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Formula 1 2011: Round 06 - Monaco Grand Prix
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25-05-2011 9:05pm#1In a sport that changes seemingly every second Monaco is the one shining example of consistency in a sport. The challenge facing the drivers this weekend is the same as the task that was faced by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1950.
Monaco is a circuit that every single corner echoes of the history of Formula 1 and this year is no exception with the race taking play on the 61st anniversary of Stirling Moss’ superb victory for Lotus. That victory was also the first Formula 1 success for the Norfolk based team that went on to win another six times around the streets of the Mediterranean Principality. Their last win at the circuit was in 1987 with Ayrton Senna at the wheel before he moved to McLaren the next season.
It is impossible to think of Monaco without thinking of the Brazilian who had arguably his most impressive performances on the street circuits. Whether it was his incredible performance in his first appearance at the circuit in 1984, when a red flag before half distance robbed Senna, and indeed Stefan Bellof, of the chance of challenging Alain Prost for victory, or his sixth and final dominant Monaco victory in 1993 the circuit the triple world champion left his mark at every corner.
The Monaco Circuit
Monaco is unique in every way. Even though numerous street circuits have come onto the calendar in recent years Monaco has retained its position as the jewel in the crown of Formula 1. One element that sets Monaco apart is its timetable with practice taking place on Thursday before a rest day on Friday for promotional activities.
The track evolves heavily throughout the weekend with the goal posts constantly moving with more and more grip being put down onto the circuit. With the track getting faster and faster it is crucial for a driver to adapt to the circumstances lap on lap and make tiny adjusts on every corner to what they had done up that point.
Reigning world champion, Sebastian Vettel, has yet to win on the streets of Monte Carlo but he is relishing the challenge that this weekend will place before the field.
"It's remarkable to drive an F1 car around Monaco,” said the German. “It's a completely unique track and a unique challenge for the driver. You have to push as hard as on a normal race track, but the smallest mistake can bring a big penalty. Grid position is very important and can determine your race, as traditionally overtaking in Monaco is very tricky.”
The desire to push yourself further, to dig deeper is key to a fast lap in Monaco. But crucially, unlike at other circuits, overstepping the mark will lead to an inevitable crash and the lost track time will make it all but impossible to catch up to your rivals.
The tunnel is perhaps the most famous feature of the Grand Prix circuit with drivers diving into the darkness flat out through a right hand bend before braking heavily into the seafront chicane, perhaps the only legitimate overtaking position on the circuit.
Monaco resident Nico Rosberg says that: “The drive through the tunnel at 280 kph is always a real adventure. You are so close to the barriers that you can really feel how fast the cars actually are. This year, the race has the potential to be more exciting than ever. If KERS and the DRS do make overtaking possible, it will be great for the fans."
Setup is crucial at Monaco. Drivers want a car that allows them to “point” it at the apex of corners and get on the power as early as possible, just like at most circuits, but the challenge for engineers is that the road surface is so different to anything else on the calendar. With a high crown in the middle of the road surface and drains at the apex of corners a car needs to be able to glide over the bumps.
Sam Michael, Williams’ technical director has faced this challenge on numerous occasions.
“Monaco is a low grip street circuit,” said Michael as he commented on the challenges of setting up a car for this track. “Requiring the softest springs and highest ride heights that we operate over the whole season. Normally reducing understeer and improving traction are the keys to a good laptime.”
What to expect this weekend
Each race weekend of 2011 has sprung surprises as teams get to grips with the new regulations and the new Pirelli tyres and as a result the lottery that is the Monaco Grand Prix is almost impossible to predict.
Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel will once more start as firm favourites but the opposition can have reason for confidence this weekend with McLaren sure to be confident of their competitiveness. The Woking based team is the only in the pit lane that can boast having two previous winners of this race driving this weekend and Lewis Hamilton will surely be in his element on the tight and twisty confines of Monaco.
The Englishman, victor of a wet 2008 race, was inspired in Barcelona and that competitiveness will surely inspire him this weekend. Encouragingly for McLaren they can point to their strong performance in the final sector of the lap in Barcelona as a true indication of their potential this weekend. That section of the Spanish circuit is full of the type of stop start corners that make up the lap in Monaco.
"After such a strong showing in Spain, I'm really looking forward to Monaco this year because I think we'll see a different race from previous years,” said Hamilton. “I think a combination of DRS, KERS Hybrid and the tyres will really make the racing come alive, and I'd love to see some overtaking action and some hard racing this year.”
Whether or not there will be overtaking is debatable but this year’s race has all the elements to be a classic. The new regulations have made Formula 1 incredibly exciting and the battle at the front looks set to be just as dramatic this weekend as it was last.
Fernando Alonso’s unbelievable qualifying performance and opening third of the race in Spain was one of the biggest shocks of the season thus far. The Ferrari seemed hopeless for much of the Spanish weekend and it was only the team’s inability to make the harder tyre work in Spain that saw Alonso struggle in front of his home crowd.
This weekend however, he will not have to deal with the hard tyre as Pirelli will bring their two softest compounds to the Principality. This could be all Fernando needs to challenge at the front of the field. He is yet to win in Monaco and that is surely a statistic that the Spaniard will look to put right this weekend.
Mark Webber needs to assert himself this weekend. After taking pole position in Spain the Australian faded to fourth place at the flag and unless Webber can start winning races he has no chance of getting back into title contention.
It is clear that the new regulations do not suit him quite as much as the old but the Australian is a fast racer and once he unlocks the code to the new style of racing he could become a force to be reckoned with again. His domination last year in Monaco was absolute and it is crucial that he repeats such form.
Monaco is one of the few circuits where the driver can make the difference. Michael Schumacher knows this as well as anyone on the grid and the German showed signs of returning to form in Barcelona with a strong performance in the race. The seven times world champion will not challenge for the victory this weekend but another strong performance would surely show that he is making the progress expected of him in 2011.
Strategy has proved to be quite uniform in 2011 with the majority of the front runners all marking the cards of each other by finishing the races with similar strategies. This could all change in Monaco.
The tyres look set to be as much of a handful as ever and a three stop strategy looks to be the fastest strategy in the race, but is it the best strategy?
Three stops are only best if a driver can get in clean air throughout the race and with the possibility of a safety car or traffic ruining an in or out lap it could be a risky strategy. Even so I expect the majority of the leading field to once again act in unison.
Jenson Button has tried contrary strategies in the last two races and has been rewarded in one and hindered in the other. This weekend the Englishman will use a two stop strategy and will try and get out ahead of his rivals after their second stops. Armed with fresher tyres the likes of Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso and Webber will be well placed to attack Button but the 2009 winner has shown that he can absorb a lot of pressure and maintain his cool. This race could echo 1992 when Senna kept Nigel Mansell at bay even though Mansell caught him by four seconds a lap!F1 2011 revolves on tyres
Pirelli will bring the super-soft tyre to a race for the first time in 2011 along with the soft compound that has been used throughout the year thus far.
Paul Hembery the Italian manufacturer’s motorsport director is clearly looking forward to this weekend:
"Monaco is a fantastic race that makes no sense on the one hand as it's so different from everywhere else, but it's still the jewel in the crown of the calendar on the other. We're very excited to see our PZero Red super-soft tyres making their debut around the twisty streets this weekend, although this type of circuit will obviously be a completely new experience as we've only tested on permanent tracks.
"The super-soft rubber is designed to provide outstanding performance over a short period of time but this comes at the price of durability, so all the teams will have to consider their strategies carefully. Getting it right will make the difference between winning and losing. For longer runs, the PZero Yellow has already proven itself to be a reliable and popular product so far this year, contributing to extremely close racing while providing the drivers with all the confidence they need to push to the maximum. We said from the start that we wanted to give racing back to the racers, and we're hoping very much that Monaco will be a classic example of this."
Lewis Hamilton shares Hembery’s excitement ahead of this race:
“I think the tyres will probably give us the greatest scope for excitement and the best chance of passing,” said the Englishman. “While I don't think the Super-Soft and Soft compounds will be as critical around Monaco as they were at a place like Turkey, I still think the drop-off we encounter as the tyres go off should create opportunities for overtaking. And I don't think the marbles will be as bad as people fear, because they tend to occur at the exits of high-speed corners, and Monaco is generally quite a low-speed track”
This evolution of the circuit will make qualifying exceptionally challenging for the teams. Whereas in recent races everyone has done their best to keep a spare set of fresh option tyres available for the race the constant quickening of the track and the difficulty in overtaking will make it impossible to take chances in qualifying.
The super-soft tyre should be worth something in the region of 0.6s per lap in qualifying and as a result it should be impossible to qualify on the harder prime tyre and still look to set a competitive time. The option tyre will not be a durable tyre, especially on full tanks at the start of the race, and as a result the drivers who fail to the top ten shootout should be well placed to move through the field at the opening round of pit stops.
Weather for the Monaco Grand Prix
The four day forecast for Monaco is for sunshine on Thursday but with clouds rolling in from Friday onwards. Rain is forecast for Saturday but whether it falls during qualifying will be a lottery. Race day should be warm and sunny however with temperatures expected in the low 20s.
Facts and figures:
Total pitstop time: 24s
Average margin of victory: 19.5s
Average starting position of winner: 2nd
Winners from pole position: 24
Races where the winner led every lap: 18
BBC Schedule
Thursday 26 May
First practice: 0855-1035 BBC Red Button
Second practice: 1255-1435 BBC Red Button
Saturday 28 May
Third practice: 0955-1105 BBC Red Button
Qualifying: 1210-1430 BBC One
Sunday 29 May
Grand Prix live: 1205-1520 BBC One
F1 forum: 1520-1620 BBC Red Button
Highlights: 1900-2000 BBC ThreeTagged:13
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Back now, 2 minutes of green at the end, loads pouring out for a lap
remember the red flag in Q2 in china, and everyone desperate for a run at the very end to secure Q3. Brilliant it was, when half the teams (the top half anyway) are only all going out for 1 lap they should make quali 5 mins long. that's enough time for an out lap and 2 flyers.
everyone would be fighting over each other, it'd be great :pac:0 -
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