Lando Norris hasn’t had a pole position or a grand prix victory since the season-opening race in Australia.
He’s back at the sharp end of the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix – but a rules change means that may not prove the ticket to victory it has in the past.
Here’s your strategy dashboard for Sunday’s 78 laps of Monte-Carlo.
Weather
The warm and dry conditions in Monaco are expected to remain for another day. However Sunday will be somewhat cloudier, which may help keep track temperatures down.
Start
The run to the first corner in Monaco is short, narrow and curved. The pole-winner has a very good chance of making it to turn one in the lead.
Distance from pole position to first braking zone. Source: Mercedes
Assuming that happens, how Lando Norris chooses to position his car could have a significant bearing on who emerges in second place. He has Charles Leclerc alongside him on the outside and team mate Oscar Piastri immediately behind him in third place.
Last year Piastri started on the outside and had to fend off a bold attack from Carlos Sainz Jnr, which left the Ferrari driver with a puncture. This year Piastri’s best chance of getting past Leclerc could come at the start.
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Strategy
Teams will have to rethink their tactics for the race as Formula 1 has introduced new regulations for the Monaco Grand Prix requiring them to use three sets of tyres instead of the usual two. The full details of the rule changes, the effects they could have on strategy and the possibility teams may exploit the new rules were covered in detail here earlier:
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Last year drivers chose the following compounds to start the race on:
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Tyre compound |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Medium |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | Medium |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | Medium |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | Medium |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | Hard |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | Hard |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Hard |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | Medium |
| 9 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | Medium |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | Hard |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | Hard |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB-Honda RBPT | Medium |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | Hard |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | Hard |
| 15 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | Hard |
| 16 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | Hard |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber-Ferrari | Hard |
| 18 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber-Ferrari | Medium |
| 19 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | Medium |
| 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | Hard |
The drivers have the following sets of dry weather tyres available for the grand prix:
| Tyres available for the race | Hard | Medium | Soft | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | New | Used | New | Used | New | Used |
| Lando Norris | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Charles Leclerc | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Oscar Piastri | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Max Verstappen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Isack Hadjar | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Fernando Alonso | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Esteban Ocon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Liam Lawson | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Alexander Albon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| George Russell | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Gabriel Bortoleto | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Oliver Bearman | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Pierre Gasly | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Lance Stroll | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Franco Colapinto | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
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Overtaking
Passing is, of course, extremely difficult in Monaco. The new rules introduced for this year may lead to more situations where we see drivers on fresh tyres being held up by rivals tactically reducing their speed to help a team mate. But as we’ve seen many times in the past, drivers can lap far below the maximum pace in Monaco without any danger of being passed.
The stewards have already dished out one penalty point for a collision this weekend.
Speed trap
| P. | # | Driver | Car | Engine | Model | Max kph (mph) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | Mercedes | FW47 | 282.8 (175.7) |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Ferrari | SF-25 | 282.7 (175.7) |
| 3 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | Ferrari | C45 | 282.7 (175.7) |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | Ferrari | SF-25 | 282.7 (175.7) |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | Mercedes | W16 | 282.2 (175.4) |
| 6 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | Ferrari | VF-25 | 282.1 (175.3) |
| 7 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | Ferrari | VF-25 | 281.9 (175.2) |
| 8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | Mercedes | AMR25 | 281.9 (175.2) |
| 9 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | Mercedes | MCL39 | 281.6 (175.0) |
| 10 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | Mercedes | W16 | 281.6 (175.0) |
| 11 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | Honda RBPT | 02 | 281.5 (174.9) |
| 12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Renault | A525 | 281.4 (174.9) |
| 13 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | Mercedes | AMR25 | 281.3 (174.8) |
| 14 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | Honda RBPT | 02 | 281.1 (174.7) |
| 15 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | Mercedes | MCL39 | 280.7 (174.4) |
| 16 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | Honda RBPT | RB21 | 280.7 (174.4) |
| 17 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Honda RBPT | RB21 | 280.6 (174.4) |
| 18 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | Ferrari | C45 | 280.3 (174.2) |
| 19 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams | Mercedes | FW47 | 280.1 (174.0) |
| 20 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | Renault | A525 | 279.9 (173.9) |
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Safety Cars
The possibility of a Safety Car, Virtual Safety Car or red flag in the race could have a significant bearing on the race, as many teams will be holding out for one in the hope of making a low-cost pit stop.
Last year a first-lap red flag allowed every driver to complete their mandatory tyre change immediately. But with two tyre changes now required, it would take two red flags to achieve that.
Grid
The grid for this year’s race is as follows. Any changes between now and the start of the race will be added here:
Championship implications
If the drivers finish where they start, Norris will slash Piastri’s points lead from 13 points to just three. Fernando Alonso and Liam Lawson are also poised to claim their first points of the season.
Over to you
How do you think teams will handle the unique rules for this weekend’s race? Share your views on the Monaco Grand Prix in the comments.
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