Home to some of the richest people in the world and famous casinos, Monaco with its glamour mixes up with the most expensive form of racing on the round six of Formula 1. Twenty cars will race around 3.34km street circuit between the Princes�s Palace and the Mediterranean sea. This unique circuit requires precision driving and technical excellence from the drivers. The 2009 Formula 1 Grand Prix De Monaco (May 22th � May 24th) Preview
The F1 season is never fully complete if a trip to Monaco is not on the calendar. Formula One is a rich man�s game and Monaco is the ideal settings to demonstrate money, fame, glamour and ego. It is one of the track circuits that every F1 driver dreams of winning. Monaco�s circuit stands apart from other F1 destinations. The Monte Carlo�s streets will require precision driving and technical excellence from the drivers in order to succeed in the race. This circuit has been a regular fixture since 1955 and many all time greats have won at Monte Carlo. You will find names like Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher amongst them.
The Monte Carlo circuit length is 3.340 km and the race distance is 260.520km. The race will consist of 78 laps and Michael Schumacher currently holds the fastest lap of the circuit at 1:14.439 in 2004.
Spanish Grand Prix Recap A Brawn one two again puts the Brawn team on pole position for the Championship title and the Constructor Drivers Championship. Jensen Button led a pole position and won the Barcelona race, followed by his teammate Barrichello. Most notably incident in the race came after the second turn in lap 1, where 4 cars collided with other each where Jarno Trulli, Adrian Sutil, Sebastien Buemi and Sebastien Bourdais had to retire under the category of �accident�. However, Heikki Kovalainen had a gear box problem and retired in lap 7 while Kimi Raikkonen had to retire in lap 17 after hydraulics failure.
Technical Recap In Spain, Brawn GP introduced a new rear aero package around the exhaust exits and a low positioning of the steering column which the same level as the front suspension's lower wishbone. At the same time, BMW Sauber introduced a new car with a new nose and front wing, new sidepods, engine cover and rear wing Ferrari has adapted the Brawn-style front wing endplates while Team McLaren is revising their rear diffuser. On the other hand, Toyota are the only team to have their rear brake calipers mounted inboard relative to the rear axle.
Budget Row in a Nutshell The headline of the week has to go to Team Ferrari stirring up the resentment regarding FIA�s proposal of �40 million budget cap for 2010. Teams accepting the cap will get greater technical freedom than those teams that have an unlimited budget. This could create a separation of the F1 teams and generally making two leagues in F1. Ferrari have given the FIA a warning that they might pull out of the Formula racing next season and this sentiment was followed by the Red Bull, Renault and Toyota teams.
Brawn GP Jensen Button is leading the championship race with 41 points and his nearest competitor is his own teammate Barrichello with 27 points. Team mate Ruben Barrichello was furious with the decision that the Brawn team changed Button�s tactical during the race. This resulted in Barrichello needing to pit stop 3 times which is one more than Button. Never the less, Button drove majestically and he fully deserved to win Barcelona although Barrichello could have challenged him if the tactics were in his favor. Having said this, they will go to Monaco in good spirits and hope to dominate once again. Button will be looking forward to win Monaco.
Team Red Bull-Renault: Another great performance from the German Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. They ended up 3rd and 4th respectively and is the closest team to rival the Brawn. Both drivers started amongst the top 5 positions and some interchanging were made during the race. Although, their cars were outpaced by the Brawns easily, that made it harder for them to actually challenge them. Vettel did not look like himself on the day and prior to that, there was a sign of some gearbox problem during qualifying. The Red Bull team did a good job in Spain and they will be hoping to go one better at Monaco as the track suits Mark Webber�s driving style. His strategy worked very well in Barcelona so somehow you know that the Red Bull will be plotting something and will pull it out in Monte Carlo. Webber got his podium and has announced that they want to finish on podium more often in the future.
Team Renault: Fernando Alonso came 5th while teammate Nelson Piquet Jr ended up 12th. This was by far the best race Alonso has had for quite some time. There were not much hope before the race as both cars started at middle of the grid. Driving in front of his Spanish crowd, Alonso quickly found himself in 6th position and defended it well until he lapped past Massa. Nelson Piquet Jr was nowhere to be seen, so there was not much from him again. Alonso can find himself in front of the pack in Monaco as he really enjoys this street style of racing. One of the team to look out for, but it will not be Pique though.
Team Ferrari: Monaco is Ferrari�s turf, the scene just fits the bill of a Ferrari car driving in the background. The prestige and pride are the things that the people go to Monaco to see the shining red cars pass them in the streets of Monte Carlo but sadly it might not be the red Ferrari car if they will pull out next season. The problem off the track is not far from on the tracks, the car itself has not been optimal and that was proven with Kimi Raikkonen�s car pulling out due to the failure of the hydraulics. On the other hand, Massa at one point looked likely that it was his day but slowly, the Ferrari faded in Barcelona. Questions are being asked and with the threat of them leaving F1, it can only turn uglier as Ferrari �s cars do not look like mounting a title chase this season. Monaco has been good to the Ferrari cars in the past, it is a shame that this is coming to an end.
Team BMW Sauber: Robert Kubica was again in the back of the grid which he eventually finished 11 out of 14 cars. Nick Heidfeld finished 7th and registered points for the team. Both drivers are not performing to their potential and the team work is definitely far apart as they never seem to be driving near each other on the day. BMW is another team that is slowly fading away and all that emerging talent is suppose to challenge for the title might be just a myth. It�s hard to see what they will produce in Monaco. Ideally, their cars are brand new now with new design, new fitting and new set of wings but even with these, it is not giving them what they need. Monte Carlo might be another disappointment for the BMWs.
Team Toyota: It started so well for Toyota but their race was spoiled by the accident in lap 1. Jarno Trulli crashed out leaving team mate Tim Glock hopefully pull through but that did not happen as he ended up 10th after starting 6th in the grid. Trulli and Glock will now have to get back to the meeting room and see what they can come up with at Monaco. This circuit has not favor the Toyota cars. This might be the way the drivers perceive the track or just the confidence of winning in Monaco has been zero historically. However, Trulli has been impressive before so do not doubt him. After the race in Barcelona, he will come back stronger than ever. Expect a fierce comeback, upsetting the front runners.
Team McLaren: No surprise that Heikki Kovalainen went out of the race in Barcelona. He was dogged with issues with the gearbox at the qualifying and that came back to haunt him during the race. There was not much to do but to hope that Hamilton will do better. He started out 14th on the grid and after the accident he was able to move a couple spots farther. Hamilton�s car needs a bit more tuning up but what Heikki needs is a whole new set of car. Off the track, McLaren has been steady working their way into the night by getting themselves back to championship form. Sadly, this is yet to be seen and it might not come in Monaco where Hamilton has been successful in the past. He will want to win this again but it could be another Englishmen stealing the limelight in Monte Carlo.
Team Toro Rosso-Ferrari: This will be short and sweet. Sebastien Buemi and Sebastien Bourdais were the center of the accident in Spain. Both went out as Sebastien crashed into Sebastien, you can pick who crash into whom. The nightmare in Barcelona could spell a different attitude in Monte Carlo. They will have to move on quickly if they are to make something out of the season.
Team Williams-Toyota: Tough season ahead and Monaco will be an obstacle for both Williams drivers. The aero upgrades for Barcelona did not help much as Kazuki Nakajima ended up in the bottom half of the cars at 13th (out of 14 cars). This is a testing time as both drivers just do not have it in them to race ahead with what they got. Nico Rosberg is marginally doing better, he scored one point so we will give him the credit for trying. On a bad day, you will surely find both cars at the bottom half, and sometimes, or worst you might just see Kazuki Nakajima retiring early. Monaco is not a place where the Williams are putting more hope into, so it might be better to leave them out of the equation.
Team Force India: Talking about equation, I am not sure whether Force India should even be remotely mentioned. By far, Barcelona was another nightmare for Force India especially when Adrian Sutil was one of the culprits of the accident. Giancarlo Fisichella managed to escape it but did not escape being last on the grid. It is hard to say what they will do at Monaco as nothing is going right for them, so expect them to be last and hopefully put an exciting show for the neutrals on TV. They should be happy that they are still in this race.
The Final Verdict: Going into Monaco it is hard to believe that the new world order starts with the word �Brawn�. Many people are surprise as Monte Carlo lays their tracks down for the team Brawn GP leading the way. Brawn will be anxious to show what they are capable of and will be reminding them that Ferrari could be a past in the history. As the saga budget cap remains with certain teams, smarter teams will be pulling their weight to hunt for further points. The season is only 6 race old so anything can still happen. There is only two teams that stands out at the moment, Red Bull and Brawn. I have a feeling that the Red Bull will give themselves some new set of wings at Monte Carlo and will be willing to gamble to close the gap between them and Button.
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