By ghost_726
For the first time in league history, the CRL took to the grid on the streets of Monaco for the Monaco Grand Prix. Eighteen drivers were in attendance for the first race of season four, and for many, the results it yielded were unexpected.
While this writer expected a bloodbath, qualifying went relatively smoothly, with only one documented case of blocking, one DNF and one disqualification. Surprisingly, two of the title contenders fell victim to the streets of Monaco, with both xJRACx and HAL9100 failing to have a time recorded, and starting P17 and P18, respectively. Three newcomers would take advantage of their absence, with The_562KING, isiboy23 and ellleventy11 qualifying P1, P2 and P3, as the only drivers to register times in the 1:10s.
P4 and P5 on the grid went to the Haas driver pair of ghost_726 and xINCIDENTx, who positioned themselves well to start their title defense. Two more rookies, PCC-Godly and guitarhero1234, picked up P6 and P7 on the grid, with CEO and god-king jmtitan10 putting together one of his best qualifying laps to start P8. ChrisKYU62, the lone driver for AlphaTauri, qualified P9, while another rookie, ArabKid50, took the last spot in the top 10.
20 laps around the famous Monaco circuit proved difficult for the CRL grid, with only 9 drivers finishing on the lead lap, 3 drivers failing to classify, and a total of 4 drivers not bringing the car home in one piece, not to mention a total of 28 front wing changes. And emerging from that chaos was a podium featuring three rookie drivers. The_562KING earned his first win in the CRL F1 division, going from pole position to win the race by a comfortable 13 seconds. PCC-Godly, who started P6, put together a masterful bit of strategy, pitting on lap 2 to find some clean air and pulling off a massive undercut to finish P2. Isiboy23 would grab the last spot on the podium with a solid drive in the Aston Martin after qualifying P2.
20 laps around the famous Monaco circuit proved difficult for the CRL grid, with only 9 drivers finishing on the lead lap, 3 drivers failing to classify, and a total of 4 drivers not bringing the car home in one piece, not to mention a total of 28 front wing changes. And emerging from that chaos was a podium featuring three rookie drivers. The_562KING earned his first win in the CRL F1 division, going from pole position to win the race by a comfortable 13 seconds. PCC-Godly, who started P6, put together a masterful bit of strategy, pitting on lap 2 to find some clean air and pulling off a massive undercut to finish P2. Isiboy23 would grab the last spot on the podium with a solid drive in the Aston Martin after qualifying P2.
The Haas pair had a relatively uneventful race, finishing in the same positions they started, with ghost_726 finishing P4, and xINCIDENTx finishing P5. jmtitan10 put together a consistent drive and picked up two positions from the grid to finish P6, matching his best finish from season 3. Ellleventy11 scored 7 points for Ferrari after finishing P7, and picking up the fastest lap point, in what will be a disappointing day for the Ferrari team. ArabKid50 successfully put another Aston Martin in the top 10, scoring 4 points for his respectable P8 finish.
HAL9100 put together a masterful drive after his qualifying disqualification, picking up 9 spots to finish P9 after starting P18. A lap 1 undercut, followed by the decision to drive the Mercedes with a damaged wing late, combined with some phenomenal defending from teammate jmtitan10, all helped HAL9100 gain the most positions of anyone on the streets of Monaco. The last point scoring position went to reserve driver Maple_Bro, who finished P10 after starting P12.
With only one race in the books, the individual standings obviously match the final classification. But it’s worth noting the strength of the rookie drivers on the circuit. P1-P3 are all held by rookies, with a total of 5 drivers in the top 10 belonging to the rookie class. Is the F1 division of the CRL seeing a changing of the guard, or will the veterans prevail over the course of the season?
With one race in the books, the constructors’ championship saw some unexpected names at the top. Alpine claimed top spot thanks to The_562KING’s victory, while another 20+ point day from the Haas duo saw them start their title defense in P2. Aston Martin put two cars in the points to narrowly beat McLaren to P3. Mercedes will start the year in P5, while Ferrari rounds out the point scorers in P6. Williams, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri and Red Bull will all look to score their first points of the season in France.
Race at a Glance
- Podium – The_562KING, PCC-Godly, isiboy23
- Team Win – Alpine (25 points)
- Pole Position – The_562KING (1:10.522)
- Fastest Lap – Ellleventy11 (1:12.558)
- Most Positions Gained – HAL9100 (P18 -> P9)
- Driver of the Day – PCC-Godly (8/18 Votes) – I was feeling good going in Monaco and was confident in my pace. A lap 2 pit stop gave me enough clean air to reel in the leaders after an less than optimal qualifying. Besides that I managed to keep it out of the walls and executed my goals for the race.