Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have the momentum for the legendary Monaco Grand Prix this week. (More sports news)
Although Red Bull is starting the 2021 Formula 1 season with the fastest car, Hamilton has made a spectacular start and is 14 points ahead of Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings.
The seven-time world champion has won three of the first four races and fought for second place in Imola in the only Grand Prix he didn’t win. After a fall, he made a fantastic recovery.
Verstappen made him work hard for those achievements but Valtteri Bottas needs more as questions about his future with the team continue. He has yet to book a top 2 result and Hamilton already has double his total points.
– Formula 1 (@ F1) May 19, 2021
Hamilton’s rivals will hope that Monaco’s unpredictability will raise their hopes for a challenge. Three different teams have won the last three races here, Ferrari 2017, Red Bull 2018 and Mercedes with Hamilton last time in 2019.
Red Bull is expected to be strong here and the team is 18 points away from making this track the most point-scoring track in its F1 history.
Monaco is the shortest route (3.34 km) on the calendar and therefore the Grand Prix with the highest number of laps (78).
– Red Bull Racing Honda (@redbullracing) May 18, 2021
LAST TIME OUT
Hamilton continued his dominance at the Spanish Grand Prix with a record-breaking sixth win on the Barcelona circuit when Mercedes’ two-stop strategy was a treat.
Verstappen overtook Hamilton on Turn One in a dream start for Red Bull after the defending champion was on pole for the 100th time.
But Hamilton was not to be denied a fifth consecutive victory in the race. On lap 60 of 66 he overtook Verstappen in another master class of the Briton on fresher tires.
Verstappen – who drove the fastest lap – stayed out at the front and couldn’t hold out because he had to be content with second place ahead of Bottas.
Charles Leclerc finished fourth in the second Red Bull from Sergio Perez.
WHAT TO CONSIDER IN MONACO
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff believes Red Bull is the team to beat this week, even though Hamilton held Verstappen back in an exciting 2019 duel in Monte Carlo.
He believes the high downforce track shows Red Bull’s strengths and believes data from the final sector of the race in Spain – which showed their rivals were strong – will be an accurate indicator of Monaco pace become.
Wolff also defended Bottas, insisting that bad luck and slow starts were the only reason for his disappointing results.
Although the season is four races old, he regularly has to reject speculations about a move from Mercedes to the Finn.
Sergio Perez is not yet on the test bench for Red Bull, but is still waiting for his first podium this season.
Charles Leclerc goes into his home race in impressive form. He has four top six finishes in a row and believes that after a strong start to 2021, Ferrari will be fighting for race wins again “very soon”.
Lando Norris, fourth in the championship, is starting the race at full speed after signing a new deal with McLaren.
– Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) May 19, 2021
TOP FIVE OPTA STATS
Pole swiveling – The first to start driver led the opening lap for each of the last 17 Monaco GPs since 2002 when McLaren driver David Coulthard overtook Williams star Juan Pablo Montoya. Since 2004, 12 of the last 16 who started on pole have won the race (75 percent).
Mercedes swing – The Mercs want to put Ferrari on an equal footing as a team that has achieved the most two points in an F1 qualifying of all time (80). They are the only team to ever win more than half of their races (118 wins in 231 GPs).
Familiar faces – Hamilton, Verstappen and Bottas have reached the podium together in 16 races, more than any other trio in F1 ever. That was also the top three for four of the last five general practitioners.
Racy Red Bull – Christian Horner’s team took five pole positions in Monaco, more than at any other F1 GP besides Japan. Only in Brazil and Malaysia (five each) have they won more races than in the Principality.
Fabulous Finns – Bottas was able to equate Kimi Raikkonen with the most pole positions in F1 (18) after Mika Hakkinen (26) in a draw among the Finnish drivers.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
driver
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 94
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 80
3. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 47
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 41st
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 40
Constructors
1. Mercedes – 141
2. Red Bull – 112
3. McLaren – 65
4. Ferrari – 60
5. Alpine – 15
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