Mika Hakkinen: Monaco Grand Prix Preview

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Suddenly Max Verstappen’s domination of Formula 1 no longer looks as certain as it did at the beginning of the season. Although he is driving brilliantly and has won 5 of the first 7 races, we have seen two other teams win – Ferrari and McLaren – and the margin of Max’s victory over Lando Norris in Imola last Sunday was only 0.7 seconds.

McLaren and Ferrari have brought good upgrades and, while Red Bull is not relaxing either, it’s fantastic to see just how close the battle at the front has become. I think Max did a brilliant job to put his car on pole position last weekend, Red Bull having looked to be in trouble before that, but both the McLarens were less than a tenth of a second behind.

The question is whether McLaren and Ferrari can maintain the pressure on Red Bull. I think they can, there is a huge amount of work going into challenging the reigning World Champions, and there is also the factor that while Max is still producing the wins, team mate Checo Perez has had a couple of more difficult races recently, finishing 4th in Miami and 8th in Imola.

At this level of competition every team needs both drivers to be pushing to the maximum and supporting each other too. I believe McLaren has this with Lando and Oscar Piastri, Ferrari with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Oscar has been driving brilliantly and is one to watch this weekend, while Charles is of course racing in his home city and really wants to score the win.

Unless Max and Checo can lock out the front row, a two-car challenge from McLaren or Ferrari could put strategic pressure on Red Bull during the Grand Prix, and that opens up the options for someone else to score a win this weekend. It feels like there is a lot of momentum with my friends at McLaren, with Ferrari keen to join the party at the front.

Take Note

My McLaren team mate Ayrton Senna won the Monaco Grand Prix six times, he really loved the technical challenge of this tight street circuit, and it is nice to see that McLaren will be running a special livery this weekend in the yellow, green and blue colours of Ayrton’s helmet.

Winning in Monaco is a big ambition for any driver because everyone knows this is such a special event. Overtaking is difficult, almost impossible, but this gives Monaco a very different challenge – you are racing against yourself and the circuit. This is all about the driver and his car working to produce the best possible performance around 19 tight corners, on a narrow circuit which punishes you the moment you lose focus and make a mistake. The barriers are millimetres away.

One quarter of the drivers racing this weekend have won in Monaco before – Max, Checo, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso – so they already know how special it is to win here. The others want to experience that and, with the possibility of rain on Saturday, this is one race where unexpected things can happen. Qualifying could produce something quite different.

I won in Monaco in 1998, taking pole position and fastest lap in the process, so I can confirm it’s a special feeling. No surprise that Lando, Oscar, Charles and Carlos want to join the winner’s list!

Mika’s Tip

Watch qualifying! That’s where Sunday’s race will shape-up. If the rain arrives on Saturday, which is predicted, a wet or drying track could produce a really surprising grid. Once again this is not going to be an easy weekend for Max and Red Bull, the competition is pushing very hard. McLaren and Ferrari are going to challenge for pole position, but in tricky conditions look out for those two hugely experienced World Champions – Fernando and Lewis – who know how to get the most out of a car around these streets.