However, there are aspects of the 2022 cars that add an extra layer of complexity to this year’s event and that will put a little more pressure on everyone.
“I think it will be interesting to see how it is,” Pierre Gasly said when Motorsport.com asked him about it this weekend.
“Because even on smooth tracks and normal tracks, in terms of route compared to last year, it’s definitely worse.
“It’s the first time we’ve come across a proper street track since the beginning of the year, so it could be quite splattered.
“But it will be the same track for everyone, and it’s up to us drivers and the team to find the best compromise.”
Today’s machines are big, heavy and cumbersome, and as Martin Brundle pointed out in his commentary on the Spanish Sky GP, they tend to act like a pendulum when riders lose their backs.
They now work with less tolerant low profile tires, with much stiffer suspensions. This in turn is related to gait height, a parameter to which they are incredibly sensitive.
Drivers will need to be more careful than usual on some of Monaco’s sidewalks, especially those on the chicane beyond the pool that have so many times thrown cars straight into the barrier.
Then there is the question of the porpoise, if the speeds are high enough to cause it. Drivers find it awkward to go down a normal straight, but consider going as you go to Ste Devote, up the hill to Casino Square, or through the tunnel, and down to Chicane. Even a small amount of bounce will catch your attention.
While the teams that suffer the most can naturally mark the porpoise with higher heights, which is generally recommended by Monaco, this will cost aerodynamic strength, affect performance, and potentially make it difficult to drive cars.
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22, Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
If all this is not enough, don’t forget the visibility problem that drivers highlighted at the start of the season, due to the higher front tires and the aerodynamic devices that sit on them.
Not much has been said lately, but it could be a problem this weekend. In Jeddah and Miami there was some apex in a concrete wall that might have been a bit tricky, but there are many more brushes nearby with barriers in Monaco, and the accuracy required is intense.
Just think of the accidents over the years in the pool chicane after drivers cut the barrier on the right at the entrance and broke the front suspension.
All the challenges mentioned above also make the life of the teams difficult as they try to find a fast setup but also comfortable and safe for the riders.
And in most cases they are doing it with aerodynamic packages that were new to the last race in Spain, and which are still being learned. As a sidebar to this, most teams have a limited supply of these new bits – a couple of practice crashes between their two drivers and they could be scrabble.
They are also facing the novelty of the new weekend schedule. In the past, teams and riders had Friday off to regain their collective breath. There was a long time to rebuild the damaged cars, send spare parts and delve into the data, both on the track and back at the factory. Sim drivers could run all day if needed, testing different settings. All this has already happened.
Aston Martin chief technical officer Andrew Green agrees that upgrading his team in Barcelona means accidents could be costly, but on the other hand, it allows engineers to run the AMR22 a little more. high.
“We’re far behind in terms of spares,” Green says. “So, bottom line is that we’re really looking forward to Monaco.
“But I think one of the positives of the changes we’ve made is that it gives us room to adapt the settings to places like Monaco.
“It was one of the things that the launch car could never have given us. So we’re pretty optimistic that we can now move in one direction with a configuration that’s more friendly with a street circuit like Monaco.”
Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03, Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Aston team leader Mike Krack supports Green’s assessment.
“One of the reasons we changed direction and also where we ended up where we are, is because we had to run super, super stiff,” Krack says.
“And we couldn’t even fall very low with the other approach. So now we can. So Monaco, now we’re not afraid anymore, as we were maybe a couple of weeks ago.”
Alpine technical director Pat Fry acknowledges that adjusting the suspension configuration will be crucial this weekend.
“It will definitely be an interesting challenge,” says Fry. “I mean, the rigidity is there, Barcelona is pretty smooth, so you can get away with a lot of things, and Monaco will be a challenge.
“You have several tools in your suspension toolbox to try to smooth it out massively at low speed curves, and you have to work and try to see. You’ll be four or five times the stiffness of Monaco in the old days. I would have thought.” .
“Monaco is always a unique challenge every year,” says Williams Vehicle Performance Manager Dave Robson. “This year will be a little different, because cars require a little different things.
“Whenever you can drive some of the bumps and sidewalks, then the most important thing is to give the driver confidence that they can make the curves and that they can attack all the way around.
“So in that sense, it’s not too different. And if you have to give up a little bit of aerodynamic strength through gait to get that balance and confidence, then I think that’s perfectly acceptable in Monaco, and something we would have done to vary. degrees in the past anyway. “
Marking porpoise is likely to be a focus for most teams.
“Bounce or gait are closely related to aerodynamic force,” says Alpine team leader Otmar Szafnauer.
“So no one wants to lift the car, because it’s losing load. So we’ll have work both on Friday and in the simulator to see how far we can go down without causing the porpoise.”
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36, makes a pit stop
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Asked in Barcelona how these cars would behave in Monaco, drivers acknowledged that it could be even more difficult than in previous years.
“I think it’s probably going to be one of the biggest challenges so far, with how you’re going to get the car running, and so on,” Lando Norris said. “But everyone is on the same boat.”
“I think it’s going to be one of those tracks where we’re going to be a lot slower than previous years, I guess,” Alex Albon said.
“But it will be interesting. I think there will be a little more skill in riding the sidewalks and a little more rhythm and finding where the beats are. So it will add a little more character to the circuit.”
Drivers have had six races to get used to the peculiarities of visibility of these cars, but it could still become a problem when they are at the limit this weekend. It’s just another challenge they will have to face.
“I think Jeddah was kind of a comparable feeling,” Albon said. “And Jeddah cost me a little bit of vision, it’s not easy, especially when you start making porpoise in certain places. But now we’re getting used to it, I think as drivers, and it’s not such a big deal.”
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“Visibility is worse in these cars than in the past,” said Kevin Magnussen. “I don’t think it’s a massive problem. It’s going to be harder to see the apex, but I think it’s going to be fine.”
“Visibility is definitely worse,” Lance Stroll said. “It’s one of those things you’re used to. So it’s going to be a little harder than it used to be.”
Will the usual suspects line up at the front as the weekend progresses? Or will the set-up challenges, and possibly the strange setback for a regular pace, help others move forward? It promises to be an intriguing weekend one way or another.