Saturday, May 24, 2008 Surprise winner in Monaco Grand Prix By Steve Slater Special Contributor
THERE are three things to watch out for in Monaco this weekend. The weather, barrier bashing and perhaps, a surprise winner!
The tight, twisting Monaco Grand Prix circuit may be the slowest track on the Formula One calendar, but it is one of the toughest. The track demands a completely different approach to almost every other track, as the slow speeds mean that the car’s aerodynamics are less effective, with “mechanical grip,” good old-fashioned suspension design, coming to the fore.
The close proximity of the barriers to the track really puts the emphasis on the drivers being able to drive to the limit, but not past it. Of course, this year, the drivers don’t have electronic traction control or braking assist to help their cars stability.
That might be a real key to the weekend’s race if the weather forecaster’s prediction of rain is proven correct.
Already, the initial practice sessions have seen veterans and rookies alike hitting the barriers, fortunately without serious damage. It was perhaps to be expected to see rookies like Adrian Sutil and Nelson Piquet paying for their mistakes, but former winners Jarno Trulli (twice) and Fernando Alonso, also became casualties of the opening day’s action.
Despite his misfortunes, I still think that Fernando Alonso could be in a position to gain a podium place, if not a third successive victory at the track. It is quite simply Renault’s best chance of the season to score a win.
One of the big problems for the Renault team over the past two years is that its 2.4-liter engine seems to produce less power than its McLaren, Ferrari and BMW rivals. The problem is that under the FIA rules, the specification is frozen till 2010 and the teams are not allowed to make any fundamental changes to the engine itself.
All Renault can do is work on things like the exhausts and inlet systems and hope for success on tracks, where horsepower isn’t such an issue.
Monaco is just such a track and its demands for precision perfectly suits Alonso’s sharp, aggressive driving style. He won here for Renault in 2006, for McLaren last year and he still has high hopes of a hat-trick.
Except....
Lewis Hamilton is on absolutely brilliant form and simply bursting with confidence, which shows in his driving. Not only were his Thursday practice laps fast, they were spectacular too, taking advantage of the absence of traction control to deliberately slide the car right up to the barriers and use the outside of the slower corners to gain extra time.
It was marvelous to watch and he was millimeter-perfect every time. When a driver is on that form, he has to be the favorite for a win.
The McLaren chassis proved last year to have a clear advantage over Ferrari when mechanical grip rather than aerodynamic downforce dominates. Ferrari boss Stefano Domenciali admits as much, but says that in the year since their trouncing in the 2007 race they have made big steps forward. It is going to be a close-fought battle.
Of the two Ferrari drivers, Felipe Massa is the better one to watch around Monaco. Kimi Raikkonen is a former winner in 2005, so is no slouch, but the track seems to better suit Massa’s style. He is nearly as spectacular and as quick as Hamilton.
We can expect some teams to struggle, others to surprise at Monaco.
Neither Nick Heidfeld nor Robert Kubica looked comfortable with their hard-sprung, twitchy BMWs over Monaco’s bumps.
Jarno Trulli’s two accidents (so far) tell their own story on the Toyota’s drivability and the new Toro Rosso car, which makes its debut this weekend, can hardly be expected to be instantly competitive.
Two drivers to watch though will be Giancarlo Fisichella, who aims to celebrate his 200th race start by scoring a top ten finish for the Force India team and Nico Rosberg. The Williams driver is my personal Monaco hero so far, the only driver to match Hamilton for speed and spectacle.
Watch out for Rosberg chasing Hamilton home for a podium place!
(Steve Slater is the expert half of the popular F1 commentary duo on STAR Sports. Slater is a veritable encyclopedia of motor racing and has been involved in the sport at many levels including as journalist, race-organizer, radio broadcaster, and now commentator.)
