F1 Paddock Notebook - Monaco Grand Prix Friday
- As is tradition in Monaco, Friday was rest day, meaning there were no Formula 1 activities taking place on-track. Porsche Supercup, Formula Renault and Formula 2 did all 🌸complete sessions, though. A number of F1 drivers were nevertheless around in Monaco today, meeting with a number of fans alongside their other duties with their teams.
- Former McLaren youngster Nyck de Vries managed to take his second straight F2 win as he dominated a messy Feature Race on Friday. The win from pole catapulted him up to P2 in the drivers' cha😼mpionship, one point shy of Nicholas Latifi.
- As is tradition in Monaco, Friday was rest day, meaning there were no Formula 1 activities taki🌟ng place on-track. Porsche Supercup, Formula Renault and Formuꦍla 2 did all complete sessions, though. A number of F1 drivers were nevertheless around in Monaco today, meeting with a number of fans alongside their other duties with their teams.
- Former McLaren youngster⭕ Nyck de Vries managed to take his second straight F2 win as he dominated a messy Feature Race on Friday. The win fro🎶m pole catapulted him up to P2 in the drivers' championship, one point shy of Nicholas Latifi.
- The race was red flagged for 30 minutes after a road block was caused in an incident between Mick Sch൲umacher and Tatiana Calderon at La Rascasse (where Mick's father famously caused a red flag in qualifying in 2006). Schumacher tried passing Calderon, only to spin her and block the track.
- Mercedes unveiled a red Halo on its cars for the remainder of t♊he race weekend in tribute to Niki Lauda, adding to the design tweaks it has already𝕴 made on its car.
Danke Niki
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1)
- Ferrari held a special press conference on Friday to help explain F1 race strategy to 🍃the media, led by its head of strategy Inaki Rueda. Rueda talked thro♒ugh the importance of the overcut in Monaco compared to other races, as well as giving a detailed analysis and explanation of the 2017 race battle between Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. There were, however, no questions permitted regarding the team's recent strategy calls.
— Renault F1 Team (@RenaultF1Team)Good of to put o🐟n a ‘lesson’ for us today about why strategy is so tricky in Monaco and why the overcut can be so powerful
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1)
- Away from F1, the Red Bull-designed Aeroscreen cockpit protection has been confirmed for usage in IndyCar from 2020. The Aeroscreen was rejected from F1 for 2018 after a one-off trial, with the Halo being settled on instead. The Aeroscreen has been updated since then, though, wit🌳h a central ꧋structure being added to the screen.
- Track running𒁏 begins at 12pm on Saturday iꦫn Monaco with FP3 (11am UK) ahead of qualifying at 3pm local time.
