Merc face uphill task in Monaco

Monaco, May 21: After dominating the first five races of the Formula One season, with four successive one- two finishes, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg may not have it all their own way on the streets of Monaco on Sunday.

If the sound of Mercedes’ rivals clutching at straws has become more audible, unlike the cars, a flutter on a different winner could still be a better bet than many placed in the imposing casino this weekend.

“I think Monte Carlo will be one of the few opportunities to challenge Mercedes, especially for Red Bull,” Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso told reporters after Spain where Hamilton chalked up his fourth win in a row for the German manufacturer with team mate Rosberg second.

“On the corners they ( Red Bull) are very fast and on the straights they seem to lose a lot of lap time. In Monte Carlo there are no straights so maybe Red Bull could challenge Mercedes there. We’ll see,” said Alonso.

Alonso has won twice in Monaco, once for Renault and once for McLaren, and would become the first to win the most glamorous race on the calendar with three separate teams.

Monaco, with its narrow streets ringed by unforgiving metal fences, may be a processional race with lit- tle overtaking but it can never be predictable. The fickle weather, and the ever- present risk of safety cars and collisions, sees to that. However Ferrari, the most glamorous team, have not threaded their way to victory in the year’s most alluring race since Michael Schumacher’s triumph in 2001.

Red Bull, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo and quadruple champion Sebastian Vettel third and fourth at the previous race in Spain, look to be picking up speed. “They are still the benchmark,” recognised Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff.

“The power unit ( in Monaco) is not so important. Monaco is always different and I guess there is a team that has clearly an advantage at the moment and probably on a street circuit like Monaco everything can be different,” he said.