{"id":3800,"date":"2017-05-25T17:17:15","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T17:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/f1vault.co.uk\/?p=3800"},"modified":"2017-05-25T17:17:15","modified_gmt":"2017-05-25T17:17:15","slug":"notebook-monaco-practice-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/notebook-monaco-practice-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NOTEBOOK \u2013 Monaco Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Both the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel topped the times in Thursday practice ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. In FP1, Hamilton was a tenth faster than Vettel, while in FP2 Vettel was half a second faster than former Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.<\/p>\n

Mercedes v Ferrari v Red Bull<\/em><\/p>\n

Many are expecting this weekend to be a three-way team fight because the type of circuit Monte Carlo is means good mechanical grip and not engine performance is key this weekend. We know Mercedes and Ferrari have the speed, but Monaco isn\u2019t about that, it is about downforce.<\/p>\n

Red Bull we know are good with their aero package, but Daniel Ricciardo and Vettel say the Mercedes’ pace was perplexing, but he is expecting all three teams to be in the fight on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Ricciardo told Autosport \u201cObviously this morning they looked strong, particularly Lewis, and then this afternoon it kinda looked like they put more fuel in the car or something. We’ll see. If that’s genuine then it reminds me a little bit of Singapore ’15.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a few little things that I definitely want to work on, but generally we are in that window where we need to be and not a second off or anything, so that’s promising.<\/p>\n

Setup mistakes<\/em><\/p>\n

Well Mercedes have already admitted the reason they lost that pace between FP1 and FP2 was because of changes in the way they set up the car. Hamilton topped FP1, but fell to eighth in FP2 being 1.1 seconds off the pace. Both teams were on the supersoft.<\/p>\n

Hamilton told Sky Sports \u201cWe were good in P1 but something went wrong in this session. We need to figure out why. The car was handling really good this morning but this afternoon, for whatever reasons, the tyres weren’t working. That’s something we have to study and figure out to fix for Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team boss Toto Wolff has accepted Mercedes had made a mistake with their set-up changes but said they had to stick with it throughout the session in order to get track running.<\/p>\n

He added \u201cWe couldn’t back out of it. We committed to the set-up as it takes longer than a session to change and we decided to push through and collect some data. There was a lack of grip and we went out of the window everywhere. We were pretty competitive in the morning and we just need to back track it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Button\u2019s back<\/em><\/p>\n

Jenson Button returned to the cockpit for his first taste of F1 in 2017. Button was to tenths down on Stoffel Vandoorne in FP1 and both were outside the top ten in FP2. Button doesn\u2019t appear to have lost any of his pace and him being able to beat Vandoorne.<\/p>\n

McLaren know this is their best chance in the early part of the season for them to score points. Button says heading out after that absence \u201cfelt very natural to start with\u201d, and understanding how to use the extra performance on offer took over in the afternoon session.<\/p>\n

He told Motorsport.com \u201c\u201cIn FP1, I found my feet pretty quickly, FP2 was a bit trickier because there was so much more grip and it\u2019s just very different to what I\u2019ve experienced for the last seven years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m braking for corners and I just feel like I\u2019m gonna be in the barriers.\u00a0It\u2019s strange initially, but I\u2019m definitely getting to grips with it. High-speed is so much fun, the first part of the Swimming Pool is flat \u2013 I can\u2019t remember the last time it was flat, it probably hasn\u2019t ever been for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stroll crashes out<\/em><\/p>\n

Williams lance Stroll crashed out in FP2 being the first real crash of the weekend. Stroll comes into Turn Three and the car appears just to keep going straight on as he runs along the barrier. He may have locked up as he reached the top of the hill.<\/p>\n

When asked by Motorsport.com what happened, he said: \u201cI just sent it in, kind of looking for the limit. I lost the rear and got into the dirt a little bit \u2013 typical street circuit mistake. If you don\u2019t touch the wall in Monaco, you\u2019re not on the limit. At least I knew I was pushing, I know where I need to be on Saturday and I have FP3 to get back into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hulkenberg<\/em><\/p>\n

Renault\u2019s Nico Hulkenberg says he is scratching his head because of the teams slump in performance during practice. The german failed to set a time in FP1 because of \u00a0a suspected electronics issue and finished only seventeenth quickest in the second session.<\/p>\n

He told Motorsport Week \u201cI\u2019d like to know also\u2026 I don’t know, I can\u2019t tell you at this moment, I\u2019m scratching my head as well. I\u2019m a bit surprised with the car and the balance that I\u2019ve found and the grip in FP2, which was very poor and far away from where I expected it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we need to really investigate what is going on, I\u2019m sure something is not right, because it felt really poor out there. It\u2019s not just that I\u2019m struggling with the balance a lot and confidence in the car but also the grip from the tyres\u2026 what we get seems really odd and poor.\u201d<\/p>\n

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