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Frenchman Hadrien David clocked the best time in the free practice session for Formula Regional by Alpine, early on Thursday morning, aboard his 280hp and 665- kilos (driver included) single-seater powered by a Renault engine. A member of R-Ace Racing, the Junior Team for ART Grand Prix, the Royan-native is only 17 and won the title last year in the French Formula 4 Championship.
It was his first outing in the streets of the Principality and he was very impressive, his best lap in 1 :30.202. This proved two tenths of a second better than Britain’s Alex Quinn (Arden Motorsport) and half a second quicker than Italy’s Gabriele Mini (ART Grand Prix). And this time is equivalent to the best times for F1s of the 70s which raced here during Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, at the end of April. This is very promising in the perspective of the one and only qualifying session, early Friday morning, and for both races scheduled this weekend, Saturday (10 :15) and Sunday morning (12 :00).
Follow the 78th edition of the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco throughout the week-end on CANAL+ with an exclusive program.
The young F1 driver retired, Romain Grosjean, will start its new career of TV Consultant with Canal Plus this week-end.
You will have also the possibility to watch all live the F1 sessions on Monaco Info, and also the Porsche Supercup Race and the Lap Tour of the Princely Couple from 14:10 on Sunday 23rd .
Find all the TV Broadcast Coverage by countries on the following link: https://www.formula1.com/en/toolbar/broadcast-information.html
A few weeks before Monaco Grand Prix, the Monaco-born Scuderia Ferrari driver talked to the Monégasque media about his home race. He is more confident than ever about this 78th edition because he knows the track by heart and because his Ferrari, this year, is much better than the one he drove last year. So who knows what can happen this weekend in the streets of the Principality ?
You have never completed a Monaco Grand Prix since the start of your single-seater career. Do you feel like you are cursed here?
No, I don’t believe in curses (he laughs). These are things that happen, it’s bad luck and unfortunately it happened to me the last few times. However, before single-seaters, I won here in go-karts (he smiles). I will do everything to get the best possible result this year.
What is your favourite turn on the track?
The S at the swimming-pool because we go through that portion at incredible speeds being very close to the barriers; we have no room for mistakes. That’s what I like the most. I also have fond memories at the pool with friends when we were younger.
What is the main improvement of the SF21 compared to the SF1000?
It’s hard to say, it’s a new car so there are lots of differences… The car’s balance has been improved, so it is easier to drive. There was no revolution on the car between 2020 and 2021, it is more of an evolution. 2020 has been a really tough year, although I’ve learned a lot, especially from my mistakes.
Carlos Sainz Jr. replaced Sebastian Vettel as your teammate. How would you describe your relationship with him?
Everything is going well between us. I have never spent as much time with a teammate as I have with Carlos before. We get along well because we are almost the same age, we are at the same point in our career and we also have a lot of common interests such as padel tennis, golf or chess…
And at work?
We work well together and expect the same from the car, which is very important. We have the same desire to bring Ferrari back to winning ways. There is a lot of motivation and I’m sure we will push each other on the track for better results.
Do you feel like you’ve changed status within the team?
Not really. Even though I’ve turned from being the least experienced driver in the team to the one who knows the Scuderia best, Carlos has been in F1 for more years than me. My goal remains the same: to give my maximum every time I am in the car.
© Olivier Caenen
F1 is back in Monaco after two years of absence…
I’m so happy to be able to race at home again, I can’t wait. The Monaco Grand Prix is necessarily very special to me, it was always a dream to take part in this race. The cancellation was hard to accept last year, but fortunately the ACM was able to find solutions for this year.
As a Monegasque, you are in great demand here. Is it a more tiring weekend than the others?
Yes, in Monaco and Italy, it’s always very demanding and it’s not easy to manage. But I’m not complaining, it’s better that way than the other. It’s always very special to be in Monaco and I feel it every time.
What’s your opinion on Monaco marshals ?
They do an exceptional job and without them the Grand Prix could not take place. Coming to F1, I found out about them and realised how well prepared they are here. Even if throughout the season marshals on other circuits are well-trained, Monaco marshals are still a step above. They are really impressive and they play a major role for us and our safety.
© wri2.net – Jean-François Galeron
This is an historical date for Williams Formula 1 Team: this Monaco Grand Prix will be the 750th in the history of the squad founded in 1975 by by Sir Frank and his partner in crime, Sir Patrick Head. This accounts for races entered by Frank Williams Racing Cars in 1975, then Williams Grand Prix Engineering from 1978, but without including the time in 1976 when the Williams FW 05 cars driven by Jacky Ickx, Michel Leclère and Arturo Merzario carried the banner of Walter Wolf Racing, founded by the Canadian billionaire.
Then Williams won 9 Constructors world titles, 7 Drivers crowns, 114 F1 races, and the Didcot started going down, until it was bought out last year by an American investment fund. The staff has changed, the Williams family has retired, but the name stays and high ambitions are set by the new owners.
In order to make this 750th GP memorable, the very talented George Russell, who had subbed for Lewis Hamilton at Sakhir GP, last November, in a Mercedes, will carry a special helmet. And he has another idea to celebrate the occasion : getting into Q2 on Saturday afternoon. This would be quite an achievement !
Two World Champions, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, discussed the glorious history of Formula 1 on the eve of the first free practice sessions for Monaco Grand Prix 2021. The oldest of the two, the Spaniard, has been crowned twice (2005, 2006) with Renault F1. He now drives a blue Alpine, ha has already won in Monaco (2006, 2007), each time starting in pole, and he also won Le Mans 24 Hours for Toyota, but not yet at Indy 500. His experience his immense and he believes that the races of our times will be appreciated, in 20 or 30 years time, just as much as the 70s races are lauded today by nostalgic fans who miss the fights between Lotus, Ferrari, Tyrrell, Williams and McLaren.
© Olivier Caenen
« I don’t think we can compare cars and years, championships and driving styles », Alonso said on Wednesday. « I think that in those years, it was amazing to drive these cars in Monaco. I can only imagine how hard it was, and how tricky it was at the same time. Now we have cars that go 15 or 20 seconds faster per lap. But the challenge is still the same and you have to maximise the package that you have in your hands. It doesn’t matter if you’re running in 1’30s or in 1’10s, at the end of the day it is the same spirit that has to go into the driving. So I respect a lot what the F1 drivers of the past achieved, and how they were able to drive those cars. And now I think it will be the same respect in 20 or 30 years’ time when fans watch the races that we are doing now.”
A Monaco resident, Hamilton already won three times in the streets of the Principality, for McLaren (2008) and Mercedes (2016, 2019). He is still very excited by this very special track, after all these years : « Just driving the track, in practice or in the race, going through the tunnel, up into Casino, the whole experience for the weekend is mesmerising. And that never changes. The feeling of winning here is never any less. Every year is unique and special if you are lucky enough to get the opportunity », he adds. By the way, in his own match against Alonso, with regards to Monaco wins, Sir Lewis is leading 3-2…
Defending Formula E champion Antonio Félix da Costa (DS Techeetah) won his first race of the season, in style, at the end of a superb race in the streets of Monaco, on Saturday afternoon. The Portuguese started on pole for this 4th Monaco E-Prix, but he had to resist a serious customer in the person of Robin Frijns (Virgin), who led the race two or three times and eventually finished in 2nd position, thanks to a lack of power on Mitch Evans’s Jaguar in the last lap.
The Kiwi finished the race with 0% power in his batteries but could still climb on the podium with da Costa and Frijns, where all three drivers were congratulated by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and FIA president Jean Todt, fully equipped with masks and white gloves.
This is the 2nd win for DS Techeetah this season, after Jean-Eric Vergne’s masterful display in Race 1 in Rome. « JEV », the winner in 2019 here and double Formula E FIA champion, managed to finish 4th, the same place as on the grid, after an eventful race which saw him miss the first pass at Casino for catching the Attack Mode. The best move of the day was definitely an audacious overtaking manœuvre by Evans on da Costa at the end of the Beau Rivage uphill portion, in a very spectacular location, just before the Casino curve.
This is the 4th time, out of 4 Formula E races in Monaco, that the poleman wins at the end, but this time the scenario was perfectly written and suspense was maintained until the chequered flag. It was only interrupted for a few minutes when the one and only Safety Car period allowed all drivers to cool down, less than 15 minutes before the end, following the Mini Electric. The two leaders of the World Championship, Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes), ended a terrible Saturday in respectively 20th and 22nd positions. But they remain at the top of the FE standings, ahead of Frijns, the Virgin driver, Bird and Evans, the Jaguar drivers.
Final result (provisional) :
The title holder in Monaco, for Formula E, is Jean-Eric Vergne, the double FIA champion (2018-2019) in the most innovative category of world motorsport. He is « very happy to be back in Monaco, especially on the full F1 layout. The one that we used before was becoming too small for FE, with 24 cars,and I think that it was the right decision ». Just like Seb Buemi and Stoffel Vandoorne, the DS Techeetah driver has already raced around the F1 track in Monaco, during his Toro Rosso years (2012-2014). « Only the chicane will be a tiny bit different », he says, and he is not worried that there is no shakedown on Friday : « The shakedown is more for the teams, to check that everything is OK, but for us it’s not with full power, so it’s less interesting ».
JEV won Race 1 in Rome, so he has a few points behind his belt, but he is « not happy about where we want to be. But we had a win, and we are not very far away from the leaders, so I know that one day I can catch up. We focused too much on the software and not enough on the chassis, so we had some issues at the beginning of the season. We are back to basics, in order to have a good car to drive, and to deliver. We know how to win races, Monaco is happening at half-season and then we have a month and a half break to prepare the end of the season ».
Driving on the longer F1 track will make a difference : « I think that we will able to overtake at Mirabeau and at the exit of the tunnel, and sometimes at La Rascasse, but probably not at the hairpin : in F1, when someone dives on the inside there, he is likely to lose a position, or the race », JEV smiles.
Mercedes driver Stoffel Vandoorne plays at home in Monaco, where he lives. The former McLaren F1 driver, who won here in GP2 in 2015, « without starting from pole », he remembers, will be one of the major contenders for a win on Saturday, in a German team which has impressed a lot this season : « We have been every competitive at every track, we won at every event », the Belgian driver underlines. His Dutch team-mate Nyck de Vries is leading the World Championship, with 57 points, and he has already collected 48, so the title chase is more than open between both Mercedes EQ drivers.
« There will be more overtaking opportunities on the longer F1 track », Vandoorne predicts, and this will allow FE drivers « to show that it is possible to overtake in Monaco, especially with the energy save that we do. We want to put on a good show, and it will be interesting to see how our car performs here ». With McLaren F1, Vandoorne came here twice, in 2017 and 2018, but experienced frustrating weekends. He is much more hopeful about this FE race, although « Group 1 in Qualifications will be challenging », he reckons. « We need to maximize the opportunities, to stay out of trouble. I love this track, I sleep in my own bed, it’s a bit strange, but I don’t want to be too comfortable ».
He may be a rookie this year in FE, but Norman Nato, the 28-year-old from Antibes, has already accumulated huge experience in motorsport, mostly in single-seaters and endurance. He should have climbed on the podium twice already this season, after superb races in front, but each time he suffered a penalty which wasted his results. However, he is happy and confident before the home race for Venturi Racing, the one and only Monégasque racing team at international level, as Team Principal Susie Wolff pointed out on Friday.
©ACM / Folleté
« To drive in Monaco is a dream when you are a kid, even if you drive a go-kart, as I did when I won the Monaco Kart Cup (in 2010) », Norman said on Friday, in the press conference before the Monaco EPrix. « It’s great to be back in Monaco, in a Formula E, for our home race, and it’s definitely a special moment in our season. It was frustrating to lose two podiums in six races, but it’s better to finish twice in a podium position, as a rookie, than finishing 9th with a few points. I had to change my mindset over the winter, in order to be more aggressive, and it worked. We have a good car, I am improving my energy management, and I will keep pushing for podiums », Norman added. And you can be sure that he will try his best to make Susie Wolff happy, come Saturday.
Sébastien Buemi has already been crowned FIA Formula E Champion, in 2016, then Endurance World Champion and he also won the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours. He is one of the very best FE drivers and he won two E-Prix out of three in Monaco (2016, 2017), so that he is in a perfect position to judge the interest of using the F1 track here : « I love it even better since I had to use the small track the past three times. It was not adapted any more to the field of 24 cars that we now have in FE, it was mission impossible on a 48-second lap. With our Gen 2 car, we expect to lap this year in 1 :30 approximately, which is not bad for an electric car ».
The Swiss driver is the king of FE qualifications, the one who clocked the greatest number of pole positions since the launching of the series. He loves qualifying because « we are able to use 250 kW, this amounts to 25% extra power compared to race mode. Here, I expect to reach 235 km/h at the tunnel exit. This is a big +step+ compared to race mode, when we have to take great care of the available amount of energy ».
Just like Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne, Buemi raced in Monaco aboard a F1 car, but « whether you have raced here in F3, F2 or F1, it does not change much of anything, and there is no FE driver who will discover the track this weekend », the Swiss driver adds. He is the favourite driver for Japanese car manufacturers, since he races for Nissan in FE, Toyota in endurance, and he is still a reserve driver for Red Bull-Honda.
Buemi is not happy about his season start, but he remains hopeful : « We had an extremely complicated start, but we have explanations. We had the old PowerTrain and here we can use the new one, for the first time. This does not mean that we are going to win races, but it will definitely help. The car is now homologated until the end of Season 8, at the end of the +Gen 2+ era, so we had to be cautious. I hit a wall in Ryadh, I took a penalty in Rome, I was hit at the back by Lotterer in Valencia, we have not reached the level of performance that we expected », he adds.
Based on his experience of FE, Le Mans 24 Hours winner judges that the level of competition has been raised since Porsche and Mercedes joined, and also « because the rules have been stable for a few years, which makes a big difference. Mercedes has an edge, they won three races out of six this year, and they are always at the front. This is not a series that you can dominate, because of the qualification groups, and because the levels of performance are very close, but they definitely have an edge ».
Last but not least, Buemi thinks that « there is a level of impredictability in this championship that is a bit too extreme now. There is no more logic. When I go back to endurance racing, I find a general frame which varies less, with a similar level of performance from one weekend to the other… »
