Although I have always looked forward to this race I think it should be much better than usual this year even if its dry. The primes and options are soft and for the first time super soft. Now we know these tyres degrade differently, they reach a certain point and the "drop off the cliff". We also know Monaco is a track easy to make mistakes at, wasn't it Prost who said "its like cycling around your living room" and the cars are certainly faster now than they were then. I think we may see a few cars end up in the barriers once theier tyres have "dropped off the cliff" all of a sudden especially as the charecsteristics of the super soft are unknown. Also I am not sure of how hard the track is on tyres but with continous turns, braking zones and acceleration zones + an abbrasive street road surface I would imagine its not easy on the tyres plus the extra sudden jolt of 80HP every now and agian will accelerate that. The diverse range of strategies this year should also spice things up nicely especially with the probability of multiple safety cars. The DRS maybe banned for Monaco: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90914 but may still go ahead, if so it will be interesting to see who is brave enough to keep DRS boosting in qualifying, especially if anyone gives a quick blast out of the tunnel. If it is kept where do you think the DRS zone should be? Personally I'd like it on the run up the hill to casino square. If it is dry do you think we will get a procession or an improvement to what we have seen there in the past?
I agree they should have the DRS on the run up the hill after the first corner. Would be a shame to see it go away for a race.
or the tunnel? the hill is a bit too bendy, the tunnel is about the only place you can overtake (if at all). Tyres and DRS are defo gonna make it far less the snoozefest it usually is, tbh I don't watch Monaco unless it's raining, I think I will this year.
KERs and DRS make overtaking at the tunnel exit possible it's true, but you will need some balls, the tunnel exit into the chicane has seen lots of grief and wrecked machinery over the years.
As I understand it the drivers need full downforce while they are in the tunnel and if they go even a bit of the racing line they slide into the bariers. In fact didn't that happen to Hulkenberg last year or was that a reliability issue in the end? They could do a quick blast of DRS out of the tunnel but not for long, not long enough for an overtake I don't think but perhaps for a a crucial tenth in qualifying if some rivals aren't feeling too brave? Hmm Im not sure about the hill I don't think it bends to the point of them needing full dowmforce does it?
Could the ban of the DRS mean Mclaren will be on top? I read that the redbull is more effective with the DRS because they have a different style to Mclarens rear wing. Im loving this season already.
I don't it would be safe to use the DRS in the Monaco race. It can't be used in the tunnel, because as sea-man points out, they need the downforce there. Alonso went off line through the tunnel in 2004 and hit the barriers. I know theres more downforce on the 2011 cars, but the marbles off line will make it dangerous. It could be used on the pit straight, but it's likely to produce little effect there, and just cause a lot of safety concerns. Excluding the race, I think the device will be dangerous to use in Practice and qualifying. Some driver might be brave and pay for it. I don't think it's right to take that risk. Finally, theres the DRS malfunction that we saw in China - the FIA are investigating it, but still have not found out why it opened. If somebody's DRS randomly opens in one of the corners, they are ****ed! The only sensible option is to ban the DRS in Monaco.
The tunnel is a proper corner, it's flat out like Eau Rouge or 130R, you don't really want to be losing downforce through there. Rivage would be the most advantageous in terms of a speed boost but you can't really overtake through Massenet (although I think Raikkonen went round the outside of Webber up the hill a few years ago). I think the pit straight would be the best place, it's not really long but at least they can have a stab under braking into the first corner.
I think the difficulty in overtaking might make racing more interesting with this one, seeing as the tyre degradation means drivers will frequently get stuck behind someone on older rubber. With that, maybe KERS is enough to edge it in the right places. DRS in the race could go badly, but if allowed in quali could give a really mixed up grid. If one of the front runners screws up using DRS in Q1 or 2, we could see a right mix up, as always this season, it could be interesting. Theres no obvious place for DRS though.
Abandon DRS - and I wish KERS too. Now what we need is tyre degradation !!! Its 78 laps - so Pirelli must make sure they will wear. Ideally strategies of 3 or 4 stops ie 19 or 15 laps per set. This could make the race a lot of fun right to the end. Cars rearranging the barriers will mean Safety Car out too.
The marbles will mean that if you go off line in the last third of the race your a goner. This could result to a rather stop start end of the gp with several competitors leaving the race via a barrier.
Out of all the races I think Monaco will be the hardest to use DRS... one little mistake and your in the barriers (in qualifying)
I imagine the loss in downforce and drag due to DRS will be far more than in other races due to the massive rear downforce they run at Monaco. This could be a big gain for the bravest
