first podium since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.


1996 Monaco
Following the warm-up, it rained, and a fifteen-minute session was held so the teams and drivers could acclimatise. Andrea Montermini had damaged his car and was unable to start the race.

With the race start under the wet conditions, it was a surprise to see Hill take the lead from Schumacher. At the back, Jos Verstappen, on slicks, crashed out, as did the Minardi drivers who collided into one another. 18 cars climbed the hill, before Schumacher crashed out before Portier and Rubens Barrichello dumped it at Rascasse. 16 remained.

Soon Ukyo Katayama and Ricardo Rosset crashed out, and then Pedro Diniz's transmission failed; after five laps there were 13. Hill proceeded to run clear ahead of Alesi and Berger, with Eddie Irvine holding up the rest of the field in fourth. Berger retired after ten laps, leaving Irvine in third. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, behind the Ulsterman, dived in a little too rashly and damaged his front wing, ruining his race.

Soon, it was time to change to slicks. Hill, after pitting, overtook Alesi for the lead around the outside, and following Alesi's stop, had a 30-second lead. Panis by now how had made his way to fourth and attacked Irvine; they collided at the Loews hairpin and Irvine had to be push-started by the marshals. Expecting a retirement, then a disqualification, he had undone his seatbelts and needed to have them done back up as he went back out again damage-free and infraction-free. Around this time, Martin Brundle made eleven runners as he spun out.

Coming out of the tunnel on lap 40, Hill's engine emitted smoke and he was forced to retire, leaving Alesi a large lead over Panis, with David Coulthard third. Alesi led for 20 laps, before retiring with a suspension issue, leaving Panis in the lead, Coulthard second, and Johnny Herbert in third, and just nine drivers left out on track.

One of these was Luca Badoer, six laps down in his Forti. Obeying blue flags, he let Herbert through, but moved to the racing line when Villeneuve tried to pass, and the two made contact, and both retired, leaving just seven. Then, Irvine, continuing to entertain the fans, spun where his teammate had on lap one. In the process of putting himself in the right direction, the Finns Mika Salo and Mika Häkkinen came around the corner, and unsighted, ran into the Ferrari, and thus just four cars where left running.

Panis held off Coulthard, and with light rain returning, held it on the track and saw the chequered flag for his first (and only) victory, from fourteenth on the grid. Coulthard crossed the line second, Herbert was third, and Frentzen pulled off into the pits a lap early with fourth place (and last) the only possibility. It was Ligier's final win, fifteen years after their previous, and Mugen-Honda's first win.

Hill's championship lead remained 21 points over teammate Villeneuve, with Williams holding their 40-point lead over Ferrari.

[S griffin]

I've always said Monaco 96 was probably the most dramatic race I saw in my lifetime, so I will go with that one. Only 3 cars left at the end, but it was a well deserved victory for Panis. Glad he got his moment in the sun