Ask 5 completely different Components 1 drivers their favourite circuit to drive, and also you may get 5 completely different solutions. However for Haas driver Kevin Magnussen the reply is evident.
Monaco.
“It’s the perfect observe on the calendar to drive, it’s simply phenomenal on these little tight streets with partitions all over the place. The sensation of driving a Components 1 automotive in Monaco, to me, is the perfect of the 12 months,” mentioned Magnussen within the staff’s media preview of the Monaco Grand Prix.
Magnussen continues to be on the cusp of a one-race ban as he enters the Monaco Grand Prix with ten factors on his Tremendous License. Two extra penalty factors would see the motive force sidelined for a race. His greatest end in Monaco got here in his rookie F1 season, again in 2014 with McLaren the place he completed tenth. He matched that end result three years later in his first season with Haas.
“We all know there’s no overtaking within the race, so it does really feel now with all these different races the place overtaking is fairly good and racing is fairly good, that it’s a little bit of a bizarre one as a result of there’s so little,” added Magnussen, making a little bit pitch to the powers that be in F1 to maintain Monaco on the calendar. “Possibly there may very well be extra qualifying classes or a Dash to throw a curveball. The Monaco Grand Prix is part of the triple crown, it’s a type of races the place in the event you win that, it’s additional particular, and having pushed round there it’s so particular, so I hope it stays on the calendar.
“At different races, you’re doing laps to discover completely different methods, you’ve discovered the restrict shortly. In Monaco, you’re simply getting nearer and nearer to the restrict, and because it’s a observe that’s actually getting used, it’s obtained a lot observe evolution,” added the Danish driver.
Teammate Nico Hülkenberg, who calls Monaco house today, can be wanting ahead to the challenges Monaco gives.
“I’ve lived in Monaco since 2015, this can be my eleventh Monaco Grand Prix, and I’ve watched the race many instances rising up,” mentioned Hülkenberg. “Monaco is iconic, it’s all about custom; the palace, the motels, and plenty of locations that also have a gown code to have the ability to get in. The historical past and the heritage there, everybody embraces and respects that, which I like.
“There’s all the time a bit extra concentrate on qualifying right here in Monaco. However it’s the identical each weekend, from scratch it’s essential attempt to get a great feeling for the automotive, and the problem with qualifying in Monaco is that you really want to grasp the lap and put all three sectors collectively,” added Hülkenberg. “It’s a experience on a knife edge and difficult yearly and one in every of my favourite tracks to drive, I look ahead to the experience and the problem.”
Hülkenberg, who has scored six of the staff’s seven factors this season, is headed to Sauber for 2025 forward of that group changing into the Audi works staff for the 2026 F1 marketing campaign.
Staff Principal Ayao Komatsu, who can be making his Monaco Grand Prix debut because the boss at Haas, outlined how the staff has been working in direction of getting the downforce proper for this tough circuit.
“I’m wanting ahead to Monaco as a result of this 12 months the staff has labored fairly properly within the wind tunnel to give you the Monaco downforce stage required, which is completely different from earlier years,” mentioned Komatsu. “By way of consistency with the automotive, we appear to have higher consistency, and clearly, in Monaco drivers want a lot of confidence, they should belief the automotive. One factor that continues to be to be seen is the stability of the automotive; in Monaco you may have an excessive amount of understeer and you then gained’t go fast, in order that’s one of many points with this 12 months’s automotive, I feel. We’re conscious of it so we’ll attempt to get that stability proper, and if we are able to try this, it may be a reasonably attention-grabbing weekend.”
As Komatsu makes clear, qualifying is all the things in Monaco given the structure of the circuit. Overtaking alternatives within the Monaco Grand Prix are uncommon, so factors are sometimes gained on Saturday. Meaning it’s essential be in your sport beginning Friday morning.
“Monaco qualifying is all the things, driver confidence is all the things, observe time is all the things – so you actually can’t be messing round with automotive set-up an excessive amount of. It means the automotive you roll out with on Friday morning needs to be proper, you then simply need to let the motive force get as many laps in as doable; there’s extra lap time in them than with tuning bits on the automotive,” described Komatsu.
“The problem is you must get automotive set-up proper earlier than you run, in the event you like. In the event you ship the automotive out and automotive set-up is just not proper, you may’t spend quarter-hour within the storage to vary the automotive as a result of that quarter-hour is observe time misplaced,” addd Komatsu. “Between runs, you must actually be getting the motive force to have a look at the info, see the place they should enhance, after which get them out as quickly as doable. The engineers’ problem is extra about begin set-up having to be within the ballpark, after which when you’re working, simply concentrate on giving drivers confidence.”
We’ll see if Magnussen and Hülkenberg have that confidence in only a few days.
