F1 LIVE | Second free practice session for the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix

Live blog of FP2 of the GP of Monaco

Whereas the race weekend normally takes place on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, Formula 1 decided to move the first two practice sessions to Friday this season. It means that in 2022 the racing teams will have less time to think about the details of their cars and will therefore have to deliver faster.

Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, who crashed during qualifying last season, are the favourites in Monaco to win the race. For that, however, both drivers need a good qualifying session, as the circuit has historically made it difficult to make overtakes during the race.

The Dutchman, who holds a six-point lead over Leclerc in the world championship, also faces competition from Mercedes. The German racing team performed well in Spain and seems to have a good chance in Monaco. McLaren would also like to compete at the front, but the formation still seems to need time.

 

 

 

 

 

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Overtaking around Monaco 

Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix is notoriously known as the most important Saturday session of the entire year. Though that point isn't exactly true when looking at the data. It wasn't the case last time out in Spain but pole position in Barcelona as won an incredible 72% of races. Monaco is still high for Formula 1, but way down in comparison at 45%. Since 2015, pole position has won twice at Monaco. Prior to that, there was a six-race run of the pole-sitter also taking the victory on Sunday. 

However, in the last four Monaco Grands Prix, there have been less than 10 on track overtakes combined. So what happened to the pole-sitter? In 2021, Leclerc secured pole position but crashed on the way back to the garage. Ferrari thought they had solved the problem, but on the way to the grid Leclerc broke down. There was no Grand Prix in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2017, 2016 and 2015 the race-winning move occurred in the pitlane. 

The pressure on the pit crew in Monaco is immense. The undercut is extremely powerful, and any mistake in the pitlane is, therefore, more costly. Mercedes estimate the drive-through time at 19.4 seconds. Against fresh tyres, that's difficult to combat. With the safety car probability at 60%, teams also have to be quick on the button to react and bring their driver in for an advantageous pitstop. 

Our indications suggest that Ferrari will be on top, with Mercedes and Red Bull battling for the second row. Perhaps Valtteri Bottas can spring a surprise. Though we know, one small mistake in Monaco creates huge changes.