May 23, 2024
monacolife.com
I am back! Exams are over just in time for the European leg of the F1 season. A lot has happened in the last few races: F1 returned to China for the first time in five years, Lando Norris finally won his first race (yes, I cried), and then last weekend we had a thrilling end to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix when Max Verstappen won with just a 0.7 second lead on Norris. It’s safe to say that the McLaren dominance I predicted at the beginning of the season has finally arrived. This weekend, F1 visits one of its most iconic tracks as we head over to the land of Charles Leclerc. Here is everything you need to know before the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix:
Weekend Schedule (in EST):
Practice 1: Friday 5/24, 7:30-8:30 AM
Practice 2: Friday 5/24, 11:00-12:00 AM-PM
Practice 3: Saturday 5/25, 6:30-7:30 AM
Qualifying: Saturday 5/25, 10:00-11:00 AM
Race: Sunday 5/26, 9:00 AM
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Circuit de Monaco formula1.com |
The Circuit de Monaco is the first true street circuit of the 2024 season and is often regarded as one of the toughest tracks on the calendar. Its 19 corners and 1 DRS zone run through the streets of the principality, with race cars driving on it by day and regular road cars using it by night. This means track evolution is extremely volatile as drivers lay down rubber during their sessions and then come back to a completely transformed track the next morning. The track’s narrow road and surrounding walls are also extremely unforgiving as they punish even the smallest mistakes. Drivers must have the utmost confidence in their abilities and cars if they want to succeed around Monaco, so teams have to prepare their set ups, strategies, and anything else car related before they even arrive on track. This way, practice can be spent gaining experience around the track and collecting data instead of fixing issues with the car in the garage. Preparing for Monaco can be quite the task considering teams have to find the perfect balance in a set-up that will allow them to go from just 30 mph around the Fairmont Hairpin to pushing 160 mph through the Tunnel. Monaco is a beast of a track, and it takes the entire F1 team to dominate here.
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McLaren's Senna tribute livery mclaren.com |
The difficulty of this track is why F1 great Aryton Senna’s six Monaco Grand Prix wins are so impressive. Senna is the only driver to have ever done this and this weekend, as we mark thirty years since his fatal crash at 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, McLaren have a special livery to honor the legend.
Over the last few races, the fight for first has gotten much more interesting. With McLaren’s most recent round of upgrades, they have begun to challenge Red Bull for the win and pushed themselves up to 3rd in the Constructors’ Championship. Ferrari has also kept up their strong pace from the beginning of the year, with three podiums in the last four races. Ferrari is just 56 points behind Red Bull and Charles Leclerc is only 48 points behind Max Verstappen in each respective championship. Since the three teams all have strong driving pairings and are probably covered by just one second, there is a possibility we have a title fight on our hands.
Mercedes has dropped back from the frontrunners in the last few races. They are currently in no-man’s land because they are worse than the front runners but significantly faster than the rest of the grid. Typically, Mercedes would be furious in such a position, but based on the nonchalant reactions to their P6 and P7 finish in Imola, I would say they either don’t know how to fix the issues they have or are hiding a major upgrade package. I guess we will find out in the next few races.
Now, onto the midfield. RB has pushed themselves up to 6th in the championship with Yuki Tsunoda’s numerous points finishes and Haas has impressed with their new favorite strategy. Haas has taken to sacrificing Kevin Magnussen’s race to protect Nico Hulkenberg’s points positions, but this tactic has led to KMag incurring quite a few penalty points. If he continues at this rate, the Dane faces race suspensions from the FIA.
Williams’ streak of bad luck might continue this weekend because their car does not typically perform well in Monaco. A goal of this season was to design a car that was more adaptable to different tracks, but with two DNFs in the last two races, I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
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Many think Kimi Antonelli will replace Logan Sargeant at Williams fiaformula2.com |
As usual, there is speculation surrounding Logan Sargeant’s seat at Williams and this time, I honestly don’t know what will happen. Alex Albon just announced a multi-year extension to his contract and considering the fact that there is an open seat at Mercedes, there is a good chance Sargeant’s seat is actually in jeopardy. Rumor has it that Mercedes wants to create the “next Max Verstappen” by calling F2 rookie Kimi Antonelli up to Williams for a season, develop him as an F1 driver, and then put him in the Mercedes when the regulations change in 2026. This theory means that Logan Sargeant would lose his job for next year, but Sargeant comes with American sponsors and fans that could be vital for the survival of Williams F1 team. It could really go either way.
The Monaco Grand Prix is an iconic display of the glitz and glamor of F1, and I don’t expect this year to be any different. I will be back after the weekend to let you know if hometown boy Charles Leclerc finally broke his Monaco curse!
Happy Race Weekend!
- Divya
Where I got these
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