fbc
Retired Moderator
I say this every year, but how the hell those guys thread the cars between the barriers, at those speeds, under those loads... beyond words how special and awesome that is.
I say this every year, but how the hell those guys thread the cars between the barriers, at those speeds, under those loads... beyond words how special and awesome that is.
EDIT: Holy crap, those gear ratios are sooooooooooooo short here!!!!!!!! 5th gear at under 200kph!
It's insane how fast they get through the gears - like each one is first gear.
Crap only just remembered about practice a few minutes ago, only caught the last 6mins.
Was good to see Alonso didn't want to leave his team mechanics with nothing to do - so he knocked his rear wing off on the same corner as Piquet....
Apparently this is Frank Williams' 600th Grand Prix as a team owner.
Well let's remember what this man went through to get here... a lot of adversity, tragedies, a crippling accident and financial difficulties at the start and now. Out of the current team bosses, Sir Frank Williams is a true hero.
Nico: We have speed in reserve
Nico Rosberg said he hadn?t yet exploited the full potential of his Williams after setting an impressive second fastest time in Monaco on Thursday.
The young German, who was born and lives in the Principality, believes the sinuous street circuit may provide his best chance all season of repeating the podium finish he achieved in the Melbourne season-opener.
The Grove squad has gone particularly well in Monaco in recent years and Rosberg was delighted with the handling of the FW30 on the opening day of practice.
?First of all, it?s really nice to be driving here again because it?s just a really fun track,? he enthused.
?I was looking forward to this weekend because I thought we were going to have a good car here and it now looks like we?ve arrived with a good set-up.
?I was going well all day and felt comfortable in the car.
?I am also able to push quite hard so I?m hoping that I can keep it up do a good job in qualifying and then have a good race.?
Although he set his best time on the grippier super-soft tyre compound, Rosberg said the team still didn?t show its full hand and has more speed in reserve.
?We worked on a few set-up variants today,? he said.
?We didn?t finish the session using our optimum set-up, but we know where we need to go and we still have some reserves up our sleeves, so I am pretty happy with how things are looking.?
Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima had a more difficult time on his F1 debut in Monte Carlo, but acquitted himself reasonably well, finishing the afternoon 0.8s adrift of Rosberg in ninth place.
?It wasn?t an easy day for me, but I think we?ve made some improvements when it comes to understanding the car and I?m getting used to the track as well,? said the Japanese rookie.
?Because of the free day tomorrow, we have lots of time to go through today?s data, which will help us prepare for qualifying.?
Technical director Sam Michael added: ?It was a reasonably productive day for the team.
?Both drivers completed their set programmes, and it was good to get through both sessions without any incidents.
?The weekend is still young so the drivers need to keep their concentration up round this track.
?In terms of tyre choice, it?s pretty clear which one is faster.?