Hitech go to Monte Carlo

Securing a hat-trick of podium finishes at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix and topping out the Team Standings was special, but claiming a trophy on the streets of Monte Carlo is the dream for any driver.

While several high-profile races have been added to the calendar in recent years, Monaco remains the ‘jewel in the crown’, an ­­­­­­­­­­intoxicating fusion of a rich racing heritage, iconic landmarks, lavish yachts and a breathtaking 360° vista. At the heart of the on-track experience, a twisting 3.337km street circuit that is narrow, full of elevation shifts and tight corners, and one of the biggest tests of the skill of the drivers over the power of the cars.

We head into Round 5 with Luke Browning maintaining a firm grip on second place in the Driver Standings, only six points adrift of the leader and with his sights set on claiming that mantle. He has finished on the podium at three out of this season’s four events so far, and having taken P3 on last year’s F3 podium in the principality, a repeat performance would be another dream come true.

With two podiums under his belt and fresh from a positive weekend in Imola, Dino Beganovic has his eyes on the same prize – an F2 podium in Monaco – to sit alongside the trophies he collected there in his first season of F3 and in Formula Regional European before that.

This is one of the more difficult circuits on the calendar, no doubt about it. It features a mix of low-speed and high-speed corners, and is very tight and technical, with no margin for error. The swimming pool section is particularly tricky. In terms of overtaking opportunities, the drivers typically make their best moves into Rascasse or on the run down from the tunnel where it is notably hard on the brakes.

The schedule is atypical in that we see the first track action – Practice – on Thursday, and Qualifying, divided into two sessions, on Friday. The Sprint Race is on Saturday and the Feature Race on Sunday as usual. So while there’s plenty of time for evaluation after Practice, it is straight down to the business of Qualifying the following day and even more pressure than usual to deliver that crucial single lap, as starting at or near the front of the field is invariably key to a Monaco podium.

The tyre allocation for this event is the Soft and the Supersoft, and the prime strategy is a long first stint on the Soft. The high incidence of Safety Car interventions in the race can make or break a strategy.

He continued:

“We’ve had some rain earlier in the week and although the weather seems to be settling down, the chance of a few showers remains for the later sessions, so the drivers will need to adapt to the changing grip levels.”