Tag Archives: monaco grand prix

Daniel Ricciardo Speaks Texan, Y’all

Here’s Your Daniel Ricciardo Friday-In-Texas Update

“That accent cycled through so many different accents,” our own North Carolina native Collin Woodard messaged in Slack after watching the clip. Yes, Danny Ric’s Texan still needs some work, but damn if the guy doesn’t get an A+ for effort. And for dropping a “hell boogedy” in there — he’s definitely got the vocabulary down, at least to this Pennsylvanian who’s spent all of four days in Austin over the course of his life.

Anyway, Ricciardo is entering the weekend in the appropriate attire, too. Here’s the helmet he’ll be wearing, courtesy of Jens Munser Designs:

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I need a windbreaker with “McLaren Service Plus” embroidered on the breast and the back, like, yesterday. Ricciardo will of course lap COTA in The Intimidator’s 1984 No. 3 Chevy before Sunday’s race — the culmination of his bet with McLaren boss Zak Brown for nabbing a podium (ahem, race win) this year — so it all checks out.

Oh, and yesterday, this happened:

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Ricciardo ended Friday’s Free Practice 1 session in 16th, 2.5 seconds off Valtteri Bottas’ lead time. His teammate Lando Norris fell eighth on the timing boards. The Aussie’s last race in Turkey was nothing to celebrate, as he finished 13th after stopping for new tires too early and lost two spots in the last two laps of the race.

I’d like to think his spiritual homefield advantage will work in his favor this weekend. After all, I’ve heard he draws his power from the clay under the track.

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Max Verstappen Takes Second Pole At Austria, Lando Norris Starts Second

Illustration for article titled Max Verstappen Takes Second Pole At Austria, Lando Norris Starts Second

Photo: CHRISTIAN BRUNA/AFP (Getty Images)

Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix dawned with packed grandstands and a host of Max Verstappen fans filling the circuit in hopes of seeing their semi-local hero take pole position. And luckily for them, anything was possible, with Verstappen taking pole position yet again.

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This weekend, Mercedes still looked to be the dominant team after several practice sessions saw its drivers topping the charts — though with Verstappen’s performance throughout the season, anything could be possible. As it turned out, Mercedes would be seriously lacking.

Knocked Out In Q1

16. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
17. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
18. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
19. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
20. Nikita Mazepin (Haas)

Knocked Out In Q2

11. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari)
12. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
13. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
14. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
15. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)

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The final qualifying session was quite a whirlwind. Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel had an on-track spat in Q2 that allowed Williams’ George Russell to slip into the final qualifying session and try his hand at a legitimate top-10 starting position. He took ninth place, out-qualifying Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll. This is Williams’ first Q3 appearance since the 2018 Italian Grand Prix.

After that, all eyes were on the top drivers of the weekend, mainly Verstappen, who appeared unbeatable. Both Mercedes drivers went out for one final run at the end of Q3, but it proved fruitless for them; Verstappen took the lead.

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The biggest surprise, though, had to be McLaren’s Lando Norris. The papaya team has been doing pretty damn well this season after several years of struggling, and Norris’ performance epitomizes the success the team has been having. He’ll start the race in second place on the first row of the grid.

Top 10 Starting Grid

  1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
  2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
  3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
  4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
  5. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
  6. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
  7. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
  8. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
  9. George Russell (Williams)
  10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
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Let’s Brainstorm: How Can We Make F1’s Monaco Grand Prix More Interesting?

Illustration for article titled Let's Brainstorm: How Can We Make F1's Monaco Grand Prix More Interesting?
Photo: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP (Getty Images)

It isn’t often that I’ll admit that maybe Bernie Ecclestone was right about something, but after last weekend’s processional Monaco Grand Prix, I’ve been thinking that Formula One’s most iconic—and most boring—race could use a makeover. And with NASCAR’s rainy outing at Circuit of the Americas taking place at the same time, I started thinking, maybe installing sprinklers at race tracks to make artificially wet races wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

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As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one brainstorming what could make the race even slightly more interesting. Chain Bear on YouTube was sharing that wavelength.

The whole premise here is pretty simple: what would make the Monaco Grand Prix more interesting? What would it take? And I have to say that Stuart over at Chain Bear is, once again, the master of some very good ideas, such as:

  • Revamp the entire weekend, turning Saturday’s qualifying session into a one-lap attempt to set the fastest time. Then, on Saturday, run another staggered qualifying session, the assumption being the track will get better as the day goes on, so drivers will have the pressure of choosing the best time to go out.
  • If you’re still interested in the traditional Sunday race, introduce a mandatory Joker Lap, which will bring in a bunch of strategy opportunities that could shake up the running order.
  • Or, you could run an even longer and harder Joker Lap that basically reroutes the entire circuit.

I have to admit that these options are a lot more fun than me running with Ecclestone’s unimaginative artificial rain idea, which has the opportunity to fall apart at any possible moment.

But I’ll throw another idea into the ring. Make all the F1 drivers run Formula E cars on the Formula E Monaco circuit, which made for a fascinatingly exciting race earlier this year. It would still be part of the F1 Championship, but you’d just have a one-off event that would throw a money wrench into everything the series knows about itself, thus guaranteeing chaos and fun.

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I am amenable to hearing your ideas, so get pitching.