The streets of Monte Carlo have hosted the Formula 1 World Championship 67 times before this weekend, with the Monaco Grand Prix probably the most famous event on the F1 calendar.
Although the layout of the circuit itself has not changed in recent years, the cars that the teams took with them to the small town state have certainly done so in the last 12 months.
Since the pre-season tests in February, many drivers have pointed out that rigid, low-speed cars by 2022 would present particular challenges on this circuit. And after two hours of training on the streets, even some of the most successful drivers who had driven a Formula One car through the city had to admit that it almost felt like a whole new circuit with the new generation of cars.
“Even though I’ve raced here many times, this circuit feels very different in these new cars,” Sebastian Vettel said.
“The main difference is that the tires are much bigger, so it’s harder to see the track around you. Cars are also much stiffer and going through the tunnel is not as easy as before. I was lucky enough to save the car during a mistake in the pool, even though my heart rate definitely increased. “
Monaco “feels very different” in new cars, says VettelVettel’s experience was shared by many of his rivals, such as Mercedes driver George Russell.
“These cars are very, very rigid,” said Russell, whose Mercedes team suffered more than most from uncomfortable driving. “Around a circuit of rugged streets, it’s not easy to put it to the limit. I think that’s one of the biggest difficulties. “
As always in 2022, the question at the top of the field was which of the two teams that had tasted victory so far this season, Red Bull and Ferrari, would have the advantage through the narrow, winding streets of Monaco. After finishing the sessions on Friday behind the two Ferraris, Sergio Pérez was confident that the answer to this question was not Red Bull.
Announcements | Become a supporter of RaceFans and go without advertising
“Ultimately, we seem to be missing a bit compared to the Ferraris,” Perez said. “They all looked strong today. We were expecting a bit of a vacuum, but not so much. So a lot of work to do.”
Red Bull “needs to find a little more,” said Verstappen Pérez teammate Max Verstappen. “Clearly compared to Ferrari, we have to find a little more,” the world champion said.
“Overall, we’ve been trying a few things out there to see how the car behaved. I was a little happier in FP1 than in FP2. If you have a little better balance, you can attack a little more and of course your lap time is a little better. Now it’s just a matter of trying to adjust my balance as well. “
Despite finishing in the two training sessions, Charles Leclerc was not very excited about his prospect of becoming the first Monegasque to win his country’s famous race based on just one day of running, and he went qualify your day job simply “okay.”
Gallery: Monaco Grand Prix training in pictures “It wasn’t great in FP1, a little better in FP2, but I really think we have to take another step for tomorrow,” Leclerc said.
“I’m pretty sure everyone has a bit of a margin on a Friday and also as a driver, so at the moment it’s a bit unknown. But the car looks loud. Also in the pace of the race, we seem to be doing very well even though there was quite a bit of traffic here and there. So the initial feeling is good. So we hope to be able to take the step we want to take from today to tomorrow and have a great weekend from there. “
Behind Ferrari and Red Bull were two Mercedes-powered cars, but only one of them was a factory chassis. Lando Norris put his Mercedes-powered McLaren in fifth place behind the top two teams in both sessions, although he was still struggling with the aftermath of tonsillitis. His luck, once again, contrasted sharply with that of teammate Daniel Ricciardo, whose day ended at the barriers of TecPro at the exit of the Pool.
Announcements | Become a supporter of RaceFans and go without advertising
“Lando’s sessions today were relatively clean, while Daniel lost most of FP2 with a pool accident, the causes of which we are still investigating,” said McLaren’s chief racing officer. Andrea Stella.
Mercedes has encountered a new kind of bounce problem “The most important thing is that Daniel is fine, and the team is now working hard to make sure we are ready for FP3. Overall, it looks like the car it has decent potential this weekend, and our job tonight is to make sure we can take advantage of that pace and be competitive in qualifying and racing. “
Mercedes’ turn to Spain thanks to their first major upgrade package of the season had sparked some excitement for the team to be able to fight their two big rivals again. But after Friday, Russell, the team’s fastest driver in sixth place, Lewis Hamilton, 12th, had to admit they probably wouldn’t be on the hunt this weekend.
“I think we’re seeing Ferrari flourish again,” Russell said. “It simply came to our notice then. We saw it in Imola: they were crushing them with relative ease and obviously he is playing them in the hand right now.
“So we have a lot of work to do overnight. I’m not too sure we can close that gap, but it’s still fun to drive around.”
The biggest limiting factor for Mercedes on Friday, as it had been so much at the start of the season, was the rebound. But this was not the phenomenon of the family porpoise. As track engineering director Andrew Shovlin explained, the problem had more to do with the higher frequency vibrations of the car’s rigid suspension, which could cause them problems for Saturday’s crucial qualifying session.
Leclerc is ready to take more risks on Saturday. “We’ve progressed a bit between sessions, but we have to collect the data and understand if we can get more. We didn’t get the most out of the soft tire, it was difficult with the traffic and Lewis had a few chances when he got stuck, so there is still more, but everyone will find some time during the night, so we will work to make sure we can move forward. “
After securing pole position for his home Grand Prix last year, thanks in part to his own accident that caused a red flag, Leclerc will wake up on Saturday morning knowing he has every chance of repeating his feat. at a pure pace. But he is well aware that all the stops in the classification will have to be made.
“I did it step by step and so far so good,” Leclerc said. “But once you take the last step it’s where the risks are getting higher and we’ll only do that in the rankings tomorrow.”
Announcements | Become a supporter of RaceFans and go without advertising
Combined practice time
Announcements | Become a supporter of RaceFans and go without advertising
Monaco Grand Prix 2022
Check out all the articles from the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix