New cars a bigger challenge at Monaco – Grosjean

2014 Monaco Grand Prix

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Romain Grosjean believes the new generation of Formula One cars will be particularly tricky to drive at Monaco in next week’s grand prix.

“It will be a challenge,” said Grosjean ahead of the race. “There will be less grip than in the past, so we will have to be careful with the right foot.”

However he expects the track will be less demanding from a point of view of fuel consumption.

“In terms of mapping, torque, energy and fuel saving I actually think it will be easier than most tracks because the race distance is shorter so we shouldn’t have to worry too much.

“Of course we’ll need the best drivability possible around the tricky sections, but the most important thing in Monaco is to trust your car and have confidence in it.”

Having scored Lotus’s first points of the season in Spain on Sunday, Grosjean has mixed views on how competitive their car will be at the next race.

“The emphasis at Monaco is on low speed corners, which is not our greatest strength,” he admitted, “but the team worked with Monaco in mind during the Barcelona test”.

“Bumpy straights and a low grip surface are the other main Monaco characteristics and how well you adapt to them can make or break your weekend. We’ll do our best with set-up and of course Monaco is less engine dependent than most circuits, which is better for us.

“It was nice not only to score points in Barcelona, but also to be fifth on the grid in qualifying – if we can do that again in Monaco it’ll be very good for us.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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26 comments on “New cars a bigger challenge at Monaco – Grosjean”

  1. I’m psyched about the Maldonado show in Monaco. Can’t wait.

    1. He’ll break record and else surely.
      I’m picturing F1F fact & stat ‘Life Achievement Award’ decade from now…

    2. I bet he’s sharpening the nose of that Lotus as we speak.

      1. He is mentally calculating the start …

    3. Romain has good memories of Monaco GP as well as Daniel B-)

  2. Aqib (@aqibqadeer)
    16th May 2014, 15:32

    new cars are a bigger challenge at any circuit this year but i agree the the challenge would be much bigger for the drivers at monaco

    1. Yep. Imagine that backend braking loose when you hit the gas and you’ll be buying a guard rail!!!

  3. remember grosjeans really bad weekend at monaco last year? expect it to happen again, only to his teammate this time.

    1. Dion (@infinitygc)
      16th May 2014, 17:22

      @rigi Seeing how twitchy the Williams’ are on the rear, I suspect Massa will end up in the wall at some point.

      1. Adam (@akitch1275)
        16th May 2014, 21:45

        The Ferraris seemed the twitchiest of the lot though, even with two star drivers behind the wheels.

        1. Dion (@infinitygc)
          16th May 2014, 22:48

          Who’d you reckon will put it in the wall the most?

      2. Not to mention Massa hit the turn 1 two (or was it three?) times last year.

        1. Once in practice and once in quali, I think… That makes it two.

          1. Dion (@infinitygc)
            17th May 2014, 10:14

            He also did during the race.

  4. So happy that the new cars and a more conservative tyre philosophy is going to allow the them to push, make mistakes, have oversteer moments, etc…

    This is what the voices against the tyre conservation series of 2012 and 2013 were all going on about when Rosberg won at Monaco last year in ridiculous fashion and Hamilton bemoaned that he couldn’t drive any slower.

    It’s great to be talking about the challenge of driving fast cars fast again. Happy.

    1. @john-h Agreed, this is proper racing.

    2. exactly that @john-h, refreshing to see this back.

    3. Yeah no cheese tyres anymore and difficult cars :D . This is what f1 needed . Hope the cars close up a little more in 2015.

    4. They may be pushing but that doesn’t mean they’re driving fast cars quickly, far from it. Last year they eeked performance out of tyres without pushing them (enough to stop anyone getting by at least) and this year they’ll have so much oversteer on corner exit they won’t be going as close to the walls for fear of losing the rear so they may be pushing the tyres for grip but it won’t be fast.

      1. I refer to the US GP last year after Pirelli had changed the construction and went conservative with the compound. Drivers were pushing and slipping an sliding (due to the green track) and it was excellent.

        Now, we don’t need a green track to get the same effect because drivers are just struggling to get a handle on their cars (which is a good thing), and the tyres won’t just crumble immediately if they do lose the back end. They will still have to push and find the appropriate limit of the car (Mercedes drivers included) – that’s where the skill is involved. And if they do slide or lock-up, sure the tyres will wear, but they won’t require an immediate pit stop like we saw this time last year.

        I agree though they won’t be going as close to the walls, but then again the ones that go closest and don’t hit them will probably be the fastest. That’s different to last year and that’s why I’m happy :)

  5. Hopefully, it will be a very exciting race. :)

  6. I have a feeling this will be the most exciting Monaco race in years….fingers crossed!

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      17th May 2014, 0:07

      mmm, @wesley, I doubt it. As far as I know the Mercedes will fade in the horizon fast as the last races. Ham for the win again, and again and again.

      1. I think Rosberg won’t be going away any time soon, so I don’t see one driver winning again and again. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rosberg is favourite for this race actually.

        This isn’t another Vettel Webber situation.

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