F1: 2016 Monaco Grand Prix Preview

$RACE

There is a lot of action World of Motorsports this Memorial Day Weekend.

In the United States the focus will be on the Indianapolis 500’s 100th anni, in Europe there’s the Nürburgring 24 Hours as well as one of racing’s premier event, the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.

The Monaco race, round 6 of the 2016 World Championship, is always a fan favorite because of the amazing location. It is also popular with the drivers, many of whom live close by.

The Monaco race was on 1950’s Inaugural F1 calendar and has been a regular event since Y 1955. The layout of the 2.1-mile Circuit de Monaco has remained largely unchanged over the years, the biggest updates taking place in Y 2004 when a new pit area complex was built.

The race is the shortest of the year and the most demanding because of its tight turns, narrow stretches and lack of runoffs. Grip levels are also low since the circuit consists fully of public streets that open to normal traffic each evening of the race weekend, so there is not much rubber left on the surface by the time of Sunday’s race. The average lap speed is just 100 mph.

Because of the low speeds and grip levels, Pirelli has nominated an ultra-soft tire for the 1st time along with its super-soft and soft compounds. And looking at the weather forecast, there could be some scattered thunderstorms Sunday. The temperature will be a mild 67 F (19C).

Friday, there was not much dramas during practice although drivers for Haas, Manor and Renault all made contact with the barriers at some point. Putting in the quickest time was Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo though MercedesAMG’s Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were close behind.

It was disappointing day for a unbalanced Ferrari TEam as both Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel both suffer spins ending the session down in 7th and 9th and split by the Force India of Sergio Perez. Jenson Button completed the Top 10 for McLaren

Going into Saturday’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race, Mr. Rosberg leads the 2016 Drivers’ Championship with 100 points ahead of Ferrari’s (NYSE:RACE) Kimi Räikkönen in 2nd with 61 points and Lewis Hamilton in 3rd with 57 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, MercedesAMG leads with 157 points Vs the 109 of Ferrari and 94 of Red Bull. Last year’s winner of the Monaco Grand Prix was Nico Rosberg.

The full free practice results (2) for round 6 of the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship, the Monaco Grand Prix.

1. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-Renault 1m 14.607s
2. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 15.213s
3. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 15.506s
4. Max Verstappen NED Red Bull-Renault 1m 15.571s
5. Daniil Kvyat RUS Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 15.815s
6. Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 15.981s
7. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 16.040s
8. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes 1m 16.120s
9. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 16.269s
10. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda 1m 16.325s
11. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes 1m 16.487s
12. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda 1m 16.723s
13. Esteban Gutierrez MEX Haas-Ferrari 1m 16.782s
14. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes 1m 16.849s
15. Romain Grosjean FRA Haas-Ferrari 1m 16.874s
16. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes 1m 17.286s
17. Kevin Magnussen DEN Renault-Renault 1m 17.530s
18. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari 1m 17.562s
19. Jolyon Palmer GBR Renault-Renault 1m 17.761s
20. Felipe Nasr BRA Sauber-Ferrari 1m 17.999s
21. Rio Haryanto INA Manor-Mercedes 1m 18.647s
22. Pascal Wehrlein GER Manor-Mercedes 1m 18.814s