Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2012 Preview

With the 2012 Formula 1 season now fully renowned for its unpredictability after the first five races, all eyes and attention now turns to what is undeniably the crown-jewel of not only Formula 1, but also motor sport in general…the Monaco Grand Prix. Famous for its glamour and prestige, the Monte-Carlo street circuit has seen some of the most iconic moments in F1’s history.

First held in 1929, the Monaco Grand Prix has been held every year since 1955. The race is one of only four to have been on the inaugural calendar in 1950, and to still be on the 2012 calendar alongside Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. In the track’s long and colorful history, some of the sports most legendary figures have been victorious on the street circuit, including the likes of Fangio, Moss, Hill, Stewart, Villeneuve, Prost, Senna and Schumacher.

The most successful driver around the Monte-Carlo street circuit was the legendary Ayrton Senna, who won the Monaco Grand Prix an unbelievable six times (’87, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92 and ’93). The Brazilian driver won five of those races with McLaren, who are the most successful Constructor around the Monte-Carlo street circuit, having won the race 15 times (’84, ’85, ’86, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’98, ’00, ’02, ’05, ’07 and ’08). As much as this stat will give confidence to their two drivers’ Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, McLaren haven’t won the race in three years, with rivals Red Bull having done so for the last two consecutive seasons.

The first two practice sessions for the Formula 1 weekend will take place on the Thursday, instead of traditionally taking place on the Friday throughout the rest of the season at other venues. On the Friday, a frenetic morning of support races is planned, with GP3 Qualifying and Race 1 alongside the GP2 feature race.

There has been several minor alterations to the circuit since the 2011 race, most notably where the track has been resurfaced in several areas to try and remove bumps in the track. The TecPro barriers which proved highly effective when Sergio Perez crashed in qualifying last year have been implemented at turns 1 and 14, replacing tyre walls. And also, stemming from Perez’s incident last year, a crane has been removed from the end of the barrier at the turn 10 and 11 chicane. This has subsequently created nearly 15 meters more run-off space.

The DRS zone has remained the same from 2011, with the overtaking device also banned from use in the tunnel. This ban was in use last year, after drivers campaigned against DRS as they believed it would be unsafe if deployed within the tunnel. This therefore means that DRS can only be deployed down the start/finish straight during the race. Former British Formula 1 World Champion Nigel Mansell will be the drivers’ steward for this weekend, a role which has been carried out by Johnny Herbert, Emanuele Pirro and Tom Kristensen throughout 2012.

With five different winners in five races throughout 2012 so far, the unpredictability is expected to continue when the cars finally take to the Monte-Carlo street circuit this weekend. With drivers’ such as Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen yet to win in 2012, the possibility of a sixth different winner is exceedingly high!

Picture Copyright © Williams F1 Team

Twenty Is Plenty For Sebastian Vettel

Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel believes 20 races on the Formula 1 calendar is enough, and that the logistics within the paddock as well as the many different nations which have a race would make it impractical to have more than 20 races. With races in Russia and America planned in 2013/4, well known venues may have to be ditched to make way for these newer races.

During the inaugural Formula 1 season back in 1950, only 7 races were on the calendar. Of these 7, Britain, Monaco, Belgium and Italy continue to host races in 2012 and are unquestionably highly regarded for their history and heritage. However, over decades these races have come under threat from newer nations such as Malaysia, Abu Dhabi and Singapore. 

With many eager to keep the ‘heritage’ venues afloat on the F1 calendar, such as the four previously mentioned along with the likes of Japan, Canada, Australia and Germany, it seems unlikely that the calendar will remain at 20 races. With members of the F1 circus only getting roughly six to eight weeks of peace throughout the winter months, more races could see the season beginning in February and even ending in December.

When asked whether 20 races is the limit for Formula 1 in a season, Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel agreed that twenty is plenty: “Well, I think 20 is good number but it’s a big number as well. Not just for us, the drivers, [but] I think for the whole paddock to move around. It’s not that easy. I think you need to be aware of that. We have races spread out around the globe. So I think we just get away with 20 races.”

One solution to the ever-growing Formula 1 calendar is to have some races alternate with each other, such as Barcelona (hosts of the Spanish Grand Prix) and Valencia (hosts of the European Grand Prix). This option has previously worked with the German Grand Prix, whereby Hockenheim and the Nürburgring have alternated as hosts since 2007. The same solution was set to be put into place for the French and Belgian Grands Prix, however with France looking increasingly unlikely to be hosting a Grand Prix in the foreseeable future, it looks like Spa may well have to find another nation to alternate with to remain safely on the calendar.

  Either way, the debate over the Formula 1 calendar throughout the next couple of seasons is going to be an intriguing spectacle as more and more nations wish to host the fastest sport in the world. With Argentina and Thailand allegedly interested in joining the calendar, keeping the season only 20 races long looks set to be a difficult task to achieve.

Romain Grosjean Becomes 200th Different Driver On The Podium

Romain Grosjean made Formula 1 history in Bahrain, becoming the 200th different driver to step onto the podium since the sports inaugural season in 1950. With Grosjean joining his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel on the podium, it was all change once again on the top step of the F1 rostrum.

For Grosjean, it was his first step on an F1 podium in only his 11th start. The Frenchman began his career in 2009 with Renault, however he was replaced by Vitaly Petrov for the 2010 season. Grosjean then returned to the GP2 Series and in 2011 won both the GP2 and GP2 Asia Series’.

In 2012, Grosjean has returned to the top tier of motorsport along with his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, and the two have already shown high amounts of competitiveness in only the first four races of the season. Although Grosjean failed to complete more than seven laps in the first two races due to two DNF’s, he seems to have made up for his errors with two points finishes in China and Bahrain.

The last Frenchman to step onto the podium was 14 years ago, when Jean Alesi did so in unforgettable circumstances at the crazy 1998 Belgian Grand Prix for Sauber. The French veteran was joined by the Jordan duo of Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher, who had memorably achieved Jordan’s first F1 victory with a 1-2 finish in the rain at Spa.

Romain Grosjean has ended this drought for France and has returned the French flag to the podium once again, becoming the 21st Frenchman on the podium. He now joins the likes of Jean Alesi, Rene Arnoux, Alain Prost, Didier Pironi and Olivier Panis as French drivers’ who have reached the podium in their career. 

With Grosjean only several races into 2012, his aim now will naturally be to become the first French winner since 1996, when Olivier Panis won the Monaco Grand Prix for Ligier in a race which amazingly saw only three cars eventually cross the finish line at the end of the race, the least amount in F1 history.

Lotus showed promising pace in pre-season testing at both Jerez and Barcelona, with Raikkonen and Grosjean both setting the fastest times throughout the testing period. It now seems that Lotus are beginning to show that pace once again, when it all counts during the race on Sunday. Both Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean know how to win races, and they will undoubtedly be striving to do so in 2012.

Picture Copyright © AFP 

Thai Grand Prix The Next Asian Event To Join F1?

Thailand looks set to be joining fellow Asian nations’ Singapore, Korea and India in hosting a Formula 1 event in the near future. The proposed venue is a street circuit at Ratchadamnoen Avenue in the capital city of Bangkok, which has been favored over a new and costly permanent circuit at Pattaya.

In 2010, Mark Webber demonstrated his Red Bull RB6 around Ratchadamnoen Avenue. It is the owner of Red Bull – Dietrich Mateschitz – that has fueled the recent speculation of Thailand hosting an F1 race in the future.

“The idea is good. We are in talks.” Said Red Bull owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, “Thailand could host a Formula 1 race in the next two or three years, [Bernie] Ecclestone agrees with the idea. We may sign an agreement soon. I can’t give you details because it is not my responsibility. All I can tell you is that a race could take place here in the next two or three years. I remember that a lot of people watched the show [Webber’s demonstration] and a race here will be successful.”

There has only ever been one Thai driver in the history of Formula 1, in Prince Bira who competed in 19 races throughout the 1950s including the first official FIA Formula 1 race at Silverstone in 1950.

If Thailand did host a race in the future, it would become the 9th Asian Grand Prix on the calendar. With the addition of a second American Grand Prix in 2013 and a Russian Grand Prix in 2014, the Formula 1 calendar is becoming dangerously packed with events. This will undoubtedly mean the loss of further Grands Prix, with the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka and the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa two races which are currently not contracted beyond the 2012 season.

Picture Copyright © Getty Images

2012 Pirelli Tyres Receive New Markings

The Pirelli tyres for the coming 2012 season have received new markings to help make it clearer to fans which type of tyres the drivers are using throughout the season, with a new range of wet tyres also unveiled.

The colors which depict the different types of tyre have been slightly tweaked, with the writing becoming more bolder with the bands near the lettering becoming slightly larger. There has also been a slight change to help fans differentiate between the white (medium) tyres and the silver (hard) tyres with the writing on the silver variant becoming more darker.

Pirelli have also changed the range of wet tyres that will be on offer to the F1 teams throughout the season, with the P-Zero range being replaced by the Cinturato range which Pirelli made famous in the 1950s. The colors of the wet tyres have also been changed, with the full wets now in blue with the intermediate tyres in green.

In 2012, Pirelli also hope to help make F1 more exciting, with a more aggressive approach from Pirelli in its tyres compounds. Pirelli will also allow the Formula One Management (FOM) more access more data, with the idea that the data will then be able to be adopted in an on-screen graphic which will be able to show the fans how old a particular tyre is.

Pirelli have also slightly changed the construction of the tyre, with the end result being a slightly squarer variant which is aimed at helping improve grip and handling for the 2012 season.

Pirelli enter their second year as sole tyre supplier for the F1 teams after replacing Bridgestone, who were the sole supplier after Michelin ended their involvement in F1 after the 2006 season.

Russian driver Vitaly Petrov was today hinted at potentially joining Pirelli as their test driver, however both Petrov and Pirelli denied these rumors.