Monaco’s Charles Leclerc faced a rough road at the US Grand Prix held in Austin, Texas on Sunday, finishing a distant fourth place leaving both him and his fans baffled, while Brit Lewis Hamilton secured an astounding sixth F1 World Championship.
The US Grand Prix was nothing if not action-packed. It seemed to be anyone’s to win as ddrivers in the top spots, Bottas and Verstappen, made fine starts, followed by rocky ones from Ferrari teammates Vettel and Leclerc.
Leclerc’s fourth place start wasn’t in and of itself problematic, though he didn’t seem to have his head entirely in the game. It turns out, it wasn’t his head, but his car that was a bit off.
“It was an extremely hard day,” said Leclerc in a post-race interview with Formula1.com, “probably the most difficult race of the season, along with Budapest. We never found the pace really.”
He had suffered a throttle pedal issue at the opening practice, brought on by the bumpy surface of the track, a problem which elicited multiple complaints and caused many pilots to re-evaluate strategies. Leclerc then suffered an oil leak only 15 minutes into his final practice session, forcing him to replace the engine.
After his less-than-stellar start, he also suffered from a far-too-long 7.7 second tyre stop, and an unexplained problem in the car’s handling.
“The front left felt very, very weird,” Leclerc said about the state of his car. “We need to analyse that, because I’ve never had this feeling before.”
Leclerc’s teammate Sebastian Vettel was forced to retire on lap eight due to a complete failure of his vehicle’s suspension, making Ferrari’s day all the more disappointing.
It was Mercedes who delivered on Sunday, with a one-two punch. Valtteri Bottas won the day, with Lewis Hamilton only four seconds behind, giving him his sixth World Championship title, only one behind all-time record holder Michael Schumacher.
SBM Offshore introduced a new state of the art system that uses the energy from waves to produce electric power at a demonstration yesterday afternoon.
The Wave Energy Converter S3 uses ground-breaking technology to harness this endlessly renewable resource and it was unveiled at the SBM Offshore premises.
Until now, attempts at creating a system have been spotty at best. Called Generation 1 devices, they used complicated hydraulics, turbines and gearboxes housed in unsuitably awkward structures. The systems were not only inefficient, but they required a tremendous amount of costly maintenance, making them unviable in a financial sense.
Since 2009, SBM Offshore has been refining a new generation of wave conversion systems, effectively eliminating the constraints of the original devices. The SBM S3 Wave Energy Converter uses an enclosed tube that floats on the surface and features a way to convert energy directly from the device. It also requires little maintenance.
Supported by the government, the system has been tested successfully in the labs and now is ready to be tested in open-water trials.
As roughly half the global population lives within 60km of the sea, and waves have the power to produce electricity output that meet the demands of the entire planet, this technology could be life-changing for many. Couple that with seriously green credentials and this is certain to be a major renewable energy source for the future.
Monegasque association Les Enfants de Frankie will host the 15th annual Red Nose Day next month to raise money for sick and disadvantage children in the entire Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur region.
The event, which will be held on 6th December, was chosen purposefully. It marks Saint Nicholas’s Day, the patron saint of children, and signifies a day of support to children in the area who are in difficulty.
Those wishing to take part can do so by fixing a “nose” to their vehicle, available at the post offices in the Principality, certain pharmacies and newsagents, charity stands in Fontvieille shopping centre, as well as at the Carrefour Monaco Supermarket, for a small €2 donation.
The nose, which has had a makeover this year with the addition of a star in lieu of the left eye, represents hope and is in keeping with the mascot of the organisation, Frankie the Clown.
The donations will go toward various projects and events made to improve the lives of children in the region who are in need. They organise workshops, excursions and visits to children in hospital and distribute toys, clothing and food parcels to children in need.
Taking part for the first time, the Monaco Yacht Club’s flagship Tuiga, skippered by Daniel Perreira with Beppe Zaoli at the helm and a crew of YCM members, won in the IRC category of the Grimaldi Trophy, while victory in the ORC went to Italian Paolo-Bruno Bonomo’s boat, Aurora.
Some 40 boats competed in the season-closer inshore race between San Remo and Monaco, organised by the San Remo Yacht Club and the Yacht Club of Monaco.
YCM member Guido Miani completed the course in the fastest time, crossing the finish in Monaco to set a new record of 1 hour 20 minutes on his M32 (9.68m) monohull catamaran. The race committee was forced to cancel the return contest on Sunday due to particularly difficult conditions.
There’s no let up for racers as the clock ticks down to the start of the 2019-2020 Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series, which kicks off next weekend.
Launched by the Monaco Yacht Club in 2013, the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series offers monthly one-design regattas attracting teams from all over Europe to train in the Bay of Monaco, the highlight being the 36th Primo Cup – Trophée Credit Suisse (6-9 February 2020).
Alongside Melges 20s is the championship’s flagship J/70 class with some 40 boats expected for Act 1 from 7th to 10th November. The Principality boasts one of the largest fleets in the Mediterranean with 20 boats grouped in the J/70 Monaco Class Association.
As Monaco is set to host the J/70 World Championship in October 2021, the Monaco Sportsboat Winter Series will be an ideal training base.
AS Monaco have lost their winning streak, going down 0-1 to Saint-Etienne on the weekend.
The goal that settled the game came just before the hour mark from a move that began with Jean-Eudes Aholou – on loan from Monaco – robbing Benjamin Henrichs inside the Saint-Etienne half of the field and starting a breakaway. The ball came to Romain Hamouma, whose shot was saved by Benjamin Lecomte but Bouanga was there to turn in the rebound (59′).
Saint-Etienne are now unbeaten in five games since Puel was appointed coach a month ago, and have claimed four 1-0 wins in their last five Ligue 1 Conforama outings. They are up to eighth in the table, just a point outside the top three, after this battling victory which owed much to an outstanding display from their young defenders William Saliba and Wesley Fofana as they shut out a previously prolific Monaco attack.
However, this game also hinged on the decision by referee Jerôme Brisard, following a VAR consultation, to overturn a red card shown to Fofana in the 72nd minute for a last-man challenge on substitute Jean-Kévin Augustin because of an extremely marginal offside in the build-up.
Monaco would have had a free-kick on the edge of the area and an extra man for the closing stages, but instead there was a reprieve for Fofana, and it was the visitors who ended the contest with 10 men. On as a substitute, Rubén Aguilar was shown a red card in added time for a last-man challenge on Bouanga as he bore down on goal. It was a second red card of the season for him, and a defeat for Monaco which ends their recent revival – they had claimed five wins in six games in league and cup before this encounter.
The Principality club’s coach, Leonardo Jardim, can point to the absences of key players. Tiémoué Bakayoko, Cesc Fabregas and, perhaps crucially and Islam Slimani were all missing. However, Saint-Etienne were without important members of their side too, including skipper Loïc Perrin and Yann M’Vila.
Bouanga came close twice for the hosts in the first half, when most of the clear chances fell to the away side. They saw Stéphane Ruffier deny Benjamin Henrichs early on, while Adrien Silva fizzed a long-range effort just past and Wissam Ben Yedder fired wide after being set up by Henrichs at the end of a lovely move.
Keita Baldé should have done better than head over from point-blank range after being teed up by Aleksandr Golovin shortly after half-time, and the only goal of the game followed not long after. Golovin and Silva then had chances to equalise for Monaco, but Saint-Etienne also might have added to their lead: Lecomte made one flying save from Hamouma shortly after Bouanga’s goal and then did well to keep out Ryad Boudebouz’s free-kick that came after Aguilar’s late red card.
The Gabon winger had most of the chances for Saint-Etienne before he opened the scoring, and he then provoked the foul by Aguilar which led to the Monaco player being sent off. It was another decisive contribution from a player who also netted the winning penalty in the recent win away at Girondins de Bordeaux.
Saint-Etienne are now unbeaten in seven games in all competitions, five under Puel. They have taken 13 points from the last 15 available in the league. Monaco dropped to 15th on 15 points.
Important research is currently being conducted in Monaco on the effect of microplastics on coral reefs. Meanwhile, the UN Environment Programme has launched a campaign to raise awareness of microplastics in personal care products.
Each year, an estimated eight million tonnes of plastic ends up in the ocean, equivalent to a full garbage truck every minute dumped into the sea, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Monday.
Plastics rarely biodegrade, but through different processes they do fragment into microplastics and nanoplastics, and these are detected in all marine environments worldwide. Not only that, microplastics are capable of absorbing organic contaminants, metals and pathogens from the environment. This means they are even more toxic than in their original state.
The most common items are cigarette butts, bags, and food and beverage containers. As a result, marine litter harms over 800 marine species, 15 of which are endangered. And plastic consumed by marine species enters the human food chain through fish consumption.
Most people associate marine plastic pollution with sights of plastic litter along coastlines or floating on the surface of the sea. But microplastics and microbeads pose a hidden challenge; they are out of sight, and therefore out of mind.
In early 2019, the Monaco Scientific Centre (MSC) and the International Centre for Coral Reefs for Palau (PICRC) started working on ways to reduce the risks associated with microplastic pollution on the marine environment.
The project was co-financed by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and addresses a global health issue.
The targeted islands of the Republic of Palau are located in Micronesia, near the Philippines and Indonesia. Well aware of the ecological issues, these islands are pioneers in research against global warming and ocean acidification. They are also highly polluted, even in protected environments and remote locations.
Two researchers of the CSM, Eric Béraud and Vanessa Bednarz of the coral ecophysiology team, led by Dr. Christine Ferrier-Pagès, went to Palau in March 2019 where they collected around 100 plastic samples from the water, beach and coral sediment at seven different sites in Palau. The samples were analysed in detail at the CSM laboratory in Monaco.
Also on hand to analyse the results is Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) researcher Dr. Evelyn Ikelau Otto. Initial results indicate that microplastics are present in all the samples taken from Palau, despite the “virgin” nature of these islands. During her time at the Monegasque laboratories, Dr. Ikelau Otto will not only finish the analysis of plastics collected in Palau, but also move on to the impact of plastics on the physiology of corals.
Ultimately, the results will be used to educate local communities in Palau on plastic pollution and develop management strategies to protect these valuable reefs. It will also be used across the globe to improve our understanding of the harmful mechanisms of Microplastics pollution on the health of coral reefs.
Meanwhile, it was announced on Monday that the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is running an awareness campaign on the harm caused by plastics in personal care products and shifts that can be made to reduce plastic footprints.
Many consumers are not aware just how much plastic there may be in the personal care items they use daily on their faces and bodies.
From the plastic in packaging to the microplastics hidden within the products, including beads or glitter, they are all designed to wash down the drain, travel through rivers and end up in the sea.
Over the next week, UNEP is asking everyone to examine products in their bathrooms and check its Instagram for information on how they can join the campaign.
Microplastics listed on cosmetic ingredients
Polyethylene (PE)
Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)
Nylon
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
Polypropylene (PP)
[/ihc-hide-content]
All the headlines and highlights from Monaco, direct to you every morning
