For one round only, having the power of a ‘GP2 engine’ isn’t insurmountable as drivers spend just 43% of the lap on full throttle - the least of any circuit on the calendar. Likewise, McLaren needn’t be quite so concerned about the excessive drag from its MCL60, since the average speed is only 105mph. Nor is imperfect aerodynamic efficiency brutally punished in the principality. This historic venue is an outlier.
With the emphasis instead tipped towards mechanical grip around the pristine, hosed-down streets, being quick requires an ability to brake confidently into the 19 corners, find a well-behaved chassis at the apex and then rely on sound traction to slingshot out the other side.
Fernando Alonso reckons it will take a botched pitstop, a bout of unreliability or a crash to knock a Red Bull driver off the top step of the podium this season. Perhaps a rainy forecast for this weekend can intervene too. But, for all the praise rightly given to the RB19’s potent DRS, straight-line speed and stability through high-speed corners, if any track can leave Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez vulnerable this year, Monaco might be it.
In previous seasons, much has been read into the fiddly final sector of the preceding Spanish GP - with its vicious kerbs and defining chicane - for what it indicates about the form guide heading into Monaco. But a rejigged running order which now places the Barcelona round directly after 78 laps around the French Riviera means it's a comparison that goes out the window this year. However, the street circuit-biased start to the term enables a run around Azerbaijan to fill the void.
Source: Autosport