That time of the season has arrived, one of the highest anticipated weekends in all of motor-racing has arrived, not only do we have the immensity of the Monaco GP, but there is also the Indy 500, two of the greatest events of the year, all in the same couple of days. If blog HQ was capable of being excessively excited then it would certainly be happening right about now. This race on the narrow barrier lined streets embodies everything that is both right and wrong about Formula One. On the one hand it is the ultimate example of skill, concentration and precision to thread a 700HP car between the steel fences, while at the same time trying to extract maximum speed and maintain position. But while at the same time Monaco is the epitome of grotesque exuberance, a street track can be a challenging venue without all the superficiality and soul destroying opulence the residents jump on the bandwagon to flaunt in front of the world. Australia for example has a myriad of street races, a lot of them on arguably more raceable layouts, promoting some fantastic events, none of them weighed down by the attention grabbing artificial excuses for humanity lazing on their yachts in the harbour or loitering on balconies...
Aside from that rant, there has been only one other complaint that has been taking over the news in the sport is tyres... after Spain there have been lots of polarised opinions. It all seems like a kneejerk reaction to be demanding changes to the compounds - the construction perhaps to prevent delaminations - but to the overall tyre performance I think not. The thing is, if they were hardened as Red Bull are insisting than the hierarchy of performance will be being defined by politics and Pirelli and the FIA bending to the whim of whoever shouts loudest. That is not how things should be, tyres are tyres, yes they may not meet with the ideals of various teams, but that is a function of how your car is designed, look at Lotus and Ferrari - are they having problems on the same compounds... nope. Even Mercedes, the owners of the car that ruins its tyres the most have stated that it is up to them to find a cure, not lobby until the rules are changed in their favour and compromise everyone else. In the end the moral of the story is that Red Bull can stop whining and man up, and fix their car instead of throwing a tantrum because they haven't won everything. Besides we've only had 5 races, two of which featured high degradation, two have been rain affected weekends so people can shut up and get on with things.
The Track
Despite all of the irritations about the setting of this race, and all the cursed people that crawl out of the woodwork once a camera arrives in the vicinity, Monaco is a very special event. One of the few races that inspires excitement long before the season even starts - it is a landmark event presenting a very unique challenge - even among other street circuits around the world, only Pau in France bears any similarity. Who'd have thought some winding roads on the Mediterranean coastline would be an ideal place for a race, yet somehow, with all the improbably awkward corners and clumsy chicanes it still works. Maybe because we've been used to this race for so long now, it Monaco parachuted onto the calendar without the tradition it represents, would we be so tolerant - hell yes. Each bump and turn has character and has virtually gained fame in it's own right, the amount of cars that have fired into the wall out of the tunnel due to the bump there is only one example.
The lap starts at St Devote, a corner that has been opened up with the removal of the inside barrier several years ago to re-profile the pit exit, not that has made too much difference because everyone ends up in the fence on the outside. It was Grosjean in FP2 being the first victim of the armco in this very corner earlier today, after Sutil came very close to beating him to the task in FP1. After this is the climb up the hill past a raft of hideously overpriced shops and cafes, through Massonet at the top of the hill. Looping back and feeding immediately into Casino Square - where another mountainous bump sits on the exit and has been there since the dawn of time it seems causing Chilton to execute a powerslide this afternoon.
At the far side of the track it gets even more compact and technical, starting with Mirabeau a hairpin that redirects the cars back into the slowest corner in the entire year - so tight a special steering rack has to be installed for this race to handle it. Anywhere else in the world the Loews Hairpin would be rejected for being mad or stupid but here it works, like the Melko Hairpin at Macau which is so narrow it is permanently under yellow flag conditions. Yet it is in this sequence Schumacher and Wurtz duelled side by side in 98 - which ultimately resulted in the Austrian exiting the tunnel with no front wheels - turns out Schumacher does not like being passed.
The tunnel is an iconic feature on a track which is basically a string of iconic features strung together seamlessly, it has seen many drivers visiting the outside wall after getting on the marbles offline - including Massa in a Ferrari, in that season where he and Hamilton were not friends; and Alonso in he Renault trying to lap Ralf Schumacher in the tunnel. The bump on the exit of the tunnel has been removed which saw Rosberg and more significantly Perez crash out in 2011, leaving a smoother descent into the Nouvelle Chicane - which isn't so new any more. It does remain one of the few remote chances for overtaking on this narrow layout.
Sector three is highlighted by its first two corners, Tabac and the first part of the swimming pool which are quite quick considering this is the slowest track of the year, both of which have seen significant shunts over recent seasons. Petrov bringing out the Red Flag in 2011, Fisichella being upside down in 2005 and Rosberg demolishing a Williams in 2008 - also Grosjean climbing the barrier in a GP2 support race. Illustrating that madness is never too far away when the walls are so close.
What to expect
Bluntly anything and everything - followed by madness, unpredictability and chaos - all of these things are the recipe for one of the greatest races of the season, and after not too much happened in Spain this could be very exciting and entertaining. Also because practice is on Thursday in Monaco we already have an insight into the running order and potential relative pace a little earlier and from that information it looks very promising.
Mercedes are quick, and look like they could be strong contender for the pole or even for another front row lock out, with Rosberg being the faster of the pairing so far. Yet Ferrari and Lotus are doing well at the sharp end of the timings, and on top of that they have more consistent race pace - especially judging by the times Raikkonen set in FP2, after Grosjean knocked a wheel off in turn one. But where are Red Bull and McLaren, and the answer is no-where in immediate contention - both are in the top ten but off in terms of pace in comparison to the Mercedes' out front. This places them at risk of losing places to the mid-field teams once more lead by Force India, and interestingly the street specialist Pastor Maldonado. The middle of the pack becomes so much more important in the lead battle here in Monaco because if they run long and get out of position they could get in the way as passing is such a challenge.
With the top two divisions in a state of fusion on the streets, the lower end of the field could benefit from any madness going on ahead - especially if the entire grid is trapped behind a Mercedes freight train. Long queues of cars, on a narrow difficult track is the recipe for the 'Perfect Storm' which leads to collisions and safety cars, we haven't had one in 2013 so far - Monaco has a tendency to break that streak. Something that can play directly into the hands of Caterham and Marussia, where they could steal a point from the jaws of insanity, and Monaco is the very breeding ground for the right kind of madness for a brilliant Sunday afternoon. So until the weekend, this is farewell from blog HQ.
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