After yesterdays practice sessions, this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix looks to be the closest yet this year, in terms of potential winners. With six former winners of the event in the field, two of which being multiple winners, and a track infamous for being more dependent on the driver, instead of the car, as is the case for the majority of the circuits currently on the F1 calendar. Below is my list of 'drivers to watch' for this weekend’s grand prix, which promises to be one of the best yet:
Sebastian Vettel
It of course would be wrong to overlook Vettel in any capacity this year; with four out of five race victories since the season kicked off in Australia, many people have already wrote off hopes of anyone other than the current World Champion from claiming this year’s title. Reports in today’s press have suggested that one bookmaker has waved the chequered flag on the Formula 1 season already, by paying out to punters who backed Sebastian Vettel to be world champion. Although this course of action on the season is certainly speculative and in some ways cynical, the fact that the RB7 has been the dominant machine at the hands of Vettel so far, certainly can't be overlooked, with the German undoubtedly going into this weekend’s race as favourite for his fifth victory in six races. However, Vettel is not part of the elusive winners circle in Monaco, having not won in the principality in his short career, with a best position of second coming in last year’s race behind team mate Mark Webber. With a car widely considered as still being superior, and an off colour patch of form being suffered from team mate Webber, 2011 would appear to be Vettel's best shot to date at victory around the streets of Monaco.
Lewis Hamilton
Since bursting onto the F1 scene in 2007, Lewis Hamilton has undoubtedly been known as one of the 'street fighters' of the grid, being at the forefront of every grand prix held around the streets of Monaco since his debut. Many will remember his debut race in fact; with the controversial team orders being placed against Hamilton's strategy in that race, that ultimately lost him the chance of victory in that race. A year later, Hamilton won the event, in perhaps his most memorable victory to date; with a slightly slower car to that of Ferrari, and appalling conditions testing Hamilton’s' limited experience to the limit, the McLaren driver survived a brush with the barriers early on the race to go on to dominate the event come the end of the race. over the last couple of years however, Hamilton has suffered a number of average results, both of which coming down largely to issue of having an off-the-pace package at his disposal. This years event is not only massive in terms of the Championship and stunting Vettels championship charge, but also acts Lewis' best opportunity over the past couple of years to claim a second victory around his self-confessed 'favourite' circuit on the calendar. Expect an aggressive approach from Hamilton as always, at a track that favours his aggressive driving style.Fernando Alonso
It would take a wise/stupid man to write off Fernando Alonso for any race, never mind a track in which the Spaniard is a multiple victor at. With victories in both 2006 and the following year in 2007 in a Renault and McLaren respectively, Alonso is aiming to become the first man in F1 history to be victorious around the streets of Monaco in three different manufactures of cars. Alonso's driving style, like Hamilton’s, is aggressive, which is a trait that is often favoured around the streets of Monaco, thanks to the determination and lack of hesitation in attacking the circuits famous twists and turns. Alonso has already moved to suggest that the team has a new found 'positivity' about it going in to this weekend’s event, caused by the reshuffling of the Prancing Horse’s technical department. As any change to the team in terms of performance in relation to this reshuffle isn’t likely to be noticeable in such a short period of time, this may well be a case of the Spaniard playing mind games with the opposition, sending out a psychological warning. With the timesheets looking good from Thursdays practice session, and Alonso looking to bounce back in style after a dismal home race last week, don’t write off the two times world champion from clinching a third victory around the streets of Monte-Carlo.
Felipe Massa
Massa has well and truly been wrote off by experts and fans ever since his life threatening injury in 2009’s Hungarian Grand Prix; with a series of poor results, a lack of progress shown throughout a season, and being outshone on a regular basis, it really is no wonder that Massa has been muted as the next ‘Barichello’, in a number two role similar to how Rubens was placed when alongside Michael Schumacher within the Maranello team. However, there have been flashes over the course of last year and this current season of the brilliance last truly seen in Massa during the 2008 season, when fighting Lewis Hamilton for the title. Germany last year for example; Massa had the pace to hold off team mate Alonso for the win, until the Scuderia interfered and manufactured an overtake between the pair, in favour of Alonso. Around Monaco, Massa is handy; His ‘stabbing’ technique with the brake and accelerator pedals’ really suit the circuit, as was apparent in 2008 when Massa took pole position in the principality. After impressing during yesterdays practice sessions with some high performance long runs on the option tyre (soft), my ‘dark horse’ tip for victory this weekend goes to Massa, who surely wouldn’t be a bad bet at the bookies judging by his lack of form over recent races!
Sauber
Okay, so at a first glance, Sauber isn’t orthodoxly at home on a list of ‘ones to watch’. However, after an impressive showing by both Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi during the season’s opening five rounds, both showing a level head that wouldn’t look out of place on a more experienced driver, they shouldn’t be overlooked at a race that should suit them extremely well. For instance, Sauber have made far fewer stops than any other team so far this season, due to the way In which Kobayashi and rookie Perez have been able to nurse the Pirelli tyres successfully in order to elongate their stints on the favourable compound of rubber at each round. If the team is able to continue this apparent strong point of its car during this Sundays race, than Peter Sauber crew may be able to spring a few surprises and collect some major points and scalps at the sharp end of the grid, with overtaking being notoriously tough in Monaco also aiding their chances of sustaining a high end race result. It’s extremely hard to predict a winner for this weekend, with so many varying factors in the mix that could shake up the pecking order; Vettel is undoubtedly the favourite, but with little success in Monaco in the past, I can see a victory for the Scuderia with the experience and race craft of Alonso shining through, come the end of Sundays Monaco Grand Prix.
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