Jun.2 (GMM) Ferrari is emerging as the clear favourite for Monaco, with even championship leader Kimi Antonelli backing the Italian team ahead of this weekend’s race.
McLaren’s Lando Norris first tipped Ferrari as the benchmark after Canada, and Antonelli agrees.
“It’s going to be very interesting how we do there, but for sure Ferrari is the favourite because obviously also with that winglet they have in the back, it’s giving them a lot of downforce at low speed,” said the Mercedes driver.
The prediction comes despite Charles Leclerc enduring what he called the worst weekend of his career in Montreal, while teammate Lewis Hamilton finished P2.
But Leclerc, a Monaco specialist and hometown hero, is not worried. “The feeling will return there,” he told Corriere dello Sport.
“I’m not worried, our car is much more Monaco-like than Canadian.”
Leclerc also revealed he will study Hamilton’s data in search of answers.
“The only positive thing is that Lewis had the same car as me, and by looking at his data I’ll try to find some answers to this struggle of mine.”
Meanwhile, Mercedes may lose part of its apparent engine advantage.
From Monaco onwards, FIA checks will measure engine compression ratios at operating temperatures rather than ambient conditions, following rival suspicions that Mercedes had found a legal way to run unusually high compression levels under race conditions.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, meanwhile, fears another painful weekend on Monaco’s famously bumpy streets. “We’re going to have difficulties on any bumpy track,” he admitted.
Asked about Monaco specifically, Verstappen laughed: “Oh yes, it’s going to be fantastic! I think I’m going to order a new back.”
The new regulations are also unlikely to transform Monaco’s long-standing overtaking problem, according to Haas boss Ayao Komatsu. “I think things will stay the same in Monaco,” he said.
“We should just accept the way the races are going there rather than try to fix anything.”
While Antonelli arrives with a 43-point championship lead, his father Marco is urging caution.
“Kimi is doing well, even beyond expectations, but I think he still has to grow,” he said. “In one year of Formula 1 you can’t learn what other drivers have learned in six, eight, or ten years.”
“I think he will be truly ready in a few years.”
Former driver Ralf Schumacher believes the pressure is instead mounting on teammate George Russell. “Russell’s situation is unlikely to improve,” he predicted.
Schumacher even sees the potential for Mercedes’ title fight to develop into a repeat of the famous Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg rivalry.
“I suspect that sooner or later Antonelli and Russell will collide,” he said. “One thing we can be sure of is that Russell is depressed right now.”