2012 Monaco GP - Monte Carlo

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

It an oddball the W03 Merc.

Seems highspeed corners are its undoing. But if its traction, then all weekend I have been hearing the commentators talking of this cars immense ability to pull gaps in accelerating out of corners.

I think this season, we may be seeing teams concentrating on certain venues and getting data from venues where they may not be so strong.
Take Mercedes for example. Spain was never going to suit there car, so they test or try bits that will stand them in good stead for Monaco.
Maybe its not so pronounced, but there is some mileage to it I feel.

Mercedes could be strong at Moncao, but I'm with Tomba in thinking the Lotus team will be the ones to watch out for in the principality. McLaren in Hamilton's hands will be strong too.

[ArchAngel]

The Renault lump's driveability will certainly be an advantage around the Principality. And a win by either Lotus driver would certainly fit the 'entertainment' script that's being fed to F1/motorsports fans these days.

[dren]

Mercedes and Raikkonen, Hamilton and Webber will be there in the mix. Alonso will be up towards the front as always.

[zyphro]

Doesn't Lotus struggle with traction? If so, how are they going to fight for a win in Monaco?

If it's based around the engine, surely Red Bull have a shot at the win, no?

[Neno]

Doesn't Lotus struggle with traction? If so, how are they going to fight for a win in Monaco?

If it's based around the engine, surely Red Bull have a shot at the win, no?

good one this season is fricking terrible that even williams can have pole and win in barcelona. team that in bahrein have gap over a minute, now had advantage over a minute. until free practice we cant predict shi?...

[raymondu999]

Agreed. Even then in Monaco we can't really predict even the polesitter, with a clean Thursday and Saturday. I remember Mark Webber popping out of nowhere to take pole in 2010.

[ArchAngel]

In that case, we come back to that word that's suddenly become so fashionable these days thanks to Pirelli -- no, it's not "sweetspot" 'coz it starts with the letter 'L'.

[zyphro]

Doesn't Lotus struggle with traction? If so, how are they going to fight for a win in Monaco?

If it's based around the engine, surely Red Bull have a shot at the win, no?

good one this season is fricking terrible that even williams can have pole and win in barcelona. team that in bahrein have gap over a minute, now had advantage over a minute. until free practice we cant predict shi?...

Exactly .

[AnthonyG]

I heard the Williams was quite good on traction in Spain, and with it beign a bit unstable... 2 wins in a row?

[Nando]

You won't see Hamilton in an HRT outqualifying Karthikeyan in a McLaren any time soon, for example.

This one i would almost be willing to bet on
Any other driver and i would have said yes but with Narain i think there´s a chance

[Nando]

So how does Barcelona compare to Monaco? Both are high downforce, mechanical grip important in Monaco. Does the Barcelona GP help in predicting who's going to be strong in Monaco?

Not really.

Monaco is a slow track while Barcelona is a pretty fast one.
One contains corners where you really need the car, Monaco contains corners where you really need cojones.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Yeah Monaco is a high downforce circuit, but mechanical grip is a big factor there. As many have said, impossible to really predict but I do think Ferrari will be one of the better cars in Monaco. Even last year when Ferrari lacked downforce in comparison to RB & McLaren, Fernando was about to overtake Vettel & win before the stoppage. I think they'll go well here.

That said I think we see the RB's on top in Monaco, with Lotus 2nd and McLaren & Ferrari & Sauber fighting for the last podium spot.


Edit: Will be interesting to see which car is the easiest on the super soft tyres.

[Paul]

My guesstimate would be Williams and McLaren in front, followed by Ferrari, then Red Bull and then Lotus/Mercedes/Sauber.

[nacho]

So weird that the race will have 7 Monaco winners.

[bhall]

Even weirder is that whoever wins will likely be the 6th different winner this year.