Thursday, May 24, 2018

What to watch this Memorial Day Weekend (May 24th - May 30th)

  • Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Practice 1. Thursday @ 3:55am - 6am (ESPN2(HD)) live
  • Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Practice 2. Thursday @ 7:55am - 10am (ESPNNEWS(HD)) live
  • Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Practice 3. Saturday @ 4:55am - 6:30am (ESPN2(HD)) live 
  • Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Qualifying. Saturday @ 7:55am - 9:30am (ESPN2(HD)) live; replay @ 2:30p on ABC(HD)
  • Formula 1 - Monaco Grand Prix. From Circuit de Monaco. Race. Sunday @ 8:05am - 10:30am (ESPN(HD)) live
  • IndyCar Series - The Indianapolis 500. From Indianapolis Motor Speedway, from Speedway, Indiana. Sunday @ 11am - 2:30pm (ABC(HD)) live
  • Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 6pm - 6:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
  • Motorweek. Tuesday @ 6:30pm - 7pm (VelocityHD) replay
  • JDM Legends. Tuesday @ 10pm - 11pm (VelocityHD) replay
  • Wheeler Dealers. Season 15 Ep8. 1972 Lancia Fulvia. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (VelocityHD) new
One of the best motorsport weekends on the calendar arrives this Memorial Day Weekend, with the Indy 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix. The Spanish Gran Prix wrapped up with Mercedes-AMG looking like they figured something out; the tire performance the Silver Arrows have afforded this season has been pretty rough, giving Ferrari the edge to date. However, some smart pit strategy has helped give Merc the edge despite being down on pace. Spain was different in that Merc was pretty untouchable most of the weekend. There was a thinner walled Pirelli making its debut and I think this definitely was part of the full picture, but the general track temps and weather were in flux all weekend. Red Bull had a great showing here, making up for the double DNF weekend with great points including one podium by young Max Verstappen. Vettel attempted a virtual safety car pit jump of Merc mid-race but it didn't turn out the way Ferrari hoped due to the amount of traffic that came along with that pit stop, nullifying its advantage. Another race full of carnage and DNF's, with six cars failing to see the checkered flag. This group includes the ever unlucky Raikkonen (mechanical failure), Vandoorne and a trio of cars caught up in Grosjean's 180* burnout, after losing the car behind his teammate on Lap 1, Magnussen (who finished 6th). Gasly and Hulk were both claimed. Both Spaniards finished the race and lapped with flags in hand, much to the enjoyment of the home crowd, post race. Hams has taken a stronger lead in the Drivers''s Championship, of 17 points, but with Monaco around the corner it'll all come down to qualifying as track position is king. Hsmilton will be looking to rectify the pit stop strategy snafu that resulted in Merc giving the GP to Vettel and Ferrari last year. The current Driver's standings are as follows: Hamilton, Vettel (-17), Bottas (-37), Raikkonen (-47), Ricciardo (-48) and Verstappen (-62).

Enjoy your motorsport holiday weekends.


Video courtesy of Mercedes-AMGPetronasMotorsport.