The Formula One circus moves onto its most glamorous event of the season, as the teams make their way to Monaco, in what is one of the annual highlights in all of motorsports. The famed street circuit plays venue to the championship at a very interesting time of the season, with the early season patterns beginning to form and the overall contenders coming to the fore. Fernando Alonso and Ferrari come into the race on the back of their near perfect result in Barcelona two weeks ago, where the Spaniard won before his home crowd, with teammate Felipe Massa claiming his first podium of the season in third. Monaco hasn’t brought the Italian team much luck in recent years, and they will have to improve their qualifying performance if they wish to follow up their Spain win with another, as the streets of Monte Carlo are notorious in how few opportunities to overtake they provide.
Monaco Grand Prix Odds
|
Driver |
Qualifying Odds |
Race Odds |
| Lewis Hamilton |
6/4 |
3/1 |
| Nico Rosberg |
11/10 |
7/2 |
| Fernando Alonso |
17/2 |
7/2 |
| Sebastian Vettel |
8/1 |
4/1 |
| Kimi Raikkonen |
25/1 |
8/1 |
| Mark Webber |
16/1 |
12/1 |
| Felipe Massa |
40/1 |
25/1 |
| Romain Grosjean |
40/1 |
28/1 |
Mercedes have dominated qualifying in recent times, claiming three poles in a row. Their race pace, however, has not matched their single lap speed, and they have seen their cars slip away from the podium places during the course of the last few races, despite strong qualifying performances. Once again, they showed their cars’ potential in the Thursday practice, with Niko Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at the top of the time sheets, ahead of the two Ferraris, followed by Mark Webber in fifth. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel finished the session in ninth.
But qualifying will be crucial for the outcome of the race. The street circuit is well known for not allowing many overtaking opportunities, with the only real chance of taking places from other drivers being during the pit stops. So securing a front row grid slot will be the first priority for teams on Saturday, and Mercedes look to be in a good position to do so. Should they continue their qualifying domination of recent weeks on Saturday, they could very well walk away from the Principality with a decent points finish, if not their first win of the season.
Check out the official Formula One website to keep up with the latest from Monaco.
Tagged With : Alonso • Hamilton • Massa • Mercedes • Monaco Grand Prix • Rosberg • Vettel