MONACO GP: A report card with a hint of wittiness by Froldi

After 16 years,
la rossa cleaned out Montecarlo’s
roulette. Let’s hope it’s not going to take 16 more years to win again!
Ferrari’s control over this Grand Prix was never questioned. It is somewhat
shocking to see a podium without a Mercedes. In three whole seasons, it
happened just four times. I hope they start to enjoy it (I hope to bring them
bad luck!).

Vettel. Score: 9 ½. On Saturday, when being perfect
would have been useful, he wasn’t perfect. One of Montecarlo’s secrets is not
overdoing during the race otherwise, while trying to be faster, you just slow
down and you may crash somewhere. On Sunday he did 3 record laps, and doing
that he built his way to end up ahead of Raikkonen with a perfect overcut.

Raikkonen. Score: 9. On Saturday he was the opposite of
Vettel; he did an extraordinary lap. On Sunday he started well and he was quite
fast during the first part of the race, then he suddenly slowed the group, and
it was clear to all those who watched the race objectively. It is very simple:
Kimi doesn’t have – or, at least, yesterday didn’t have – Vettel’s rhythm
during the race and he barely gained the upper hand on Bottas and Ricciardo. He
had the Grand Prix in his hands and if Ferrari delayed Raikkonen’s pit stop
(after Verstappen’s one), the ferraristas would have ended up being 2nd
and 3rd. I think yesterday the team didn’t give any orders (and I’m
not against them, just to be clear).

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Vettel and Hamilton’s love story. Score: end credits? Hamilton is starting to feel
uncomfortable in this relationship. His beloved German is starting to have some
freedom and he’s appearing more on the front cover of the newspapers. Oh, you
damned jealousy! Is this the end of the story?

Bum face
prize 2017, gold. Score: Hamilton is the winner. The three-time world champion
accuses Ferrari of favouring Vettel over Raikkonen. It’s like: “look who’s
talking”! While he was saying that, St. Submissive was making some tea for him.

Hamilton. Score: 6 ½. The roller coaster keeps going on
for the Anglo-Caribbean pilot. He said he had some unspecified problems to his
single-seater, and he was protected by Toto that said the same thing
(obviously, that’s what a team principal does). However, Villeneuve made it
clear: Hamilton 3 years ago started to drive a spaceship, and now he’s used to
it. The current single-seater is still incredibly fast, but it is very hard to
push it to the limit. By the way, Montecarlo’s track doesn’t suit well the
Mercedes (see: longest single-seater in the Circus). Basically, Hamilton took
lightly Monaco’s weekend and, finding himself facing some difficulties, he
didn’t do his best in his single-seater (or maybe he wasn’t focused on doing
it).

Bottas. Score: 9. The opposite compared to Hamilton. Bottas is
comfortable, or at least less uncomfortable, on this Mercedes (after all, last
year he drove a Williams which os not exactly a supercar). He also had many
difficulties on Thursday and Saturday. But he figured out how to take the best
out of his single-seater. The 4th place is more Ricciardo’s merit
than his demerit.

Ricciardo. Score: 9+. The good “curlyhead” loves Monaco’s
circuit. Yesterday’s was a beautiful and tight (and lucky) race. Sooner or
later the luck will come his way and give him at least one victory in Monaco.

Wehrlein. Score: Ask Ivan Capelli. He doesn’t have any fault in the
crash with Button, but I didn’t think that after Capelli and his unfortunate
adventure in Ferrari (1992), I would see another single-seater in that position
and in that circuit.

Button. Score: 5. He’s back for the grace received (Alonso is
busy in Indianapolis), he wasn’t bad during the weekend, but during the race he
was a disaster and that’s it.

Perez. Score: “jinx”. He’s been amazing during many GPs,
someone suggests Ferrari (probably in 2018), then he goes crazy. A talisman
would be useful, a little horn (red, obviously) inside the cockpit.

Team Ferrari. Score: 12. They made no mistakes.

Rosberg’s pleasure. Score: 12. Guess who was the happiest for
Ferrari’s double win? You know that young man who did the interviews shortly
after the podium? Yes, him, exactly. He was glowing. I may be perfidious, but I
imagine the happy dace that the current world champion, now former pilot, did
in his mind when he saw Hamilton plodding along in the GP’s rear. Someone says
that Rosberg pulled Mercedes’ chestnuts out of the fire more than once because
he was better than Hamilton in setting up the single-seater. I’m starting to
think that it went this way.

Gené’s love for Ferrari. Score: immeasurable. After the race he had the facial
expression of someone who wanted to scream, dance and do the conga with all the
Ferrari mechanics for the happiness of Ferrari’s double win, but he couldn’t do
it because he was trying to be serious and aloof.

Alonso’s axiom. Score: the facts. If your name is Alonso and you have
a Honda engine behind your back, it doesn’t matter where you’re racing, sooner
or later the engine will break.

P.S. Canadian
Grand Prix is coming in two weeks. I predict a perky and ready to fight
Mercedes. But, who knows, maybe Gilles will lend us a hand from above…

Mariano
Froldi

Translated
by Isabella Lai