Monaco Grand Prix overshadowed by death of F1 great Lauda
DPA
THE battle for crucial points in the Formula One drivers’ and constructors’ championships takes to the streets of Monte Carlo on Sunday in the shadow of Austrian great Niki Lauda’s death this week.
The three-time world champion Lauda died on Monday aged 70, sparking an immediate flow of tributes from within the sport. That will continue at the Monaco Grand Prix, a race he won twice himself.
“My buddy, I am struggling to believe you are gone. I will miss our conversations, our laughs, the big hugs after winning races together,” world champion Lewis Hamilton wrote on social media.
“It’s truly been an honour working alongside you over these past 7 years. I wouldn’t have even been in this team if it wasn’t for you.
God rest your soul. Thank you for being a bright light in my life.” Lauda, as non-executive chairman of Mercedes, was considered key to bringing Hamilton to the team with whom he won four of his five world titles.
And Hamilton is currently on track to make it six overall as Mercedes have made a blistering start to the campaign, finishing one-two in each of the five races so far.
“This is history in the making to have five one-twos,” Hamilton said.
“I’m proud of that and proud of everyone’s hard work.” With three victories, Hamilton leads the standings by seven points from teammate Valtteri Bottas with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen currently a distant third.
That a Red Bull driver is the closest challenger is something of a surprise given Ferrari’s superb showing in pre-season testing but the Scuderia have rarely been able to find the sweet spot for their car in races. Only in Bahrain have things gone right and even then Charles Leclerc was denied a maiden win by a late technical failure.
The 21-year-old Monegasque will literally be racing round his own streets and, after previously competing with Sauber, has a feasible chance to become just the second hometown winner of the race and first in the world championship era.
Uniquely practice starts on Thursday with Friday a rest day before qualifying Saturday.
Leclerc’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel, however, warned after the last race in Spain that the tight Monaco street circuit might not suit their car.
“It will be difficult for us because we are losing time in low-speed corners, we are struggling with those type of corners to put enough grip into the tyre and Monaco is all about that,” Vettel said.
Difficulty in overtaking means grid position is everything in Monaco and Daniel Ricciardo guided his Red Bull to victory last season even with a failing power unit.
Ricciardo, now with Renault, has endured a miserable start to the season with his new team but will hope to claim just his second points finish of the campaign.
Veteran Kimi Raikkonen will also aim for something to celebrate with Alfa Romeo in what will be his 300th career race - even if the landmark does not mean much to him.
“Everyone is talking about my 300th race, but I’m more interested in our performance,” he told the team webpage. “The test in Barcelona (after the Spanish Grand Prix) was important for us to understand our problems better, but I honestly don’t know how good our car fits to the street course in Monaco.”