Motor Racing
Monaco Grand Prix Preview: Cracks appearing in Red Bull’s invincibility
Following their stint in Imola, Italy, the grid returns to the infamous Circuit de Monaco for the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo which has taken place since 1929.
This is the jewel in the crown of the F1 calendar and is recognised as one of, if not the most, iconic tracks, epitomising the allure of the sport attracting plenty of eyes from regular Formula 1 fans to Hollywood stars and celebrities.
Imola is over and ended an intense contest as Lando Norris piled the pressure on Max Verstappen in the latter stages of the race. But, Norris unfortunately ran out of laps and Verstappen managed to pick up his fifth win of the season.
We preview the Monaco Grand Prix below.
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Circuit de Monaco overview
This is the race of the season that the entire grid dream of winning, and the drivers who push their cars to the limits tend to be the ones who get rewarded. The nature of the track makes it a tough circuit to overtake, with tight walls and corners, and any small errors are punished. Because of this, the teams will be prioritising their maximum downforce setups which will add some more control to their cars to maximise their chances of success.
Because Monaco doesn’t feature as many long straights, the drivers won’t have as many chances to utilise DRS and slipstream overtakes which makes this race tougher than most to climb up the ranks within the Grand Prix itself. There were only 22 on-track overtakes in last year’s race which will mean that the drivers will need to be inch perfect all the way around during the qualifying rounds to shoot up the grid on race day which’ll give them the best chance of getting on the podium.
Last year, and the one before, the circuit was made additionally challenging due to the rainfall which fell over the weekend so the drivers will be praying for a clear run at it in this year’s renewal, although the forecast doesn’t look ideal. However, as a spectator, rainy races make for exciting viewing, especially in Monaco, as there are plenty more factors at play which could shake up the final standings following qualifying.
Main teams to look out for
Aston Martin
Unsurprisingly, we saw another disaster-class from Aston Martin last time out in Imola, which seems to be a recurring theme with them this season. They went into the last Grand Prix with a bunch of upgrades which seem to have had a negative impact on the cars instead of propelling them further in the ranks.
It has usually been Fernando Alonso who has been consistently performing well in the car, but in Imola, he crashed out in practice, went off-track in qualifying, and then struggled for pace in the main race which saw him finish P19. Conversely, Lance Stroll flipped the script and finally had an impressive showing, relative to his performances this season so far finishing in the points in P9.
Mercedes
Mercedes had a good weekend in Italy, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both finishing in the points in P6 an P7 respectively which did them the world of good in the Constructors’ Championship in which they currently sit fourth.
As a result, both drivers look a long price at 16/1 to finish on the podium, a feat which they’re both yet to achieve this season. However, should they manage a decent qualifying and climb the grid for race day, both drivers have enough experience around the track to fend off their opposition for the places.
McLaren
McLaren, and namely Lando Norris, look to be getting stronger and stronger each week and seem to be in the second fastest car, finally capable of sticking it to usual frontrunners Red Bull. In the closing stages in Imola, Norris was closing the gap between himself and Max Verstappen but just ran out of time in the end.
Because Monaco features plenty of slow-speed corners, in which the McLaren car excels, we could see Norris take pole position here and that could pay dividends when it comes to the Grand Prix itself. Their car looks better suited to the Monaco circuit than it does for main rivals Red Bull, so keep an eye out for Norris’ 5/1 price to win the Grand Prix.
Ferrari
Even after the upgrades, Ferrari seem to be losing touch with McLaren with every race that goes by. Charles Leclerc ran a good race and finished on the podium, but the story could have been different had Oscar Piastri not suffered from the penalty he picked up in qualifying.
That said, Leclerc is the second favourite to pick up the win at his home event in Monaco at 9/2. It seems like the French driver has built on the issues he suffered with early on the season, and looks to be on the up.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen enters the Grand Prix at the longest price he’s been all season at 8/13, despite still being odds-on to pick up consecutive Monaco titles. His domination has been more closely contested this season than it was the last as Verstappen only just clinched a win in Italy. Fans of the sport have been waiting on this for a while, and we seem to have entered a period this season where picking the winner takes slightly more consideration.
