Picture Credit: Formula 1
Come to Monaco and be prepared to witness a slugfest of speed at a legendary Formula 1 venue that’s a great nadir for easy overtaking.
That’s what they say.
And it’s precisely the above that could happen once more at the venue that first hosted a Grand Prix back in 1929.
A venue wherein 1950, the great Fangio demonstrated might.
A vintage F1 track that tends to almost always bring a whiff of nostalgia and allure, Monaco isn’t just a Grand Prix; it’s a coveted celebration of Formula 1.
It will, as the championship stands, present an awesome opportunity for Ferrari to bounce back. Yet, at the same time, it’ll also encourage Red Bull to open an even wider lead over the second-place Scuderia Ferrari on the rankings.
So what’ll actually happen in these crazy 78 laps lined up ahead?
Who’ll outperform and who’ll take the rest by some surprise?
SportsTiger brings you key predictions for the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix:
Valtteri Bottas to continue his fine form for Alfa Romeo by scoring points
Perhaps it might not be entirely incorrect to state that Valtteri Bottas is among the drivers whose performances have perhaps gone under the radar given much of our attention has so dominantly remained with the Ferraris and their battles with the Red Bulls or for that matter, Mercedes’ proposing problems.
It’s simply not occurred to us that Bottas, despite not driving the fastest car on the grid, has collected points in as many as five of the six races held so far.
If there was ever a tag for the most underrated drive by a midfielder, then the same would readily go to Bottas for his P5, the best result thus far, at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
He’s only just incurred a solitary DNF so far as seen at Saudi Arabia.
Clearly, the guy who’s leading the charge for the Hinwil-based outfit, the Finn will continue his fine form and score points again at Monte Carlo.
Add to that the urgency to do so; in the 2021 event, which was his final Monaco race with Mercedes, Bottas could go no further than lap 29, retiring due to a wheel nut issue.
Fernando Alonso will outscore Esteban Ocon
From being the driver who began his 2022 run with an impressive P9 collected at the season opener at Bahrain, Alonso’s gone on to endure disappointing race results and insipid drives in the events that have followed.
So much so that, thus far, the truly great of the sport has only been able to manage 4 points- not more.
That’s when we are done with as many as 6 races.
At Miami, he came close to scoring points, driving home a respectable- if not gargantuan- P11, though that earned him absolutely nothing.
But at Spain, the local hero came back in an inspiring fashion. Driving from the further end of the field to finishing ninth on the grid, Fernando Alonso not only collected 2 valuable points but even came in striking distance of his teammate, Esteban Ocon.
Though one notes at Monaco, the Spanish Samurai will drive home more points than his noted French teammate. And he’ll look to further build on his valiant effort at Spain, which was perhaps also an underappreciated effort of the grid.
One that we didn’t quite read an awful lot about.
As a matter of fact, Alonso will also note the email urgent need of scoring points at Monaco and with it, the desire to outpace the young Frenchman.
So how’s that?
Last year, Ocon scored a P9 at Monaco while Alonso scored a P13.
Even at Spain, the Spaniard scored a 17 whilst Ocon scored 9.
In both contests, the Alpine of Ocon was ahead of the other car#14.
So while El Niño has bettered the job at his home race venue this time around, the job right now is to improve his performance at Monaco. Which is something he’ll hopefully manage.
Red Bull won’t win the Grand Prix
A track that’s clearly considered a strong venue for Red Bull, even more so than Mercedes, Monaco will not see a driver from the Milton Keynes-based outfit on the top step of the podium at the salubrious racing event on Sunday.
There’ll be fun, splendour and fanfare but none of it will be for the ace drivers decked in navy blue racing overalls from Hornet’s team.
The victory, one supposes, could go either to Ferrari or any other racing outfit.
How about Lando?
This may even prove to be a theory that’s totally bonkers at the end of the day, but when you take a call, you take a call.
Interestingly, last time around, it was Max Verstappen who roared supreme at the twisty track punctuated by the irrepressible chicanes, tunnels and the characteristically slow corners.
At the most, Red Bull will fight for the fastest lap.
Leclerc will outscore Sainz
There are better love stories out there than Leclerc and Monaco GP!
The first that Charles Leclerc ever raced on his home turf at Monaco was back in the year 2018, which is when he was with Sauber. But he’d register a lowly P18, which wasn’t an utterly surprising outing given his car was pretty much an uninspiring midfielder.
But in the years that followed, he still didn’t go on to manage anything exciting or worthy to note, which was surprising and a touch sad since starting 2019 onwards, he was with Ferrari, his present-day team.
Barring the cancelled 2020 event owing to the Covid pandemic, he hasn’t finished a single Monaco Grand Prix as of date.
Heartbreaking enough for the intrepid Leclerc lovers?
In 2019, he race retired. Meanwhile, despite grabbing pole position in 2021, Leclerc wasn’t even able to begin his home race last year owing to a problem with the left driveshaft, which was impossible for his team to fix in due course time for the start of the race.
But 2022 is a different ball game altogether; the driver currently second in the standings, trailing Verstappen, has proven himself to be faster than his teammate almost everywhere the duo has raced.
Topping the Friday-bound practice sessions is further confirmation of his skill and penchant for speed at Monaco. It’s something that Charles Leclerc will apply in order to outdo Spanish driver Carlos Sainz at the famous racing event.