As Formula 1 rolls into its most famous race location, there is a new name on top of the driver's standings.
Ferrari and Charles Leclerc will be hoping that there is no such thing as a curse, as the Monegasque needs to regain some momentum in the championship standings on his home turf. His string of unfortunate finishes on home turf is well-known in the Formula 1 space, and includes five consecutive DNF's dating back to his time as a driver in F2.
For the first time following a race this season, Leclerc is not atop the drivers' standings. Max Verstappen of Red Bull complained about his failing DRS system at the Spanish Grand Prix, but still managed to score a strong victory. His teammate, Sergio Perez, was understandably frustrated in being asked to let Verstappen through in Spain. The pair have put their team ahead of Ferrari now by a margin of 26 points.
Mercedes seems to have finally found a competitive pace, with drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both finishing in the top five in Spain, and nearly taking the third and fourth spots before cooling issues forced Hamilton to ease his pace in the final laps.
Lando Norris continues his strong season in the McLaren and finds himself 7th in the standings, while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo continues to struggle and has no scored a point since his home race in Australia.
The new regulations this year gave teams a chance to advance themselves within a field that had become stagnant in recent years, and this has created a fascinating midfield battle. Below the Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes cars which occupy the top six driver spots in the standings, five different teams occupy the next five spots. Norris, Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda rank 7th through 11th for McLaren, Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Haas and Alphatauri respectively.
Monaco is F1's most famous race, but not known as a great site for overtaking. The new regulations aren't expected to change that, but the 30-50% chance of rain on race day just might.
Give us your thoughts on this year's Monaco race, or anything else relating to F1 so far this season in the comments below.
Ferrari and Charles Leclerc will be hoping that there is no such thing as a curse, as the Monegasque needs to regain some momentum in the championship standings on his home turf. His string of unfortunate finishes on home turf is well-known in the Formula 1 space, and includes five consecutive DNF's dating back to his time as a driver in F2.
For the first time following a race this season, Leclerc is not atop the drivers' standings. Max Verstappen of Red Bull complained about his failing DRS system at the Spanish Grand Prix, but still managed to score a strong victory. His teammate, Sergio Perez, was understandably frustrated in being asked to let Verstappen through in Spain. The pair have put their team ahead of Ferrari now by a margin of 26 points.
Mercedes seems to have finally found a competitive pace, with drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both finishing in the top five in Spain, and nearly taking the third and fourth spots before cooling issues forced Hamilton to ease his pace in the final laps.
Lando Norris continues his strong season in the McLaren and finds himself 7th in the standings, while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo continues to struggle and has no scored a point since his home race in Australia.
The new regulations this year gave teams a chance to advance themselves within a field that had become stagnant in recent years, and this has created a fascinating midfield battle. Below the Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes cars which occupy the top six driver spots in the standings, five different teams occupy the next five spots. Norris, Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda rank 7th through 11th for McLaren, Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Haas and Alphatauri respectively.
Monaco is F1's most famous race, but not known as a great site for overtaking. The new regulations aren't expected to change that, but the 30-50% chance of rain on race day just might.
Give us your thoughts on this year's Monaco race, or anything else relating to F1 so far this season in the comments below.
