Monaco GP preview

With 4 races of the season done, we now head off to the glam circuit on the calendar. People may argue that that honour belongs to Singapore, but no, this place beats Singapore in every aspect, Singapore would lose all its sheen if it was a day race like Monaco is.

A car navigating the right hander of the left-right-left nouvelle chicane

 

Monaco is like an obstacle course with high rises just at the edge of the track, as one exits the tunnel the circuit goes along parallel to the bay where the multi-millionaires dock their yachts and soak in the action. It is just so unique and a one of its kind circuit.

Yachts along Tabac

Triple Formula One champion Nelson Piquet was fond of saying that racing at Monaco was "like trying to cycle round your living room", but added that "a win here was worth two anywhere else".

The words of Nelson Piquet shed light on how tricky the circuit is. Street circuits are tricky but this place makes the other street circuits seem easy. The Monaco GP is one third of the events which are dubbed as the Triple-Crown of motorsports (Indy 500 and Le Mans 24 hours race are the other events)

It contains the slowest corner in Formula One (the Fairmont Hairpin, taken at just 48 kmph) and one of the quickest (the flat out kink in the tunnel, three turns beyond the hairpin, taken at 260 kmph)

The cars snaking around the Fairmont hairpin

 

Despite being a circuit that needs audacious overtaking methods there exists one point on the track where overtaking can be attempted, like breaking late and going around the outside on Fairmont and quickly cutting back in to complete the move.

Out of the tunnel, the cars have to brake hard for the tight left-right-left nouvelle chicane. This has been the scene of several large accidents, like the one suffered by Sergio Pérez in 2011. The chicane is generally the only place on the circuit where overtaking can be attempted like on other circuits. To overtake anywhere else is purely based on driver skills. Hence, Monaco is the ultimate test of a drivers skills. Qualifying here is of the utmost importance as overtaking is extremely tough on the narrow streets snaking around the principality.
Most circuits on the f1 calendar have a minimum race distance of 305km and a time limit somewhere between 1 and half hours to 2 hours, but in Monaco the time limit is maintained but not the minimum race distance. Yet it has the most laps of any race of the calendar.
Fernando Alonso in that pathetically uncompetitive McClaren could have posted a good result here due to the lack of long straights demanding horsepower. But having won the Monaco Grand Prix twice, the last triumph coming in 2007, he has chosen to go to the IndyCar Indianapolis 500 event to attempt to win it and move one step closer to completing the Motorsports Triple Crown . Jenson Button will race for McLaren in place of the Double World Champion.

Mercedes head into Monaco with an 8 point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors Championship. Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari leads Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes by 6 points in the Drivers championship. The duo have won 2 races each this season and will be looking to get a 3^rd this season in the principality. Or will the Finns Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari and Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes play spoilsport. Could Max Verstappen mount a challenge on F1’s biggest stage?

Find out who will reign supreme in the principality!