Monaco Grand Prix
Date |
: May 16, 1999 |
Grand Prix |
: 57th Monaco Grand Prix |
At |
: Circuit de Monte Carlo |
Circuit length |
: 3,367 km |
Laps |
: 78 |
Total Distance |
: 262.626 km |
Monaco 1999
After the success of Ferrari and the misfortune of McLaren at Imola we look forward to the start of the Monaco Grand Prix 1999. Round 3 of the FIA Formula One Championship will be driven on the unique track: Circuit de Monte Carlo, a home Grand Prix for many drivers as they are living in Monaco.
The first Monaco Grand Prix was driven in 1929 in a 100 Lap race. It was won by a Bugatti in almost 4 hours with an average speed of 80 km/h. The real Formula One Championship as we know it, only started in 1950. Juan Manuel Fangio won this first race with his Alfa Romeo. He drove 3 hours and 13 minutes with an average speed of 98.7 km/h.
The Monaco Grand Prix Alltime-Champion is of course Ayrton Senna. He won this event more then anyone else, a total of 6 times: 1987 and 89 till 93. Michael Schumacher however is the current champion at Monaco, as he won it more then every other driver currently in Formula One, a total of 3 times. 1994, 1995 and 1997. Other recent victories went to Olivier Panis (Ligier Mugen-Honda) and Mika Hakkinen. McLaren - due to Ayrton Senna - are the most successful team at Monaco.
Three times winner of Monaco, Michael Schumacher: "Everywhere the track is lined by steel barriers or walls. You literally don't have an inch to spare on most of the corners before you can clip a barrier. You always have to drive with a bit in reserve, but in qualifying, where a good grid position is so vital to a good race, you cannot even afford to do that. Qualifying makes for a very exciting hour for both the drivers and the spectators."
Gary Anderson about setting up the car for Monaco: "The most important factor at Monaco is to make the car as comfortable as possible for the driver. The bumps and having the barriers so close to the cars causes a strain on the driver's concentration, so the more comfortable we can make the car, the more the driver is able to concentrate solely on the circuit. The car needs to have good traction and be reasonably responsive to steering, as well as be able to keep the wheels on the ground when it goes over bumps." Remember all the cars that went into the borders at the bump leading into Rascasse corner? (near the end of the lap)
Mika Hakkinen about the strain on the driver's concentration: "It is very tiring mentally and the adrenalin pumps here more than at any other track. It really is a crazy place to have a grand prix but that is part of its attraction I think."
Mike Gascoyne: "In terms of chassis set-up for Monaco, there is just one word to describe it - downforce. The overall speeds are not high enough to worry about drag, so you just throw everything you can at the cars to generate downforce and optimise low-speed handling." "Additionally, you have to deal with the surface of the circuit being very dirty. The Monegasques have their market day on Friday, when the roads are re-opened to the public, so there is no chance for the track to clean up. The way to a good time around Monaco is to get out on the circuit and stay out, and then usually lap times will come down consistently".
Chassis-setup, downforce-settings, driver's concentration. What is missing in this list. Engine-characteristics: Mike Gascoyne gives use an idea on engine-use at Monaco. "Unusually, you're on a trailing throttle for much of a lap because of the chicanes and hairpins, and that means you want the engine to pick up quickly and cleanly from low revs. Driveability is more important than outright power, although if you can get both, that's ideal."
And to finish it off, some words about tyre-use then from the Technical Manager of Bridgestone: "From Bridgestone's point of view, the street circuit character of the course and the smooth surface make Monaco very kind to tyres. Because of the slow speeds, aerodynamic loads are low, despite the high downforce wings normally brought out for this one race, and this means that the teams will be seeking to find as much mechanical grip from their cars as they possibly can."
Bridgestone will for the first time this year, offer the Extra-Soft compound which shows a tendency to generate understeer. "In addition to taking wear characteristics into consideration, this means that the teams' choice of compound will depend on their ability to dial out the understeer in case they wish to choose the Extra Soft compound."
But well, McLaren were still driving McLaren-cars so something had to happen probably earlier then later, and it happened early. At lap 17 David Coulthard's - driving 2nd - engine had seen enough of Monaco for this year and David suffered an engine failure.
On lap 38 we -the viewers- got to see the real Wurz, as Schumacher challenges his place at Loews Hairpin. Wurz however didn't give way and keeps his place. Into Portiers Schumacher challenges and they bang wheels side-by-side. Schumacher has to pit and drops back some three laps. Wurz seems to go ok, but a few laps later - after a scheduled pitstop - suffered suspension-failure in the tunnel and had a big crash coming out of the tunnel. Somehow the race wasn't over yet for Schumacher, in the final lap he almost managed to take out sixth-placed Pedro Diniz in a bonehead action to unlap himself coming out of the tunnel in the final lap. He damages his front-wing but still finishes.
Ferrari seems to have got things going. Currently leading both the drivers-championship, with both drivers, and also the constructors-championship. If it is just the color of the car, I'd say all cars will be painted red in no time(maybe that's why Williams changed their color). But I doubt it's just that. I remember Schumacher passing back-markers quite easily in the blue Benetton as well.
Is it just because of the driver's ability of Schumacher compared to Coulthard? Not sure. Fact is that Schumacher is of course a master in driving Formula One. But I do have to agree with DC, when he says that red is better to see in rear-view mirrors then gray. Irvine seems to do good as well. Currently second in the drivers-championship and doing very well. He managed to finish on the podium here last year as he did in 1997. He was listed 7th in 1996 when actually only some two cars orso passed the finish. Irvine had a DNF in 1995 with his Jordan and according to my source, he didn't drive for the 94 Monaco GP or before. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him on the podium in his 5th Monaco Grand Prix.
To prepare for Monaco, Ferrari ran an expensive test-program. Eddie and Michael ran a combined total of 1000 km which costed about a million DM - over half a million US Dollar. Schumacher recently said that he thinks they have a realistic chance of winning here at Monaco.
McLaren saw Ferrari eating away their advantage over speed. Was it some 2 seconds advantage over the rest of the field in the first race, Ferrari have effectively closed the gap to 1 or 2 tenths now - and I know that this is not due to the color of their car. Mika Hakkinen won here last year, but Schumacher still has an advantage over the number of wins here. And on top of that, during the 1997 Monaco Grand Prix they qualified 7th DC and 10th MH and BOTH McLaren drivers had ended their race on lap 1. Both also didn't finish in 1995 when Coulthard still drove with Williams.
But they do still have the fastest car around, and we will see them up front here again as we did every race so far. But speed here isn't all you need - as you can read above. Downforce is a big player in the Monaco Grand Prix. I do have to say that McLaren did have a very good mechanical downforce last year. And I think they still have that advantage here today. They seem to have the reliability of the car under control now, but now the drivers-reliability (MH's) didn't go that well last race.
Both drivers seem to go well - if they manage to finish. Now, if they have both drivers finish the same race I'd say they are on the right way. But as Monaco is a very hard race to finish we will probably not see that picture here. But it would be nice for Jordan if they did well here and see all their hard work paying off at the race that went so wrong last year.
Hill certainly has to like Monaco as his dad won it a few times. Damon: "My first recollection of the Monaco Grand Prix was watching it on the television in 1969. I was eight years old (the same age as my second son), and I was playing in the garden when my mum called out to me, 'Come and watch Daddy winning the Monaco Grand Prix." Well, not many people actually can say they have a memory like this.
Stewart seems to go well these days. And if we can remember the 1997 Rubens Barrichello finished 2nd in Monaco Grand Prix in the teams first year of racing. And trust me - and everything you read above - when I say it takes a special kind of driver to really do well here at Monaco. If we look at the 1999 car compared to that of the 1997 car, I'd say there is definitely improvement, also when you compare it with the other teams. So expect a good show here from Barrichello. Also, Herbert came in 3rd during the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix with his Sauber.
Jacques Villeneuve however is still the first driver at BAR. He managed a magnificent 5th place during qualifying in Imola, and I think we can expect a good show of the team here as well.
One thing most people agree with: Monaco is "the most glamorous sporting event in the world". Monaco is as exciting as it gets, and we can expect a good show of the drivers AND the VIPs. I will now get out my F1 Simulator (coincidentally it's named after this track) and drive a few laps just to get 'that Monaco feeling' - I recommend everybody owning a F1-Sim to do the same.
All we have to do now is race the game and then watch the real thing!
The Circuit
The circuit of Monaco is a street circuit. Because of the short straights and tight and twisty turns, Monaco needs a high down force configuration on the car. Although the track layout has changed a bit over the years it is still difficult to find an overtaking opportunity. The best point to try is when the cars exit the tunnel and brake hard at the Nouvelle Chicane.
David Coulthard about driving at Monaco: "Driving a lap of Monaco is the ultimate challenge for a driver," said David Coulthard. "To be quick you have to run within millimetres of the barrier and use all the road. The penalty for making a mistake is that you take one of the cars corners off, whereas an "off" at one of the other circuits, means dirt on the tyres or, at worst, maybe putting it into the gravel trap. Monaco is probably my favourite circuit."
Last year
The 1998 Monaco Grand Prix saw a good start for the McLarens. Both qualified first row and got away clean - in the lead. All drivers except Tuero did not have real troubles in the St. Devote corner right after the start and the race was on the way.
1 Mika Häkkinen Mclaren-Mercedes 1:33:37.621 = 196.811 km/h
2 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife - 00:11.475
3 Eddie Irvine Ferrari - 00:41.378
4 Mika Salo Arrows - 01:00.363
5 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mechachrome - 1 lap
6 Pedro-Paulo Diniz Arrows - 1 lap
This Year
Jordan has a good team with Damon and Heinz. Heinz drove very well in the first two races and then Damon taking over for last race to see them have a car in top 4 all races so far. Last year Jordan had a nightmare here in Monaco, when they had their worst race in the season - totally off-pace. After this race Jordan started improving a lot and I think they will have learned something here last year. Eddie Jordan seems to think so: "Now we are travelling to Monaco as the hustlers who are giving the top teams a good run for their money. I often say to people that I am a hustler. Now it is the team itself which has taken on this role!"
BAR has hired Mika Salo again for the Monaco Grand Prix. BAR: "He is regarded as something of a Monaco Grand Prix 'specialist', having finished fifth for Tyrrell around the streets of the famous principality in 1996 and 1997, and fourth for Arrows last year." Salo: "I love the atmosphere there during Grand Prix week and I really enjoy the driving precision and concentration that is required by such a demanding street circuit, so maybe it's just because I have been able to go into the event feeling relaxed and with a 'nothing-to-lose' kind of attitude."
