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:
Pos |
Driver |
Pos |
Team |
Driver |
1 |
Sebastian Vettel |
German |
Red Bull Racing-Renault |
61 |
2 |
Fernando Alonso |
Spanish |
Ferrari |
61 |
3 |
Lewis Hamilton |
British |
McLaren-Mercedes |
53 |
4 |
Kimi Räikkönen |
Finnish |
Lotus-Renault |
49 |
5 |
Mark Webber |
Australian |
Red Bull Racing-Renault |
48 |
6 |
Jenson Button |
British |
McLaren-Mercedes |
45 |
7 |
Nico Rosberg |
German |
Mercedes |
41 |
8 |
Romain Grosjean |
French |
Lotus-Renault |
35 |
9 |
Pastor Maldonado |
Venezuelan |
Williams-Renault |
29 |
10 |
Sergio Perez |
Mexican |
Sauber-Ferrari |
22 |
11 |
Kamui Kobayashi |
Japanese |
Sauber-Ferrari |
19 |
12 |
Paul di Resta |
British |
Force India-Mercedes |
15 |
13 |
Bruno Senna |
Brazilian |
Williams-Renault |
14 |
14 |
Jean-Eric Vergne |
French |
STR-Ferrari |
4 |
15 |
Nico Hulkenberg |
German |
Force India-Mercedes |
3 |
16 |
Daniel Ricciardo |
Australian |
STR-Ferrari |
2 |
17 |
Felipe Massa |
Brazilian |
Ferrari |
2 |
18 |
Michael Schumacher |
German |
Mercedes |
2 |
19 |
Timo Glock |
German |
Marussia-Cosworth |
0 |
20 |
Charles Pic |
French |
Marussia-Cosworth |
0 |
21 |
Vitaly Petrov |
Russian |
Caterham-Renault |
0 |
22 |
Heikki Kovalainen |
Finnish |
Caterham-Renault |
0 |
23 |
Pedro de la Rosa |
Spanish |
HRT-Coswort |
0 |
24 |
Narain Karthikeyan |
Indian |
HRT-Cosworth |
0 |