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Monaco: What you need to know, in a snapshot
There’s no circuit on the F1 calendar quite like Monaco.
It’s more about stamina, courage and precision than any other track. Even half a false move and a driver’s weekend is ruined.
Daniel Ricciardo celebrates with his father, Joe, after winning the Monaco Grand Prix in 2018.Credit: Getty Images
Overtaking is always at a premium over the 78 laps of the 3.33 kilometre street circuit steeped in motorsport history. For some, that makes it a hard watch. But it just demands a closer eye.
Don’t expect many stunning overtaking moves under DRS (drag reduction system), but do expect to see racers biding their time, corner after corner, lap after lap – pressuring their rivals into mistakes, and just waiting for their chance to pounce.
Monte Carlo came to life in a motor sport sense in 1929 after cigarette maker Antony Noghes organised a race with his friends from the Automobile Club de Monaco.
The Monaco Grand Prix was on the F1 calendar in the first year of the world championship in 1950, and hasn’t missed since 1955.
Three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet was famously critical of the Monaco Grand Prix when he once said it was like “riding a bicycle around your living room”. But it’s still the track every driver longs to win at.
Fittingly, the late, great Ayrton Senna is the most successful F1 driver at Monaco with six wins, while Australians Jack Brabham, Mark Webber (twice) and Daniel Ricciardo have all tasted glory there.
In 2003, a total of zero – yes, zero – overtakes were completed on track. That shows just how much of a battle this race of attrition can be in the pits, and this year even more so. For a second straight race, Pirelli – F1’s tyre supplier – has its three softest compound tyres on offer, with the “hard” and “medium” of those being mandatory for this race, which will have two compulsory pit stops to amplify the drama. For the first time in F1 history, it’s written into the rules for three sets of tyres to be used per driver for this race.
Last year’s winner: Charles Leclerc (a Monaco product) in his Ferrari
Overtakes completed last year: 17
Lap record: 1m 12.909s, Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes in 2021
A lap one pit stop? Surely not
As Indian former F1 star Karun Chandhok just explained on the Sky coverage, don’t be shocked (though it will be hard to believe!) to see some of the back-markers make their first pit stop on the very first lap of this Monaco Grand Prix.
Why? Because, like everyone else, they’ll need to make two compulsory pit stops, and stopping at the end of the first lap would theoretically lessen the damage done from being held up in the pits by rejoining the back of the field quicker as they scramble for track position. The cars ahead of them would also likely make their first stop early, with the back-markers then able to regain some valuable time.
Poll: Who’ll win tonight’s race?
The Piastri-Australian Test cricketers bromance is about to step up
Oscar Piastri is set to step up his bromance with Australia’s cricketers by hosting them for a guided tour of McLaren headquarters in London next month, as the Formula 1 driver and the world’s No.1 Test team each gear up for world championship bouts.
Pat Cummins and David Warner speak to Australian Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri during an Australian training session at Lord’s back in 2023.Credit: Getty Images
A few days before the world Test championship final at Lord’s against South Africa, a selection of players and coaches will train at the home of cricket in the morning and then head to Woking in Surrey, about an hour’s drive to the south-west, to meet Piastri and take a look around the nerve centre of the storied McLaren team.
The championship standings
Oscar Piastri leads the divers’ standings heading into an intriguing battle on the streets of Monte Carlo, with McLaren also leading the constructors’ championship.
Not much went right for Oscar Piastri (right) in the most recent round at Imola.Credit: Getty Images
Drivers’ standings
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 146 points
- Lando Norris (McLaren) 133
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 124
- George Russell (Mercedes) 99
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 61
Constructors’ standings
- McLaren Mercedes 279 points
- Mercedes 147
- Red Bull Honda 131
- Ferrari 114
- Williams Mercedes 51
The starting grid…
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
- *Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
- Esteban Ocon (Haas)
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
- Alex Albon (Williams
- Carlos Sainz jnr (Williams)
- Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
- *Oliver Bearman (Haas)
- *Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
*Penalty
Monaco: What you need to know, in a snapshot
There’s no circuit on the F1 calendar quite like Monaco.
It’s more about stamina, courage and precision than any other track. Even half a false move and a driver’s weekend is ruined.
Daniel Ricciardo celebrates with his father, Joe, after winning the Monaco Grand Prix in 2018.Credit: Getty Images
Overtaking is always at a premium over the 78 laps of the 3.33 kilometre street circuit steeped in motorsport history. For some, that makes it a hard watch. But it just demands a closer eye.
Don’t expect many stunning overtaking moves under DRS (drag reduction system), but do expect to see racers biding their time, corner after corner, lap after lap – pressuring their rivals into mistakes, and just waiting for their chance to pounce.
Monte Carlo came to life in a motor sport sense in 1929 after cigarette maker Antony Noghes organised a race with his friends from the Automobile Club de Monaco.
The Monaco Grand Prix was on the F1 calendar in the first year of the world championship in 1950, and hasn’t missed since 1955.
Three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet was famously critical of the Monaco Grand Prix when he once said it was like “riding a bicycle around your living room”. But it’s still the track every driver longs to win at.
Fittingly, the late, great Ayrton Senna is the most successful F1 driver at Monaco with six wins, while Australians Jack Brabham, Mark Webber (twice) and Daniel Ricciardo have all tasted glory there.
In 2003, a total of zero – yes, zero – overtakes were completed on track. That shows just how much of a battle this race of attrition can be in the pits, and this year even more so. For a second straight race, Pirelli – F1’s tyre supplier – has its three softest compound tyres on offer, with the “hard” and “medium” of those being mandatory for this race, which will have two compulsory pit stops to amplify the drama. For the first time in F1 history, it’s written into the rules for three sets of tyres to be used per driver for this race.
Last year’s winner: Charles Leclerc (a Monaco product) in his Ferrari
Overtakes completed last year: 17
Lap record: 1m 12.909s, Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes in 2021
What happened in qualifying?
It could easily have been Monte Carlo and bust for Oscar Piastri as he had a career-high number of brushes with the barriers on F1’s most famous street circuit before ultimately feeling relieved to finish third in qualifying for the sport’s showpiece Monaco Grand Prix.
Instead, while the championship leader diced with danger, it was McLaren teammate Lando Norris who came out top in a thrilling qualifying contest on Saturday, setting a lap record to edge out hometown hero, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, for pole.
Oscar Piastri during qualifying on the stunning Monaco street circuit.Credit: Getty Images
In a terrific final Q3 shootout, Piastri had seconds earlier also broken the record in 1 minute 10.129 seconds, only for Leclerc, who had topped all three practice sessions, to then clock 1:10.063 and Norris a dazzling 1:09.954.
Ultimately, Piastri, who holds a 13-point lead over Norris in the championship, said he was happy with his “decent” third position after a bit of a struggle during practice and qualifying.
“I mean, I think I’ve hit more walls this weekend than I have in my whole career, so it’s been a bit untidy,” he admitted.
Piastri had crashed during second practice on Friday and felt he’d clipped a wall in Q1 before a heftier tap with his left-rear tyre at La Rascasse in Q2.
“It was intense, as it always is round here. Just been struggling to get into the groove a bit, but in qualifying, I was much happier with things, and I felt pretty good,” shrugged the ever unflappable Australian.
“It’s quite reminiscent of last year to be honest. My first lap [in Q3] felt good, and then the second lap, I made a mistake in in the harbour chicane, and left a little bit on there.
“To beat Lando was going to be tough, so well done to him, but [I’m] still pretty happy with it overall. It’s been a pretty messy weekend so far, so to come out with a lap that I thought was pretty good, and third, is a decent result.
“But we’ve been doing some digging this weekend, and to come out with this result is a decent effort.”
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton will start tonight’s race from seventh place after being handed a three-place grid drop for impeding Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who’ll start fourth.
Hamilton had an eventful afternoon, also clipping the wall by the casino late in Q3 but his old Mercedes’ teammate George Russell had a worse afternoon, coming to a stop in the tunnel with an apparent electrical problem to red flag Q2, placing him only 14th.
AAP
Welcome
Hi there, and welcome to our coverage of the famous Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo.
I’m Russell Bennett, and I’ll be taking you through all the action as bayside Melbourne product Oscar Piastri looks to win his seventh career Formula 1 grand prix but his first at Monaco, one of the jewels in the crown of the motorsport calendar.
It’ll be lights out and racing from 11pm AEST.
