Formula One Vault

PRIXVIEW – Monaco Grand Prix

Round six sees F1 head to one of its most important and prestigious automobile races in the world the Monaco Grand Prix. For almost a century this race around the streets of Monte Carlo has provided a unique challenge around the narrow twisty and short circuit where mistakes are costly and the rewards great.

Once described by Nelson Piquet likened racing round the course to “riding a bicycle around your living room”. The circuit is the only one to still largely follow the layout first introduced in 1929, though a few corners have been modified and added such as the Novelle Chicane and Swimming Pool sections.

Monte Carlo is very much one of the drivers’ favourites, although the racing is often a precession around the circuit. there has been criticism that the modern cars are double the size that they were a decade ago, making overtaking around the circuit even more difficult. However it is a race every driver wants to win, it’s sometimes seen as second to winning the championship, it shows the exceptional drivers from the good.

Traditionally the last weekend of May and is known as one of the largest weekends in motorsport, with F2, the Indianapolis 500 (IndyCar Series) and the Coca-Cola 600 (NASCAR Cup Series).

While it is the home Grand Prix of Charles Leclerc, Monaco is also the defacto home race for most of the grid, including Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Lando Norris all have homes in the country.

Monaco is a circuit that drivers need to build throughout practice and qualifying, this isn’t a modern street circuit like the last four races it’s a lot narrower with tighter corners and little run-off area. This means that one mistake in practice can upset you’re whole weekend and could be wrecked, both in terms of damage and confidence.

This weekend is one of the biggest challenges of the season, it’s a test of drivers’ skill and team communication, as strategy and being on track at the right time is key. Overtaking is going to be hard, reacting to safety cars and pit stops are key in gaining position on track. Races have been won and lost by miscommunication and bad timing as safety car in the race and red flags in practice and is highly likely.

Monte Carlo is a circuit which favours good mechanical grip and cornering as there aren’t any real straights, drivers will be pushing hard throughout the practice sessions on Friday afternoon to get as much time on track to build confidence. It also has the tightest and lowest corner of the season, The Fairmont Hairpin.

Sainte Devote (turn one), named after the parish church Sainte-Dévote Chapel the patron saint of Monaco, and the Nouvelle Chicane are possibly the best opportunities to overtake. Although much lower than other circuits, the attempts to overtakes can draw you’re attention. On paper, this should be a one-stop race, given the low tyre wear but teams often gamble on extra stops to try and gain track position, but that comes with extra risks.

Qualifying is one of the most important of the year, as limited over means grid and track position are key. It also means that pit stops can both win and lose time, while not a tyre-limited race, the advantage of position but it can also lose races if teams get it right that can mean big rewards.

Monte Carlo is the only circuit to host a Grand Prix in the world championship era at the same circuit when it has been a round of the championship. Second to Monza in the record books by the number of races held.

races can be won and lost by the timing of pit stops, although tyres aren’t a limiting factor the short pit lane and safety cars make this a strategic race rather than one where lap time and overtaking are important. This can also result in abnormal results and while the cars are more reliable now, this race on average has higher retirements though their have been races recently where no major incidents have happened.

Maybe Charles Leclerc’s home race but he has had a difficult relationship here, he has only scored points once in his career here. He did however take pole in 2021, but crashed out at the end of qualifying and failed to start. Can this weekend be a turning point as he looks to start his 2023 fight having not won a race this year and the dominance of Red Bull.

During the 1960s this race was dominated by Graham Hill, he earnt the nickname “Mr Monaco,” and he won five races in the decade. The one which stands out is 1965, after taking pole he avoided a collision on lap 25 with the backmarker which dropped him to fifth. After setting fastest lap after fastest lap he still managed to work his way back into the lead of the race. Hill’s teammate Denny Hulme would win in 1967 before Hill took two more wins.

The early 1970s saw the Swimming Pool built, although early on there would be a ramp over the section, the origins of the chicane we know today were introduced along with the pit lane in 1973. Further changes were made three years later, Sainte Devote corner was made slower and a chicane was placed right before the pit straight

There would be another Mr Monaco, Ayrton Senna who along with his rival Alain Prost would dominate the 1980s and early 1990s winning ten races between them. In  his debut season, the Brazilian showed great promise in the pouring rain in the Toleman chasing Prost before the race was abandoned on lap thirty-one.

Prost dominated 1986 after starting from pole position, a race where the Nouvelle Chicane had been changed on the grounds of safety. Senna’s first of five consecutive wins came in 1989, he won while Prost was stuck behind backmarker Rene Arnoux and others.

1994 was the first race following Senna’s death, that race wasn’t without more difficult questions after Austrian Karl Wendlinger had an accident in his Sauber in the tunnel; he went into a coma and was to miss the rest of the season. Michael Schumacher would go on to win the first of five wins equalling Hill in 2001.

However, 2006 qualifying was controversial for Schumacher when while provisionally holding pole position and with the qualifying session drawing to a close, he stopped his car at the Rascasse hairpin, blocking the track and obliging competitors to slow down. Although Schumacher claimed it was the unintentional result of a genuine car failure, the FIA disagreed and he was sent to the back of the grid.

Monaco often throws up abnormal results and winners as in 1996, when Olivier Panis took his only race win and saw only three (actual) finishers, David Coulthard and Johnny Herbert. Most retirements coming from collisions or technical problems. Schumacher took his first of three wins for Ferrari in Mont Carlo in 1997. After the two Williams retired, Schumacher showed his skills in the wet to take victory by fifty-three seconds.

Sir Lewis Hamilton’s first win came in wet and changeable conditions in 2008, the McLaren driver took the lead of the race when his rivals made their first stop and at his second stop he switched first to the soft tyre. Following the final safety car caused by Nico Rosberg after he hit debris. Hamilton would have to wait eight years until his second win around the principally when Red Bull messed up the pit stop of Daniel Ricciardo allowing Hamilton

Both Red Bull and Mercedes would dominate the 2010’s, with five wins in eleven years the only exception being 2017. Nico Rosberg won three races back to back between 2013 and 2015, while in recent times Red Bull has won three of the last four races in Monaco.

Race & Circuit Guide

Fast facts

• Monaco Grand Prix is the only Grand Prix that does not adhere to the FIA’s mandated 305-kilometre (190-mile) minimum race distance for F1 races. It has the shortest lap distance of all Formula One races. the Grand Prix has a race length of 161.734 miles. However, it also requires the most laps out of any circuit to complete the race – 78 laps in total.
• Although almost 40,000 people live in Monaco, only around 5,000 residents are locals or Monégasque. The tiny principality has produced four drivers over the years; Louis Chiron, André Testut, Olivier Beretta and Charles Leclerc. Chiron won the 1931 non-Championship Monaco Grand Prix and also holds the record for being the oldest driver to enter a race.
• A total of 85 drivers have finished on the podium in Monaco, with Ayrton Senna being the most successful with eight top-three finishes.
• Monaco holds the record in the modern F1 era for the least number of cars to finish a race, only four cars made it to the chequered flag in both 1966 and 1996.
• Thirty-three kilometres of safety rails are erected. This is on top of three thousand six hundred tyres for tyre barriers and twenty thousand square metres of wire catch fencing.

Event timetable

What happened in 2022?

Charles Leclerc beat his teammate Carlos Sainz by two-tenths to take pole for his home race with a 11.376. Sainz crashed at Portier at the end of Q3 which prevented other drivers from improving along with Sergio Perez who followed him into the wall, blocking the track and bringing out the red flag. Max Verstappen looked on course to improve on his final lap, but in the first sector, he was a tenth down, then had to abort the lap because of the red flag. Verstappen himself also struggled to be that bit further ahead than Perez, who looked to be the driver to beat.

Perez went on to win a heavily interrupted race after holding up the Sainz in the closing minutes of the race. The Mexican took victory by a second after taking the lead of the race shortly before the second red flag when he passed Ferrari’s Leclerc at half distance. He had overtook Leclerc following the second red flag before Mick Schumacher crashed his Haas splitting it in two.

That neutered the battle between Leclerc and Sainz for second, On the second restart, Perez rebuilt his lead after pulling away from the two Ferrari and teammate Max Verstappen. Although it wasn’t huge, the Mexican then managed to fend off Sainz’s attempts in the remaining laps although it looked as if the race could have been run to full distance that the Spaniard may have continued to close the gap and get the move done.

All of Sainz’s attempts to pass Perez were not enough to get past the Mexican and take a maiden win, with his advantage of a slick-wet tyre. The pressure was ramped up by Sainz in the closing ten minutes when Perez started to struggle with damaged tyres after locking up as well as graining.  Verstappen finished the race third, almost a second and a half ahead of Charles Leclerc while he finished fourth and his home race for the first time in his career he was furious by the team’s decisions on the strategy which saw him lose track of position

Race Result – 1) S. Perez, Red Bull, 01:56:30.265 | 2) C. Sainz, Ferrari, +00:01.154 | 3) M. Verstappen, Red Bull, +00:02.992

What to watch for?

Monaco marks the first race of the European season this means that we are going to see the first big upgrades of the season. But the big question will be whether any team can close the gap to Red Bull, who look following the first five races difficult to beat this season. Can the likes of Aston Martin, Ferrari and Mercedes close the gap to Red Bull? Of course, these were due to be introduced last weekend at Imola.

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are likely to be the favourites and we know how dominant the car has been, while they look likely to have this championship between them, this weekend could give answers to how big the gap is to the rest of the field. Red Bull will also not be standing still and will be looking to maintain the gap over the rest of the top four.

Can Aston Martin and Ferrari close the gap? Though this being Monaco it could be difficult for the teams and us to understand the gap. Monaco is a circuit in which drivers need is confidence and they need to build that through out the weekend, this is a race about strategy and communication which can see races won and lost.

I think this is the first real low-speed technical circuit of the season and that could potentially see the gap close between Red Bull, Aston Martin, and Ferrari. Though you still need to be at you’re best I feel to beat Red Bull this season, and that has been Ferrari’s weakness in recent years although I think there is this feeling that Aston are going to be in this fight all season.

Mercedes have suggested that they will not delay the upgrades until Barcelona, I think given the cancellation of Imola will need to wait until next weekend to fully see the effects of these upgrades. But we know that street circuits have been a historic weakness, however it seems that its almost been reversed since last year. If they get it together they could have a good weekend.

The midfield battle will be interesting Alpine, McLaren (tied on points) and Haas have had mixed starts to the season and they need to start seeing if they can close the gap to the front. I think McLaren has started to turn it around since the difficulties they had in Bahrain, but I think in the next two weeks we will get a better idea of how over the next two months how this midfield battle is likely to shape up following the next scheduled break in August. We have seven races in ten weeks and a lot could and will happen between now and the break….

2021 vs 2022 Race Data

Note 2022 was run to 64 of 76 laps
2022 Lap time comparison

Tyres