Monday, 18 May 2015

Pirelli Monaco Grand Prix Prview

(Pirelli Motorsport Media)

Pirelli head to this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix around the streets of Monte Carlo with a brand P-Zero Red walled Super Soft compound tyre. It is the first time in 2015 that the Super Soft has been brought to a race.

Pirelli will also bring the yellow walled Soft compound tyre to the Principality. The performance gap between the two compounds is expected to be between 1.0-1.1s.

Formula One celebrates 65 years this year and the very first Monaco Grand Prix wa78 s won by great Juan Manuel Fangio in a Pirelli shod Alfa Romeo. Due to the fact that the circuit in Monte Carlo is the shortest on the calendar this means that the race takes place over 78 laps.

Last year’s race winner Mercedes Nico Rosberg completed the race using a stop strategy which was due to a safety car period.

Romain Grosjean in the Lotus who finished in eighth place was the highest two stop strategy. Pirelli are predicting a similar strategy this season. Speaking ahead of this weekend’s race, Pirelli Motorsport Director Paul Hembery commented by saying:

Monaco is one of those races that everyone looks forward to: there are very few words that can adequately describe the spectacle. We’re bringing our brand new supersoft tyre for the first time this year, together with the soft, as has been the case since we started our current Formula One era in 2011. Monaco has often been described as a circuit where overtaking is impossible, but we have seen in the past there how tyre strategy and degradation has often led to positions changing, including on-track overtaking. In particular, the way that drivers use the new supersoft tyre, with is notable performance advantage, will be crucial. There are a number of unusual aspects to Monaco, including the timing of the sessions themselves, which only add to the famed unpredictability of this race and inevitable comparisons with the roulette wheel. But as is always the case, the right preparation and collection of tyre data during practice will put any driver in a strong position to maximise their potential in the race as well as the crucial qualifying session.

The Monaco Grand Prix is unique in that the Friday of the race weekend is a public holiday and as a result the opening practice sessions take place on Thursday which means that the Drivers press conference also takes place a day earlier than normal so in this case it will be on Wednesday.

© Ben Johnston 2015

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