The most prestigious grand prix of the season will take place this week at the principality of Monaco. Though the race on the streets of Monaco has its own mystique it is also one of the most demanding circuit in F1 as even a single small error could see a driver crashing out quickly. Though Red Bull has been the team to beat this season but they continue to be plagued by a mix of reliability issues and bad luck. Despite pole on all 5 races this season, the team has won only 2 races with Vettel and Webber taking a victory each. Though Webber pulled off an amazing win in Barcelona last week, Vettel must be happy to finish on the podium despite issues with the car. Though the streets of Monaco is totally different from the rest of the circuits, if Red Bull gets pole once again, it will be tough for anyone to challenge the team.
Ferrari and Alonso looks like the people who could most likely to challenge the bulls but then though Ferrari and Alonso have been pretty consistent this season they are yet to match the pace of Red Bull and Alonso should bring in all his experience to someone get his car on pole so that he can win the race. Teammate Massa had a very poor Spanish GP and with talks of Kubica replacing him next season, he needs to put a solid performance for the next few races of Ferrari have to keep him in. Already he is looking more like a 2nd driver rather than look Alonso’s equal.
McLaren has been the surprise of this season with Button just about leading the championship. Though Hamilton has put on some unbelievable drives throughout the season, he tends to makes mistakes and even has had some bad luck. This is one of his favourite circuits and if McLaren is even closer to the pace of RBR he can take on the fight to the team provided he keeps his cool and finishes the race for a change.
Mercedes has had a mixed race in Barcelona with Schumacher showing old signs while Rosberg just looking lost. Though so far for Monaco both Schumacher and Rosberg have looked competitive, it is Schumacher who will go into the race as the Mercedes driver who had a chance of winning this race given his experience on this track. He is also a former 5 time winner here while Rosberg once again have to prove himself against the legendary driver.
Renault and Kubica had so far had a decent if not pretty good start to the season but despite Kubica showing impressive pace, the team needs rain or a major pile up to be once again on the podium while Vitaly Petrov needs to be extra careful as this is one of the tracks where a driver can’t make any error at all.
Force India and Toro Rosso has had their best starts so far and they will once again use this weekend to try catch up with Renault while also extend their gap with Williams who has look the same since the start of the season. If Williams does not do anything even Sauber may catch up with them very soon.
Among the rest the new teams may actually prove very dangerous during both qualifying and the race as Monaco had a very narrow street circuit and it could be very dangerous for the other teams if the backmarkers fails to drive properly.
It should be a very good Monaco GP where Red Bull’s pace should be neutralized due to the nature of the track but both Ferrari and McLaren will provide stiff challenge with Mercedes going into this race as a dark horse.
Monaco GP Top 10 Predictions
1. Sebastien Vettel
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Michael Schumacher
4. Mark Webber
5. Nico Rosberg
6. Jenson Button
7. Lewis Hamilton
8. Felipe Massa
9. Robert Kubica
10. Adrian Sutil
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