2025 Monaco Grand Prix - Monte Carlo, May 23 - 25

[SB15]

Why? You have a car that qualifies well and a guy who seems to constantly deliver.
At times it goes backwards during the race, but for Monaco it's a good thing to have.

No, just no!

The W16 is not good in slow speed corners in comparison with the Ferrari and Mclaren. And in the 3rd sector, the tyres may not hold up in that sector.

Look I know Merc has been good in qualifying with Russell and that’s great. But qualifying well doesn’t mean you produce the adequate results when it matters and since it’s a 2 stop race, race pace is going to matter a lot more than you can determine.

That doesn't mean LeClerc won't be able to 'hustle' his car to a front/second row

Every session this is aging more and more worse as the weekend goes on.

Why am I the only one that's not surprised by the Mercedes pace?

They told many of us, time and time again that they struggle in the slow speed. I knew Monaco wasn't going to be good for them regardless because the characteristics of the car doesn't suit these types of tracks.

[Waz]

Im surprised Merc are this far off, a whole second in track short like Monaco

They look lost this weekend. Switching between old flexi wing and new stiffer version, switching rear suspension. So many changes don't help a driver get in the groove around Monaco.

[Farnborough]

Mercedes have been so anonymous so far. Not sure, what's going on.

My guess their car doesn't work when they need to raise it for a bumpy track.

There's different ways of raising any suspension. Lift and softer is big contrast to lift and staying hard on spring.

One of the challenge here is that the track is "crowned" in places, giving camber to chassis, even if none existed. Then many places where they ride (gently) the curb to effectively give a positive camber effect to chassis and driver feel. The second type can give very unpredictable feeling to drivers, making repeated lines feel like they can't be trusted.

Trust disappearance usually means slower or crashing.

[SB15]

Mercedes one and only save-n-grace, is if they get the race pace in top order as well as taking advantage of the 2 stop strategy that catches everyone napping.

[venkyhere]

No, just no!

The W16 is not good in slow speed corners in comparison with the Ferrari and Mclaren. And in the 3rd sector, the tyres may not hold up in that sector.

Look I know Merc has been good in qualifying with Russell and that’s great. But qualifying well doesn’t mean you produce the adequate results when it matters and since it’s a 2 stop race, race pace is going to matter a lot more than you can determine.

That doesn't mean LeClerc won't be able to 'hustle' his car to a front/second row

Every session this is aging more and more worse as the weekend goes on.

Why am I the only one that's not surprised by the Mercedes pace?

They told many of us, time and time again that they struggle in the slow speed. I knew Monaco wasn't going to be good for them regardless because the characteristics of the car doesn't suit these types of tracks.

I am not surprised by the Mercedes struggle. They did some ambitious update with their suspension and front wing in Imola and it ate up the tyres. They have tried rolling it back to pre-Imola in Monaco, and it's not working out, considering the ride height has to be made super high. I think they are 'lost' a little bit.

As for LeClerc, yes I still believe the Ferrari is bad in the slow corners. But LeClerc has adapted a driving style with throttle-brake overlap where he intentionally rotates the car quickly via making it oversteer a little bit - may not work that well in the race. Let's see, we will have a complete picture at the end of Q3. Plus we should never discount LeClerc in Monaco - it's a track where he has always been 'unusually fast' since joining Ferrari in 2019.

PS : forgot to add - I reckon Ferrari have always been the team with the shortest gearing for the lower gears, ever since 2022 (or maybe from even before that) and that helps slow corner exits.

[ScuderiaLeo]

The C6 is an absolute joke of a tire.

[SB15]

The C6 is an absolute joke of a tire.

This maybe why Mercedes are struggling soo much. It can't get the tyres in a reasonable window especially if they're softer

[AR3-GP]

Leclerc pole. Topped every single session. It's not fuel, it's not engine mode. The rest will aim to be the car starting behind him.

[chrisc90]

Max going to run all 3 compounds it would appear.

[Vettel165]

I would just pit in lap 1 for new tyres, and then push like crazy in the race. The moment you reach the back of the field again you go for the fresh tyres and making that second pitstop. And always having clean air. You can make a lot of positions that way. The only problem of course if red flag or safety car comes.

[wickedz50]

I would just pit in lap 1 for new tyres, and then push like crazy in the race. The moment you reach the back of the field again you go for the fresh tyres and making that second pitstop. And always having clean air. You can make a lot of positions that way. The only problem of course if red flag or safety car comes.

This might work if you have a 1-2 in Qualy and after the either of them makes a pitstop on lap one and whoever stays out sacrifices his race to bunch up the field by going ultra slow, its a sacrifice. RBR has 3 cars to do it and am sure this can be a chance...wild guesses but lets see

[Waz]

Leclerc pole. Topped every single session. It's not fuel, it's not engine mode. The rest will aim to be the car starting behind him.

Charles is the Monaco specific update that Ferrari were referring to for the weekend. He's probably worth the equivalent of 50 points in down force

[Vettel165]

Leclerc will take that pole position most likely. He is the master of Monaco.

[chrisc90]

What’s the field spread like from top 2 after the first and second laps? Gap times.

[search]

What’s the field spread like from top 2 after the first and second laps? Gap times.

in 2023, the gap from 1st to last was ~15s after Lap 1 (and 2, disregarding those who pitted).