Monaco Grand Prix – Mercedes, Red Bull, who is bluffing the most?
Mercedes and Red Bull may have hidden their game during free practice in Monaco, with one caveat. Behind, who can aim for Q3?
On paper, the battle for Saturday’s pole position is a dream come true! With Mercedes and Red Bull, a third team would join the fight, based on the trend of the rankings from the two free practice sessions on Thursday: the Scuderia Ferrari, with its Leclerc-Sainz double at the end of FP2, and the second fastest time by the Spaniard in FP1. An unprecedented level of competitiveness for Ferrari in 2021, which already brings us back to the end of summer 2019, with the duo Leclerc-Vettel’s three consecutive wins at Spa, Monza, and Singapore.
Is Ferrari really in the battle for pole position?
At the stopwatch, Leclerc and Sainz dominated at the end of FP2. 3 tenths ahead of the competition, they are really very strong, as highlighted by Lewis Hamilton, their closest pursuer on Thursday afternoon. Max Verstappen is even surprised, their pace is great according to Andrew Shovlin, the engineering director at Mercedes. As expected, the SF21 is a balanced car and comfortable in slow corners, the race pace in Barcelona in the third sector already gave us an indication.
At ideal pace, taking into account fuel levels and engine mappings, Ferrari is within a hundredth of a second of Red Bull and Mercedes according to the analysis of the F1 official website. Will they be able to secure pole position like in 2017 with Kimi Räikkönen?
Does Mercedes have an ace up its sleeve, more than Red Bull?
Relegated to the background in Free Practice, there may be an explanation for the slightly lower performance level of the Mercedes team. According to the latest reports from several English and Italian media outlets, the German engine was lacking 40 horsepower compared to Ferrari on Thursday in testing. A deliberate shortfall?
There is still work to be done on the exploitation of tire performance in the first flying lap according to Valtteri Bottas, hampered by the bumpy track in Monaco. Usually faster than his teammate in practice sessions, Lewis Hamilton is already ahead this time!
For the neighboring garage, Max Verstappen is not happy at the moment. The Red Bull is overheating the tires very (too) quickly and the Dutchman is clearly suffering from understeer. A weak and too slow car for the driver. « I had no performance with my tire over a whole lap. They were too hot in the third sector » reported the second in the overall driver standings. Three tenths behind Leclerc’s reference time in FP2, between the Piscine section and the start-finish straight. Verstappen doesn’t seem to be joking: the Red Bull is overheating its tires!
Verstappen, Thursday in Monaco: « I didn’t have any performance with my tire on a full lap. They were too hot in the third sector »
Ricciardo in search of potential
A little behind Scuderia Ferrari, his current opponent, McLaren is still the 4th force in F1 simulations, both in qualifying and in the race. Beware, Lando Norris is more comfortable than Ricciardo. Poleman in Monaco in 2018, the Australian did not optimize his Thursday practice. “I felt like I had confidence, I just didn’t convert it into lap time.” Frustrating for “Dan the Man”, struggling in corner entry and especially in the 2nd sector, at Mirabeau and the Loews hairpin. More serenity for Norris, recently extended for several seasons. Overall, both McLaren drivers are capable of qualifying in Q3.
Ricciardo, Thursday in Monaco: « I felt like I had confidence, I just didn’t convert it into lap time. »
And the rest of the grid?
Towards a setback for Alpine? As mentioned in this article, the progression curve took a hit during the free practice sessions and Fernando Alonso kissed the wall in the last corner in FP1, damaging his front-left suspension in the process. We have seen better starts! According to the F1 simulations, the French team is only in 7th place in qualifying pace, the same in the race, with AlphaTauri and Aston Martin ahead.
Q2 rather than Q3 for Alpine, and maybe behind the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly, 4th and 7th this Thursday. However, there is a question mark for teammate Yuki Tsunoda: only 11 laps in FP2! The Japanese driver, penalized by his impatience, came to touch the wall at the exit of the Piscine esses. We have told him a hundred times, there is only one thing to do in Monaco: drive, drive and drive. He really needs to show more discipline, said Helmut Marko in the Monaco paddock. Ouch!
Finally, Haas is at the bottom of the table in Monaco, behind Alfa Romeo and Williams, as expected. And there is some damage! Mick Schumacher hit the wall in FP2 on the right side of his Haas. The son of Michael damaged a rear suspension. In terms of performance, it’s not great, the two drivers were left behind by everyone in FP2, except for Tsunoda who stopped very quickly. Eight tenths of a gap between Latifi (17th) and Mazepin (18th) at the end of FP2!
