From Max Verstappen vs Fernando Alonso off the line to Ferrari and Alpine chasing big points, and from Sergio Pérez starting from the back to the massive premium position placed on the track, we highlight some key areas to watch out for when the lights go out at Monte . Carlos…
1. Verstappen vs Alonso offline
It’s no secret that overtaking is difficult in Monaco, and it’s true that racing passes are rare, with the exciting battle for pole position that unfolded on Saturday often the competitive highlight of the weekend.
READ MORE: Verstappen snatches pole position from Alonso in thrilling Monaco GP qualifying session
But while the drivers put in amazing laps on low fuel in qualifying, there’s always that tense moment when the lights go out to start the race.
It may be a short race to Sainte Devote, but coming off the line with plenty of fuel is the time when the drivers near the front of the grid will be most feared on Sunday, as it is one of the rare times when it is positions are likely to change. .
And Max Verstappen knows that next to him is a driver who never needs a second wild card even if the door is slightly open heading into the first corner, with Fernando Alonso, who came so close to his first pole position in over a decade in a exciting qualifying session on Saturday: something of a specialist in recovering places at the start of the race.
Alonso starts on the outside of the front row, so he will need to get a clearly better launch, but it will be that brief push into Turn 1 that will go a long way in deciding the outcome of the race. So make sure you don’t miss lights out!
Monaco GP 2023 qualifying: The thrilling climax of Q3 as first Ocon, then Alonso and then Verstappen take provisional pole
2. Ferrari and Alpine with extra cards to play
While both teams would prefer to have a driver on the front row, Ferrari and Alpine have something of an advantage over Red Bull and Aston Martin heading into the race.
Red Bull closes out the grid with Verstappen on pole and Sergio Perez in 20th, while Aston Martin finds itself in a similar situation after Lance Stroll was eliminated in Q2 and started from 14th position.
READ MORE: Alonso targets Monaco GP win as he looks to exploit Verstappen’s ‘inconsistent’ starts
We’ll get into the impact of strategy a bit later, but with Esteban Ocon starting third and Pierre Gasly seventh for Alpine, and Carlos Sainz fourth ahead of Charles Leclerc in sixth for Ferrari (after this three-place grid penalty). last), both could take a little more risk in the search for more positions.
That’s because they’ll have the chance to split strategies if they want, trying to force the hand of Alonso or Verstappen if the pace is managed to preserve tire life.
It’s a situation that Ferrari could have tried and exploited a bit more with Leclerc directly behind the top two in qualifying, before a penalty for impeding Lando Norris in Q3 left him on the third row. The stewards deemed Ferrari to be at fault for the incident, and it continues a run of bad luck at a home race that has been so cruel to Leclerc at times.
Fourth place last year was the first time Leclerc had seen the checkered flag in a race here, and even then he lost from pole position. He now faces a much more difficult task to try to get on the podium for the first time.
READ MORE: Leclerc gets three-place grid penalty for impeding Norris in Monaco qualifying
3. Can Perez save anything?
The first big surprise of the weekend came in Q1 when last year’s race winner Sergio Pérez crashed on this fifth qualifying lap.
Perez, one of the favorites from the weekend leading up to the race, hit the barriers hard on the outside of Sainte Devote and brought out the red flags, ending his participation early on.
Classification Monaco GP 2023: Sergio Pérez OUT of qualifying in Q1 after an accident at Sainte Devote
In previous races this season, when Red Bull has struggled, its drivers have been able to recover on a Sunday such is the pace of the car, but the challenge is of a completely different magnitude in Monaco.
Perez will start from dead last, or pit lane, and will need a chaotic race to give him any chance of moving up to the points. But he has the best car to try to make something happen, so if we’re going to see some gutsy overtaking on Sunday, it’s most likely coming from the Mexican.
4. Times of pit stops
In a race where track position is the most important thing, anything that could influence that is a priority for teams to get right. And the pit stop window is certainly that.
If I paint you a picture of a slower car leading a much faster car, in Monaco the layout of the track makes it very difficult to overtake unless the car in front makes a mistake. The only time the lead car will not be able to influence the pace of the trailing car is when they make their pit stops, as long as they are not on the same lap.
Pitting first when the car in front can cause you to free up the car behind to drive faster and potentially get ahead when it stops itself, but similarly allowing the following car to pit first and use new tires during a lap to try to gain an advantage. advantage could also see them take a leap forward.
If you miss the timing of the stop and emerge into traffic, things can get even worse, so strategists are always hard at work to make sure your car is in clear air. That also puts even more pressure on the pit crews, because any mistakes in the tight pit lane are likely to be punished even more here than anywhere else.
HIGHLIGHTS: Relive action-packed qualifying as Verstappen takes pole position in Monaco over Alonso
5. Safety cars and red flags
Along the same lines as the above, incidents can also open up opportunities even for those drivers who aren’t caught up in anything. A well-timed Safety Car can allow you to make a pit stop and lose less time than your rivals if they’ve already done theirs, but making that stop after an incident can carry additional risk.
Remember George Russell’s disgrace in Melbourne? If a Safety Car becomes a red flag because a barrier needs to be repaired or the track needs to be cleared, the rest of the field will be able to make changes during that period without wasting time. And those very small margins have a big influence on the outcome of the Monaco race given how difficult it is to try to recover if you end up out of position.