Monte Carlo Preview: The battle heads to the historic streets

From Imola to Monte Carlo, the second back-to-back of the 2024 campaign sees the drivers hit the streets of Monaco for Round 5 of this Formula 2 season.
After four action-packed rounds Zane Maloney retains his advantage at the top of the Drivers’ Championship while Campos Racing lead the way in the Teams’ Standings.
But it is all to play for and here is all you need to know ahead of the weekend’s action.
THE FORM BOOK
Maloney may lead the Championship but the form driver at the moment is Isack Hadjar. The Campos driver has won the last two Feature Races in Melbourne and Imola and is now up to third in the Standings where he trails his Rodin Motorsport rival by nine points.
Separating the pair is Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron in second who finished on the podium for the fourth time this season at the Imola Sprint Race. He lost out on the win on the final lap to MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto – who sealed his maiden F2 victory last time out.
Colapinto’s teammate Dennis Hauger is fourth in the Standings while Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto is up to fifth after scoring pole position and second place in the Imola Feature Race.
There was also a strong performance from AIX Racing last time out where Joshua Duerksen achieved his and the team’s first podium after finishing third in Sunday’s 35-lap event.
It was a mixed weekend forPREMA Racing as a long pitstop dropped Oliver Bearman to the back of the field in the Feature Race after the Briton led the opening few laps, although Andrea Kimi Antonelli was able to finish fourth on home soil.
In terms of the Teams’ Championship, their stellar Round 4 sees Campos leapfrog Rodin, Hitech, and MP to go the top of the Standings with 85 points. Just 10 points separate the top four teams while Invicta Racing are not too far behind in fifth having scored 72 points so far.
FROM THE GRID – Isack Hadjar, Campos Racing
“What I like the most about the track is the layout, I think it’s amazing. I’ve won there before, it was actually the weekend I was signed by Red Bull, so it brings back a lot of memories for me. It’s a special place and I think it is the best track in the world.
“You want to get the mileage so Free Practice is really intense because you want to find the limit but at the same time you need to stay on track and not crash. It’s really intense and it’s the best Qualifying session of the year. It’s where you get the adrenaline rush going so close to the barriers everywhere, it’s just amazing.
“I think the Qualifying lap is about confidence on the brakes, being able to brake really late. At this circuit it’s really hard to make that step on braking because everything is close. I think it’s about how much margin you leave to get close to the walls.
WHERE TO WATCH US?
“It’s not a high energy track so you don’t really have concerns with the tyres. It’s quite an aggressive strategy as in the Sprint Race you start on the softs, and it’s a great track where you can push and not worry about tyre deg.
“In the Feature Race it is special because you have to go as long as you can on the option if you start ahead and then wait for a Safety Car, so then you can box because you can’t overtake at this track.
“There is always an opportunity to overtake but the guys ahead have to make a mistake otherwise it’s really complicated, so you better start on pole. It would mean a lot to me to win in Monaco. The target will be to get Pole of my group and then deliver from there. That’s all I have in mind for Monaco.”
TECHNICAL PREVIEW
A maximum downforce track with plenty of slow speed corners and very few straights, Monaco presents quite a unique challenge for both the teams and the drivers. With lower average speeds compared to other tracks on this year’s calendar, Monaco also puts less demand on braking.
Additionally, the circuit is not one used all year round for racing which means the drivers will meet a very green surface, so finding grip and getting their tyres into the right temperature window ahead of their laps in Qualifying will be very key this weekend.
RACE STRATEGY
The teams will have at their disposal both the Pirelli red-walled Softs and purple-painted Supersoft tyres this weekend. The famed street circuit tends to put a lower level of energy through the tyres than most tracks, thanks to the lower average speeds.
The preferred route to victory will be to use the Supersoft tyres for as long as possible before switching to the Softs. With the walls close by, a Safety Car intervention is always a possibility meaning the teams will be on high alert during the pitstop phases.
A bad pitstop in Monte Carlo could see a driver lose huge ground but, if the teams manage to get it right, it could see them make huge progress up the order.
Gareth Haynes, F2/F3 Pirelli Trackside Engineer
“As is the case in Formula 1, qualifying in Monaco is equally important in the junior categories in terms of its influence on the race result, given that the track is very narrow and twisty, meaning that overtaking is definitely a rare occurrence. At least in the Feature Race, there’s the variable of the obligatory tyre change which can shake things up a bit. Generally, the aim is to run a long first stint in the hope that a late Safety Car will gift them a cheap pit stop in terms of time lost. The length of the stint on the Supersoft could go beyond its real range in terms of performance, while still working well enough for a driver to defend their position on track, even if they are slower than the chasing cars. The undercut could be decisive in trying to get ahead of another car as it is very efficient on a track with a very short pit lane.”
STAT PACK
DID YOU KNOW?
Qualifying in Monte Carlo is done slightly differently as the drivers are split into two groups.
Odd and even numbered drivers will make up Group A and Group B, with each group comprised of 11 drivers. Each group will have 16 minutes to set their fastest time.
The driver with the best time across both groups will be on Pole for the Feature Race, with the fastest in the other group joining them on the front row. The positions will then alternate back and forth between the groups to decide the rest of the grid.
In terms of the Sprint Race, the fifth-fastest driver from the second group will be on pole, while the driver who finishes fifth in the faster group will line up on the front row.