McLaren Fans Track Guide

Round 5- Monaco

History of the circuit

What can you say about the most glamorous race on the calendar? Where the super rich cruise around the harbour on their multi-million pound boats, and the rich and famous fly in by helicopters, and arrive in style.

The race has taken place since 1929 when William Grover-Williams won the race In his Buggati. No one has been more successful at Monaco than the late great Ayrton Senna, who won there 6 times in his highly successful career.

Right from the first ever race at Monaco in 1929, there has never been a dull moment in any of the grand prix contested their, mainly because the circuit is difficult to drive on, which is down to a number of factors.

The surface on the roads of Monaco is designed for road cars, making the tarmac hard to grip on, which is why Bridgestone, formula ones only tyre manufacturer, supplying super soft tyres for the race, in an effort to get the multi-million pound cars to ‘stick’ to the surface of the road.

As you could imagine, driving around the Monaco circuit is especially tricky, as driving around Monaco at over 100mph on a track that is as wide as your car is long, leaves you no room for mistakes. Even the likes of Michael Schumacher have crashed around Monaco!

However the only downside to Monaco is the price, one ticket for a grandstand seat will cost you over £400, or $800, even a standing ticket will set you back £75, or $150. To get a good seat at Monaco, you will need to book it as soon as the dates are announced for the grand prix to avoid any disappointment.

Technical Overview

The cars normally run a very high downforce setting around the track, and a short gear ratios to get the best possible acceleration out of the tight and bendy corners. Normally it is the first two rows of the grid that win the race.

This race is very hard on engines and gearboxes, the cars are forced to run at very high revs which can easily overheat the fragile engines. The track demands the cars to keep switching gears, which puts the team’s lightweight transmissions under high levels of stress. Tyres can also suffer, the super soft tyres won’t last long distance on McLaren’s 2008 challenger, as it uses the tyres more than its main rivals Ferrari.

Circuit Map and Circuit Key

Other Results

Fastest Lap: Fernando Alonso- McLaren- 1:15.284

Pole Position: Fernando Alonso- McLaren- 1:15.726

McLaren Fans Predictions

First of all, let me clarify that McLaren won’t enjoy the same dominance that they had last year, none of the teams will. This years Monaco grand prix looks down to four main constructors, Ferrari, McLaren, BMW and even Renault share a good chance in being the 2008 constructor’s winner of this years Monaco Grand Prix.

Out of them, Ferrari and McLaren look the stronger of the four, with BMW in 3rd. Though don’t discount them, they could surprise a lot of people during qualifying, and take the pole, giving them the best chance of securing their first race win.

Renault, with Fernando Alonso, could bring a few surprises into the mix, if he were to get in front of one of the main three contenders, he could find himself in a good position to either win the race or get a podium finish, something which will defiantly cause no harm to his points tally.

Circuit Key and Circuit Map copyright F.I.A

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