Rarely is something both the slowest and the hardest at the same time, but that all goes out the window when you’re talking about the Grand Prix at Monaco. For the majority of the F1 season, the drivers get to open up their cars a good bit. At Monaco, those chances to go wide open are limited to about three, as there are only a three extended straightaways on the track.
Besides those three straights, drivers get to deal with a plethora of intense twists and blind turns that require great care to negotiate correctly. These tight turns all amount to Monaco being the lowest average speed course on the F1 circuit, and arguably the hardest one on the circuit.
Well, the 70th running of this ultra-technical road course is due to start on May 27, 2012 and we’re going to provide a quick preview of what’s to come.
Click past the jump to read all about the Grand Prix at Monaco
History
After some persuasion from the Automobile Club of Monaco members, then president of the club and Prince launched the Grand Prix of Monaco. The inaugural race went off on April 14th, 1929. The second running took place on April 19th, 1932 with world speed record holder Captain Sir Malcom Campbell winning in his Rolls Royce.
The Grand Prix failed to run from 1938 through 1947, due to economic reasons and lack of interest from participants. The race resumed in 1948 but was cancelled again the following year after the death of Prince Louis II. Races took place again in 1950 and `52, but they were cancelled in `53 and `54. The following year, the race went off without a hitch and it has continued that way for 57 years.
2012 Schedule
The 2012 running of the Grand Prix of Monaco is a four-day event that consists of multiple practices and a series of qualifying runs for positioning. The schedule is as follows:
Thursday May 24, 2012
Time
Event
7:00
Road closure to traffic
8:30 to 9:15
Free practice session Formula Renault 3.5
10:00 to 11:30
1st Free Practice Session F1
12:00 to 12:30
Free practice session GP2
14:00 to 15:30
2rd Free Practice Session F1
16:00 to 16:30
Qualifying GP2
16:55 to 17:25
Free practice Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup
19:00
Opening of track to road traffic
Friday May 25, 2012
Time
Event
7:00
Road closure to traffic
9:45 to 10:15
Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup (First qualifying session)
10:50 to 11:55
GP2 - First Race (42 laps or 60 mins)
14:00
Opening of track to road traffic
Saturday May 26, 2012
Time
Event
6:00
Road closure to traffic
9:00 to 9:25
Formula Renault 3.5 (Qualifying - série A)
9:30 to 9:55
Formula Renault 3.5 (Qualifying - série B)
11:00 to 12:00
3rd Free Practice Session F1
14:00 to 15:00
Free practice Qualifying F1
16:00 to 16:50
GP2 - Second Race (30 laps or 45 mins)
19:00
Opening of track to road traffic
Sunday May 27, 2012
Time
Event
7:00
Road closure to traffic
9:45 to 10:15
Porsche Mobil 1 SuperCup (16 laps or 30 mins)
11:10 to 12:00
Formula Renault 3.5 - (25 laps or 45 mins)
12:30
Formula 1 - Drivers parade
14:00
70th GRAND PRIX of MONACO 2012 (lasting 78 laps or 2 hours)
19:00
Opening of track to road traffic
Weather
Weather always plays a huge factor on the Grand Prix of Monaco, as it is a very wet area. As of now, it looks like there will be showers throughout the day and night. On race day it looks to be partly cloudy and only reaching a high of 69 degrees, so areas of the track may still be damp, depending on when the rain ends and how the sunshine goes.
Keep in mind that the race is bracketed between two days of rain – it is supposed to rain on Monday too – so there is a good chance of a little of the wet stuff on race day. That always makes things a little interesting.
Practice Results
With both practice days in the books, we can get a good idea of how all of the drivers are doing thus far. This won’t tell us who’ll win, but it gives you a good idea of who’s feeling “it” and who is not on their game yet.
Practice 1 Results
Pos
No
Driver
Team
Time/Retired
Gap
Laps
1
5
Fernando Alonso
Ferrari
1:16.265
N/A
22
2
10
Romain Grosjean
Lotus-Renault
1:16.630
0.365
17
3
15
Sergio Perez
Sauber-Ferrari
1:16.711
0.446
19
4
4
Lewis Hamilton
McLaren-Mercedes
1:16.747
0.482
12
5
18
Pastor Maldonado
Williams-Renault
1:16.760
0.495
20
6
6
Felipe Massa
Ferrari
1:16.843
0.578
19
7
14
Kamui Kobayashi
Sauber-Ferrari
1:17.038
0.773
21
8
3
Jenson Button
McLaren-Mercedes
1:17.190
0.925
13
9
1
Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull Racing-Renault
1:17.222
0.957
14
10
8
Nico Rosberg
Mercedes
1:17.261
0.996
18
11
7
Michael Schumacher
Mercedes
1:17.413
1.148
14
12
12
Nico Hulkenberg
Force India-Mercedes
1:17.631
1.366
18
13
2
Mark Webber
Red Bull Racing-Renault
1:18.106
1.841
14
14
17
Jean-Eric Vergne
STR-Ferrari
1:18.209
1.944
25
15
16
Daniel Ricciardo
STR-Ferrari
1:18.252
1.987
28
16
11
Paul di Resta
Force India-Mercedes
1:18.302
2.037
16
17
19
Bruno Senna
Williams-Renault
1:18.617
2.352
20
18
20
Heikki Kovalainen
Caterham-Renault
1:19.039
2.774
20
19
21
Vitaly Petrov
Caterham-Renault
1:19.341
3.076
16
20
23
Narain Karthikeyan
HRT-Cosworth
1:20.838
4.573
26
21
25
Charles Pic
Marussia-Cosworth
1:20.895
4.630
18
22
24
Timo Glock
Marussia-Cosworth
1:21.638
5.373
9
23
22
Pedro de la Rosa
HRT-Cosworth
1:22.423
6.158
15
24
9
Kimi Räikkönen
Lotus-Renault
No time
N/A
1
Practice 2 Results
Pos
No
Driver
Team
Time/Retired
Gap
Laps
1
3
Jenson Button
McLaren-Mercedes
1:15 .746
N/A
17
2
10
Romain Grosjean
Lotus-Renault
1:16 .138
0.392
19
3
6
Felipe Massa
Ferrari
1:16.602
0.856
21
4
5
Fernando Alonso
Ferrari
1:16.661
0.915
23
5
18
Pastor Maldonado
Williams-Renault
1:16.820
1.074
20
6
8
Nico Rosberg
Mercedes
1:17.021
1.275
15
7
2
Mark Webber
Red Bull Racing-Renault
1:17.148
1.402
23
8
14
Kamui Kobayashi
Sauber-Ferrari
1:17.153
1.407
22
9
7
Michael Schumacher
Mercedes
1:17.293
1.547
11
10
1
Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull Racing-Renault
1:17.303
1.557
21
11
4
Lewis Hamilton
McLaren-Mercedes
1:17.375
1.629
19
12
11
Paul di Resta
Force India-Mercedes
1:17.395
1.649
21
13
19
Bruno Senna
Williams-Renault
1:17.655
1.909
18
14
12
Nico Hulkenberg
Force India-Mercedes
1:17.800
2.054
25
15
15
Sergio Perez
Sauber-Ferrari
1:18.251
2.505
24
16
21
Vitaly Petrov
Caterham-Renault
1:18.440
2.694
25
17
17
Jean-Eric Vergne
STR-Ferrari
1:18.522
2.776
22
18
16
Daniel Ricciardo
STR-Ferrari
1:18.808
3.062
26
19
9
Kimi Räikkönen
Lotus-Renault
1:19.267
3.521
25
20
24
Timo Glock
Marussia-Cosworth
1:19.309
3.563
29
21
20
Heikki Kovalainen
Caterham-Renault
1:20.029
4.283
13
22
25
Charles Pic
Marussia-Cosworth
1:20.240
4.494
21
23
22
Pedro de la Rosa
HRT-Cosworth
1:20.631
4.885
12
24
23
Narain Karthikeyan
HRT-Cosworth
1:20.886
5.140
10
F1 Points Standings
The 2012 Grand Prix of Monaco will certainly have some impact on the points standings, as you have Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso tied in first with 61 points each. Almost the entire top drivers can see overall standings shifts, depending on their finish on Sunday, as the largest gap is only eight points, which is between No. 1 and No. 2 and a No. 1 finish will net a driver 25 points.
To finish things up, let’s have a look at the points standings as we head into Monaco:
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