Luxury, opulence, yachts, supercars, casinos and a challenging narrow, winding track requiring perfection down to the last millimetre. Yes, F1 races this week at Monaco.
Last week we saw Max win it with a strong performance and Mclaren having a bittersweet double podium. Ferrari too delivered a strong comeback drive after a disappointing qualifying. Williams had a strong showing too, Aston messed their chances with the strategy and Alonso remained pointless even after a P5 start.
To make the race less of a parade, a special rule has been introduced. Teams would need to use 3 different tire compounds, meaning 2 compulsory pitstops. This though, rules out any worry of tire deg. The threat of a red flag or a safety car is always looming, pitting during these would be quite beneficial. With so many variables, there are going to be some quirky strategies and watching how the teams approach this is will be very interesting.
The Track
This street track may not provide the best racing action but it is a treat to watch, with scenic views all around. Drivers, in spite of the traffic issues and boring racing love the challenge. The track has many interesting elements such as the Fairmont, the slowest turn on the calendar. F1 cars go only at around 50kmph around it. There’s even a tunnel (Turn 9) here, the sudden change in the brightness when entering and exiting it is jarring even when you are watching from your homes.
To find the best times here, you have to almost kiss the walls. The scarcity of the run-offs adds to the danger of damaging the car. The drivers here generally like to build up through the weekend, gaining confidence and pushing the limit more and more, inch by inch. Even then, there are a lot of errors made and that makes the practice sessions more happening. Race engineers need to be on their toes, a good communication between the Team and race engineer and driver makes a lot of difference here.
Teams will be running a high downforce setup to take all the low-speed corners that are there. The track evolution is quite high, meaning we will see the circuit get better with time as the cars lay down rubber on the tarmac.
Team Upgrades
There are not many major updates for this week, most of the are intended to increase the downforce as the drag is not much of an issue here.
Mcl and Williams have made changes to the front suspension. Red Bull have also upgraded their rear wing. Max will be running the new front wing, while Yuki will still be on the old version.
Ferrari will use the last’s wing to save the development costs and the manufacturing time.
Mercedes has not brought any upgrades, but that car already has enough downforce on it.
What to watch out for?
Charles Leclerc, The Monegasque is the number one driver to watch out for this weekend. He is a beast on street circuits, pole sitter and winner of last year and knows this circuit like the back of his hand. His drive though is not the best on low-speed corners which are in abundance on this circuit.
The Mclaren boys will be out hunting, they have got a nice car and it takes the low-speed turns well. They would be eager to win and we might see a good battle between these two. After all McLarens know how to put up show at Monaco.
The flying dutchman will be in contention too. He has been the epitome of metronomic consistency and is able to deliver constantly, even when the car cannot.
