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 ».