/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22461476/vpavic_4547_20210421_0131.jpg "Apple AirTag is available at its best price of the year")
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez won the Monaco GP last year
Red Bull has won every race in the 2023 Formula 1 season, but this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix will give its rivals a great opportunity to break the RB19’s dominance.
World championship leader Max Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez have shared five wins between them, but Circuit de Monaco is an outlier on the F1 calendar, given the track’s uniquely low-speed nature.
The average speed is so low that an exception is made for the minimum distance of 305km for a race, as Monaco is only 260km (77 laps).
Each team will design a car that they believe will be able to perform consistently at most of the 23 tracks on the visiting calendar, but there is no other circuit quite like Monaco.
Take a look at some of the most dramatic moments that have taken place at the Monaco Grand Prix.
During Ferrari’s dominant years in the early 2000s and Mercedes’ reign for much of the turbo-hybrid era, Monaco was where its rivals could attack.
This year is no different, so will Red Bull be under huge pressure for the first time in 2023?
Ferrari favorites for Monaco?
Charles Leclerc has a dismal record at his home event after failing to finish the race in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Last year, he started from pole position and led the first part of the race in the wet before a strategy error dropped him to fourth behind Perez, his teammate Carlos Sainz and Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc has qualified fastest in Monaco twice, but has yet to finish on the podium
Leclerc is arguably the best one-lap driver in F1 with an incredible ability to push his car to the absolute limit, albeit sometimes too far.
The only non-Red Bull pole position this year was taken by Leclerc in Baku, with twisty 90 degree corners where he was quicker than Verstappen, showing that Ferrari has great mechanical grip and good traction.
He was 0.144s faster than Verstappen in Sector 2 of the Baku City Circuit and in Miami the trend continued when analyzing the mini sectors, as Ferrari led the way in the slow corners, before losing ground in the rest.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc overtakes Red Bull rival Max Verstappen to claim pole position for the third time in a row in Baku
One trait of the Ferrari power unit is that it tends to rev a little quicker than the Honda engine at the rear of the Red Bull, so that should help in Monaco as well.
“I like city tracks in general,” Leclerc said previously. “Baku, Singapore, Monaco – these are tracks that I really enjoy. You can really play on the limit compared to a normal track.
“The boundary is a hard boundary, since it’s the wall, so you can’t go over it and it’s a game about building to be close to the wall without touching it.”
Red Bull is beatable in one lap
Verstappen admits the field is closer in qualifying and Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz believes the time it takes for the RB19 to get its tires up to ideal temperature is one of the car’s few weaknesses.
While at most tracks they have plenty of opportunities to take advantage of their increased race pace, in Monaco losing pole position can be decisive.
Max Verstappen looks for a second F1 victory at the Monaco GP
“That resistance to frontal dive makes it harder for Verstappen and Perez to hold the steering wheel to feel the load on the front axle during braking. That leads to the front brakes locking,” Ted explained.
“It also means that because there isn’t as much energy going through the front wheels, these front tires take longer to get up to working temperature.
“What makes the Red Bull so fast in the race makes it struggle in qualifying. And as Max Verstappen says, the fact that the car comes to life after four laps in the Grand Prix reminds him of a family car. “.
“The pattern is clear. The RB19 is an excellent car, when it finally gets going.”
McLaren to cause an upset?
McLaren has suffered a very disappointing start to the season, with the improvements made to its MCL60 in Azerbaijan appearing to have had no significant impact.
However, Lando Norris has expressed confidence regarding the car’s performance in low-speed corners, suggesting that it is up to par with Red Bull.
Lando Norris finished on the podium at the 2021 Monaco GP
“It’s tough. Like straight-line speed, we know where we are, but it’s still pretty shocking,” said the Briton after finishing ninth in Baku.
“It’s not like we have a lot more downforce in the corners to catch up with and then [we are] slow on the straight; we are equal in the corners and [then] slow on the straights.”
The data shows that they coincided in the low-speed corners in Baku and McLaren were the benchmark in Melbourne, even before their update.
McLaren to debut special Triple Crown livery in Monaco
Monaco is the least power sensitive track of the year, although McLaren will probably lose the race to Massenet (turn three) and through the tunnel.
However, they could be up there anywhere else, and with any luck, a surprise podium finish isn’t entirely out of the question.
What about Mercedes and Aston Martin?
Fernando Alonso, who finished on the podium in four of the first five events, also sees Aston Martin with a chance this weekend, despite the fact that McLaren and Ferrari have shown more performance in the slower corners.
Interestingly, the AMR23 has also been slightly better than Red Bull on the slower stuff this year.
“It looks like we have a car that may not be the fastest on the straights. We need to improve that, but we are very good in the corners,” Alonso said.
Fernando Alonso plays padel, reveals his retirement plans and what it’s like to compete for pole position near the end of his career
“I would say the slowest speeds in the championship, let’s say Monaco, Budapest, Singapore [is where we could win]. In these types of circuits, I think that at this moment we put our main hopes.”
As for Mercedes, they were set to bring a new floor, new front suspension and new bodywork to Imola, but will instead use it for the first time in Monaco.
The updates are intended to put Mercedes on the right development path so it is vital that they work, although Monaco may not be the best track to judge whether their efforts at Brackley have paid off.
Lewis Hamilton is fourth in the drivers’ championship ahead of the Monaco GP
With Red Bull, Ferrari, Aston Martin set to battle for victory, with McLaren threatening from behind, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell could possibly have a challenging weekend.
Qualifying on Saturday promises to be exciting and everyone will know that if you start on pole in Monaco it’s very hard not to win if Sunday is an easy Grand Prix.
Sky Sports F1 Monaco GP live schedule
Thursday May 25
11:25am: F3 practice
12:55: Practice F2
2:00 p.m.: Drivers’ press conference
friday may 26
10:05: Qualifying F3
12:00pm: Monaco GP Practice 1 (session starts at 12:30pm)
14:05: Qualifying F2
15:45: Practice 2 of the Monaco GP (session starts at 16:00)
5:30pm: F1 Show: Monaco
Saturday May 27
9:55 a.m.: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Monaco GP practice three (session starts at 11.30am)
1:30 p.m.: F2 Sprint
2:30 p.m.: Monaco GP qualifying preparation
15:00: Monaco GP qualifying
4:45 p.m.: Ted’s Sorting Notebook
Sunday May 28
7.15am: F3 Main Race
8.45am: F2 Main Race
12.30 pm: Sunday of the Grand Prix Preparation of the Monaco GP
2:00 p.m.: THE MONACO GRAND PRIX
4:00 p.m.: Monaco GP reaction to the checkered flag
5:00 p.m.: Ted’s Notebook
5:30 p.m.: The 107th Indy 500
Formula 1 now heads to the streets of Monaco for the sixth Grand Prix of the 2023 season – watch all the action on Sky Sports F1 from May 26-28. Get Sky Sports
