The Monaco Grand Prix is over and it’s time to draw some conclusions. Ferrari that can play a role in the world championship, the strategists at Red Bull, the angry words at Mercedes, the poorly performing Haas F1 and the disappointing Yuki Tsunoda.
Can Ferrari help Verstappen and Red Bull win the world championship in 2021?
Ferrari had a long way to go, but they were finally back where they belong. The Italian team came to the Monaco Grand Prix with a very competitive car and was even able to fight for victory. Ferrari will want to do everything in their power to keep that momentum going, and while they are already more focused on the 2022 car, we will apparently see the red cars up front more often. That could play into Max Verstappen’s hands, just like last weekend. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz also scored points against Mercedes. This is of course also very positive for the constructors’ rating.
However, it is likely that Ferrari’s performance was very route dependent. Since losing to Mercedes in the slow corners of the 2019 season, the Italian aerodynamics team has been working to solve this problem. You were strong in this division during the 2020 season, but nothing underlines that strength as much as the Monaco circuit.
Red Bull strategists are spot on
Red Bull strategists came under fire after Verstappen was beaten in Barcelona for his strategy. However, this was more because Perez was too far behind and couldn’t put pressure on Valtteri Bottas than because of the actual decision that was made. They got their money’s worth in Monaco as Perez was able to make up three positions. Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel were caught thanks to an excellent overlap which made fourth place the final result. It gave Red Bull the lead in the constructors’ championship.
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No good reviews for Mercedes
Toto Wolff will undoubtedly have slept the least. The Mercedes team principal saw Bottas’ pit stop go wrong, and Hamilton’s early pit stop turned out to be the worst result. Hamilton finished seventh, but if Bottas and Leclerc hadn’t crashed, there would have been no more than ninth place. Bottas threw away his gloves when he got out of the car and Hamilton complained about it on the radio and in the media. No, Mercedes isn’t having fun anymore after the weekend in Monaco.
Haas F1 is ready
Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher finished three (!) Laps in Monaco, which is very embarrassing. We know the American team has its sights set on 2022 and will start with two rookies this season, but that’s really humiliating. Günther Steiner will be devastated, but resigning seems to be the only right thing to do.
Tsunoda has to find the ‘reset button’
Yuki Tsunoda started the season in Bahrain very convincingly, but the weekends in Imola, Portugal and Barcelona did not go as planned. The weekend in Monaco was difficult for the Japanese driver too. The AlphaTauri driver was close to the Williams cars while Pierre Gasly finished sixth. Helmut Marko and Franz Tost have to press the reset button on the Tsunoda because he cannot suddenly have lost his speed and talent. It just hasn’t come out lately.
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