After a thrilling first race of the triple header in Imola, the paddock makes the relatively short drive along the Mediterranean coast to another of its most iconic locations. With just 22 points covering the top three drivers in the championship and new rules designed to add more variation to the racing, there’s plenty to get excited about ahead of Monaco…
You can be forgiven for seeing the Miami Grand Prix and believing it was certain to become a two-horse race between the McLaren pair for the drivers’ championship this year, such was the advantage that Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris had over the rest of the field.
Fast-forward two weeks, and Imola totally changed that feeling once again. Max Verstappen continues to be a threat in qualifying, but this time he also had a car that was competitive in race trim on all kinds of tyre compounds. Once in the lead after his brilliant move on Piastri at Tamburello (see the clip below), he never looked troubled.
With Norris taking three points off Piastri himself, the top three drivers all closed up in the standings, with Piastri’s lead cut to 13 points ahead of his team mate, and Verstappen just 22 adrift. You don’t need me to tell you that’s less than a race victory, and any one of the three could leave Monaco in the lead.
Red Bull brought upgrades to the last two races, and while their form looks like it will still ebb and flow a little, with Verstappen so regularly picking up solid points he’s showing himself fully capable of remaining in the championship battle throughout.
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Ferrari have made life extremely hard for themselves if they want their drivers to be a factor in the title race, but the first step has got to be trying to get into a position to win races again, and there were positive signs on that front in Imola, too.
Off the back of a pretty dismal Miami race performance, and then both cars dropping out in Q2 last weekend, the race pace was extremely strong and allowed both drivers to climb into the top six despite the challenges there can be making overtaking moves at such a tight track.
Charles Leclerc does have a podium to his name already this season and Lewis Hamilton almost added his first in a Grand Prix (he has been first and third in the two Sprints so far this year) as he closed to just 1.4 seconds behind Piastri on Sunday. Heading to Monaco, Hamilton will be hoping to continue the momentum, having been pleased with the set-up of his car and feeling a “synergy” and “connection” with his machinery that has generally been lacking this year.
Monaco’s a very different prospect in terms of what it demands from a car, but race day in Imola will have lifted the mood at Ferrari.
There were encouraging signs from Ferrari on race day at Imola
If we’re talking about teams that will be in a good mood at the moment, you don’t have to look much further than Williams. A remarkably strong performance in Miami was followed up by a similarly competitive outing at Imola, with Alex Albon firmly in the mix for a podium before he had to settle for a second consecutive fifth place.
Carlos Sainz showed the pace and potential to replicate Albon’s results in both races but had damage in Miami and then was left to rue his strategy last weekend, with Team Principal James Vowles admitting Williams were actually disappointed not to score bigger than fifth and eighth.
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While they talked down the likelihood of repeating their Miami form in Imola, that hasn’t been the case looking ahead to Monaco, with Vowles saying there is “huge potential” for the team to do well in the Principality.
Vowles has been vocal in the past about how Williams are really targeting big improvements next year, so this impressive uptick in form this season is all a bonus for the Grove team.
Alex Albon scored another P5 result at Imola – and was even in podium contention during the Grand Prix
There might be 24 races in a season, and all of them have their own unique identities, but there’s just a little something special about seeing Formula 1 cars driving around the streets of Monaco.
It is very much a qualifying venue – or at least has been (but more on strategy later) – but it’s also a track where the drivers can make the difference if they have a car that’s even remotely competitive. Threading the needle through the barriers is one of the most impressive sights in racing, particularly when they are giving it everything on a qualifying lap.
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It’s likely that all 20 drivers will have a brush with a barrier at some stage in the weekend as they try and push the limits, but some might hit them a little bit harder than others. And it’s that jeopardy that makes it so spectacular when watching the cars dancing their way through historic corners such as Ste Devote, Mirabeau or Tabac.
Oh, and with the track being bordered by a city climbing steeply up the hillside, a palace perched on top of the rock face, and stunning yachts in the harbour, it doesn’t get much more iconic as a setting.
Monaco is a unique setting for a Grand Prix
Qualifying is likely to remain the most important part of the race weekend, with track position as crucial as ever in Monaco, but there will be a significant change to the rules for the race this year.
The teams have all agreed to a mandatory two-stop race, adding a greater potential for position changes through strategy. That comes after multiple events have seen drivers able to drive around a long way off the ultimate pace, waiting for a pit window, and then making their one and only stop when they have a gap to emerge into.
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The difficulty of overtaking meant tyres could be managed regardless of the compound, so the decision was taken to create a new rule that each car must use three different sets of tyres during a race.
The regulation that two different compounds must be used remains in place, but there will be at least two pit stops per car, and that ramps up the pressure on the teams.
A tweak to the rules means the drivers will be making extra pit stops in Monaco this year
For one, they have to find gaps to pit into on two occasions, or have to deal with traffic once they return to the track. The intention is that the frontrunners will therefore have to drive closer to the limit to string the field out sooner and create more space on track. On top of that, the additional stop doubles the risk of a slow stop that could cost you positions.
As with any new rule, the intent is one thing, but this weekend will be the first time we get to truly see the impact, and it could open up more opportunities to make progress than in the past, and perhaps, a more dramatic race.
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