We all know that the Monaco GP is usually a race that leaves very little room for surprises. Last year’s race was highly eventful in terms of strategies due to a rainy start with the track gradually drying up. In the second part of the event, drivers mainly used the Hard tire and then switched to the Medium towards the end.
Despite a yellow alert for the risk of some temporary weather phenomena, the forecasts suggest that we should witness a predominantly dry GP. With that said, let’s start looking at the most popular tactics for today’s race, also with the support of the tire manufacturer.
Pirelli’s strategic advice
On a track where overtaking is almost impossible, as the technicians from Pirelli point out in their usual analysis, the fastest strategy for tackling the 78 laps of the Monaco GP involves a single pit stop. On paper, drivers should start the GP with the Medium tires and change to the Hard ones between the 20th and 25th lap. Another option is starting on Soft tires and then switching to the Hard ones between the 15th and 20th lap. Of course, inverted compound options are also valid.
Mario Isola’s considerations
The comment made by Pirelli’s motorsport director at the end of qualifying: “We witnessed one of the most competitive sessions here in Monte Carlo for the fight for pole position. We had already seen on Friday that the gaps on this track would be very narrow. In Q1, the top 15 drivers were within 652 milliseconds, in Q2 there were 469 milliseconds between the first and the tenth, and in Q3, the first four drivers, belonging to four different teams, were separated by no more than 188 milliseconds. Truly impressive. From a technical point of view, we confirmed the versatility of the Soft compound, which allowed for more timed laps. The track showed great evolution throughout the day, adding even more uncertainty to the competition.”
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Focusing on the strategies, Mario Isola added, “Usually, Saturday is the day that offers the peak of emotions in the Monaco Grand Prix, but after what happened, we can’t wait to find out if this tradition can be broken. There are unlikely to be surprises in terms of strategies: a single pit stop is mandatory, with the Hard tire clearly indicated as the protagonist. There may be more uncertainties about the tire choice for the start: on one hand, the Soft tire certainly offers more grip at the beginning, while on the other hand, the Medium tire extends the usage window and allows better management of possible neutralizations.”
Strategies from the Pit Wall – Boring race? Not for the pit wall
As we know, Monte Carlo always appears as a monotonous race to the spectators, with few overtakes and limited action. However, it won’t be the same for the strategists.
First of all, for today’s race, despite the weather indicating clear skies and temperatures similar to those of yesterday, according to Meteo France, there could still be a chance of rain due to some rapid weather changes (yellow alert from 6:00 AM to 12:00 AM). Therefore, it will be necessary to keep an eye on the sky.
Regarding the strategies, if we have a completely dry race, in general, just as stated by Pirelli, there shouldn’t be any surprises. The strategy that should prevail is Medium-Hard.
An interesting alternative could be attempting to finish the race with a Medium-Soft tactic. On paper, it seems difficult to implement, but here in Monaco, what the drivers will try to do is to extend the first stint as much as possible, hoping for a late Safety Car period to their advantage. This way, they can take advantage of a quicker tire change and recover some positions against their opponents.
The final strategy will obviously depend heavily on the timing of a potential safety car entry. It is clear that if it were to occur between the 20th and 30th lap (the GP consists of 78 laps in total), the most sensible choice would be to switch to the Hard tires and complete the race on this tire set.
For the pit wall technicians, it will be a race far from relaxing. With cars becoming wider, it has become almost impossible for drivers to overtake here in Monaco. Therefore, the only possibility to gain positions will be offered by the work done by strategists, who, in addition to trying to take advantage of potential Safety Cars, will also have to pay particular attention to various opportunities offered by the undercut or the overcut. Both are powerful strategies here in Monte Carlo, depending on the different conditions present on track between two opponents in the moments before and after pit stops. Traffic will be one of the factors to consider most today.
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