Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Nelson Piquet once said driving at Monaco is like "riding a bicycle around your living room", and with the cars now wider and more powerful than recent seasons this year could be the trickiest for quite a while...
Round five of the 2017 Formula One season could well prove to be a critical moment for the pacesetting Mercedes and Ferrari teams, with Hamilton looking to wrestle back the momentum in the title fight and former four time World Champion Sebastien Vettel hopeful his Prancing Horse can maintain the rate of development needed to stay atop the championship standings.
Monaco is something rather special in Formula One terms and is often regarded as the jewel in the crown of the Formula One calendar. A place to see and be seen and regarded as one of the last true drivers circuits in Grand Prix racing, a victory at Monaco is one of the most precious trophies a driver can have on his racing CV.
Due to the tight and twisty nature of the circuit the traditional power advantage enjoyed by the Mercedes team should be less apparent here, giving outside bet team Redbull one of their best opportunities of the year to record a strong result. Former winner Daniel Riccardo should again show strongly and Max Verstappen will be keen to make up for a less than auspitious showing during the last running of the race around the principality.
Another interesting feature of the race will be the return of 2009 title winner Jenson Button, as the popular British driver stands in for Indy bound Fernando Alonso at McLaren Honda. Will Button be able to pick up where he left off in 2016, or will the Frome Flyer find himself struggling to adapt to a car and regulation set he has yet to sample in anger out on the track?
Whatever happens Monaco is always spectacular. 2017 looks like it should be no different this time around....
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Looking forward to Monaco? Who do you think will win? Can Button perform with so little time in the car? Let us know in the comments section below!
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