Monaco: pre-qualifying 2019
The main news since the
last race is the passing away of Niki Lauda. Lauda won three world
titles (Ferrari 1975 and 1977, and McLaren 1984), suffered serious
burns in 1976 which saw him given the last rites only to return to
racing about six weeks later, and had a famous rivalry with James
Hunt, depicted in the film Rush.
More recently he was
one of the chaps at Mercedes, and played a role in getting Hamilton
to jump ship from McLaren. RIP Niki Lauda.
A week or so ago I
backed/tipped Leclerc at 19 to win (each way, fifth the odds top 3).
Whilst I do expect Verstappen to be more competitive, I was surprised
to see Gasly’s odds at just 11, and Leclerc did very well around
the tight streets of Azerbaijan. Complicating matters is the forecast
of rain for qualifying, though the race itself is expected to be dry
(shame it isn’t the other way around).
I also put tiny sums on
Ricciardo, Sainz, and Perez (901, 1751, 1751 respectively) just in
case rain played a role in qualifying or the race. Not expecting
those to come off, but the three chaps have strong records around
Monaco, with winning, best of the rest, and a podium finish all
within the last six years.
First and second
practice are on Thursday in Monaco. Always seems a little odd have a
different schedule, but there we are (I believe it’s due to a
religious thingummyjig on Friday).
In first practice,
Hamilton was fastest but both Verstappen and Bottas were within a
tenth of a second. Leclerc was a few tenths further back, but still a
third of a second ahead of Vettel. Gasly, Hulkenberg, Magnussen,
Raikkonen, and Grosjean were all separated by just a couple of
tenths. (Gasly’s time was over a second behind his team mate. It
also seems electrical problems stopped Sainz from getting any track
time).
Second practice again
had Hamilton fastest, ahead of Bottas (who was again within less than
a tenth of a second), Vettel was next but seven-tenths off the pace,
ahead of Gasly, Albon, Verstappen, Magnussen, Giovinazzi, Raikkonen,
and Leclerc. The Verstappen and Ferrari times seem rather
sandbaggish. Hope so, anyway.
Leclerc was fastest in
third practice, a whole half-tenth ahead of Bottas. Hamilton was
two-tenths off Leclerc’s pace, and half a tenth ahead of
Verstappen, who was himself two-tenths up on Gasly. Giovinazzi was
nearly half a second down the road (but has looked good all weekend),
followed by Kvyat, Magnussen, Raikkonen, and Albon, all separated by
tiny fractions of a second.
Vettel introduced his
Ferrari to the barriers, which rather curtailed his running in final
practice.
I wasn’t intending to
bet, with the margins so tight, and a quick check revealed no markets
were up (and there’s only a small window between final practice and
qualifying). Intrigued to see how Leclerc can do, and if Alfa Romeo
can be best of the rest. Toro Rosso looking tasty too.
There’s also a chance
of rain, although third practice was dry.
No tip for qualifying.
The pre-race ramble
could be up this evening, or possibly tomorrow morning, depending how
things go.
Morris Dancer
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