New rules 'to spice up Monaco'

By Andrew Benson
Motorsport editor

The tight Monaco track makes overtaking extremely difficult

Jonathan Legard's race preview

The Monaco Grand Prix will be more affected by this year's Formula One rule changes than any other race, according to leading designer Mike Gascoyne.

The Renault technical director believes the new qualifying rules will make Monaco "the most different race this year compared to the way F1 was before".

Overtaking is close to impossible around the tight and twisty street circuit, which means a position at the front of the grid is crucial.

But that is more difficult to guarantee this season because of the rule that forbids refuelling between qualifying and race.

The rule has led to some top teams, such as McLaren, qualifying lower down the grid than would be expected because they are running heavier fuel loads than some rivals.

At most races that does not matter, because they can make up the positions lost in qualifying as their tactics play out in the race.

But that option will be less effective in Monaco because of the time any poor qualifier would lose in traffic in the race.

Gascoyne says: "If you qualify at the front and can go away at 1.5-2 seconds a lap, within 20 laps you'll have a 30-second advantage.

"If you then stop and fuel to the end of the race, whoever you're in front of is stuck - they can't get past you.

The people who do limited testing, like us, will have an even bigger advantage than normal

Mike Gascoyne
Renault technical director

"Before at Monaco, you qualified where you did with an empty car, fuelled it up and whoever stopped last won, within reason," Gascoyne adds.

"Now, the more fuel you can qualify with, the better - but you have to be at the front."

That means the first qualifying session - held on Thursday in Monaco - will be more important than at any other race this season - the quicker a driver is in that session, the later he goes out for his qualifying lap on Saturday.

Gascoyne says: "You need a good time on Thursday because you want to run as late as you can in Saturday qualifying, because at Monaco the track gets quicker with every lap.

"Then choosing the strategy for qualifying will be interesting because if you can make a break and refuel early and stay ahead, you've won the race."

Running later in qualifying on Saturday gives a team more time to decide on their strategy.

That is because they will be able to see the times being recorded by their rivals and therefore know how much fuel they can run in their car while still staying ahead of the opposition and grabbing a good grid position.

Trulli is a specialist at qualifying in Monaco

Lap Monaco with Jarno Trulli

All of which means mistakes in either qualifying session will carry a heavy price.

As a result, many more drivers than normal could choose what until now has been a drastic strategy - starting from the pit lane.

That way a driver who has a poor qualifying run could top up at the start and recover by employing the old-style Monaco strategy to its full extent - run as long as possible before stopping for fuel.

As long as he does not lose too much time early in the race, a driver doing this could still end up in a strong position.

Renault's Fernando Alonso, for example, was on course for fifth place at the Austrian Grand Prix after starting from the pit lane.

There is a final factor in the mix, one which Renault believe could bring them their first win of the year.

Renault are alone among the top teams in taking part in the two hours of free testing on the first day of a Grand Prix weekend.

Schumacher is gunning for a record-equalling sixth Monaco win

Schumacher defends Monaco

The teams who pick that option are allowed only limited testing away from races.

But Gascoyne believes it will provide a huge advantage at Monaco - especially with their drivers Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso.

Trulli is a qualifying specialist who is very strong at Monaco, while Alonso has impressed greatly with Renault this season.

Gascoyne says: "The people who do the limited testing option, like us, will have an even bigger advantage than normal.

"That's because track time is everything in Monaco, and I wouldn't like to be giving up two hours of track time to [Renault drivers] Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso, for example."