The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the historic events in the Formula 1 calendar and, this year, it reaches an important milestone. What will be staged this weekend will in fact be the seventieth edition valid for the World Drivers’ Championship, given that there have been eleven other editions of this race – ten before the establishment of the maximum motoring competition, one in 1952, when cars raced Covered wheel sports.
As per tradition, Pirelli’s choice with regards to the slick tire compounds fell on the softest trio available this year, namely the one composed of C3 as Hard, C4 as Medium and C5 as Soft. As almost always happens on city tracks, which have particularly smooth asphalt given that it is normally used daily by road cars, the tires must be able to offer the maximum possible grip.
The Monaco race is the one where the forces to which the tires are subjected are among the lowest of the entire season because the average speed with which the 3,337 meter length of the track is completed is very low, with corners that are taken even at less of 50 km/h and only about 30% of the lap is covered in full. Furthermore, the fact that there are 78 laps scheduled on Sunday determines a decidedly higher than average frequency of every phenomenon that characterizes the behavior of the tyres, in particular with regards to the density of the energy developed in the traction phase. Another factor to take into consideration when analyzing tires is graining which, especially in the first few days, could be a not particularly desired guest.
On a track where the margin of error is practically reduced to zero, an element that characterizes the evolution of lap times is the confidence with which the drivers – regardless of their previous knowledge of the track – tackle the 19 corners and all the pitfalls that are scattered there. The objective of each driver is to progressively refine the search for the best trajectory, getting closer and closer to the guardrails, often touching them with the shoulder of the tyres: managing to do this without breaking anything is the key to gaining a good position on the grid, which is fundamental for the result final given that overtaking is almost impossible, even in the presence of a difference in performance between cars in the order of seconds: imagine how decisive qualifying can be in a season like this, where thousandths of a second determine the order of line-up in front of the starting traffic lights
On a track like this, the intervention of the safety car is practically inevitable (77% probability, on average almost twice per race) but the last edition, curiously, went off without a hitch, without any neutralisation. From a strategic point of view, on paper there is only one option: the single stop, trying to delay it as much as possible in order to possibly take advantage of a safety car to minimize the time lost in the pit lane.
The month of May has so far been characterized by numerous celebrations for the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Ayrton Senna, whose figure also indelibly marked the history of the Monaco Grand Prix. In fact, the Brazilian driver still holds the records for victories (6), pole positions (5) and podium placings (8). Michael Schumacher is first in terms of fastest laps in the race (5) and shares second place with Graham Hill in the victories list (5 each) and with Hill himself, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel in terms of podium finishes (7 each). . Among the teams, McLaren leads in terms of successes (15) while Ferrari has started from pole position several times (12) and set the fastest lap in the race several times (17) as well as podium finishes (55), ranking in which McLaren doubles, second with 27.
Minimum pressures at the start (slick tyres)
Front: 20.0 psi
Rear: 19.0 psi
Maximum camber
Front: -3.25°
Rear: -2.25°
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