FORMULA 1: Rivals looking to chip away at Mercedes’ advantage at historic Monaco Grand Prix

LEWIS HAMILTON will be looking to extend his winning ways in Monaco. CREDIT: Shutterstock 

THE 2019 Formula One season has been a Mercedes AMG Petronas whitewash with the Malaysian based team taking five wins from five races so far.

The Monaco Grand Prix works slightly different to most race weekends as both free practices take place on the Thursday due to Friday being a historic national holiday.

Free Practice 1 seemed like another Mercedes masterclass with championship leader setting an early benchmark with a best lap time of 1m12.106s to finish quickest by just 0.059 seconds from Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas finished third. 

FP2 was much of the same with Hamilton and Bottas taking the top two spots and look clear favourites going into the race on Sunday on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult. 

The Red Bull Racing squad of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo will be looking to turn their 2019 fortunes around after a lacklustre start to the season.

Ferrari will be bringing technical updates to their affiliated teams HAAS Motorsport and Alfa Romeo and the factory drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc are hoping their tyre woes from the start of the season have come to an end.

This weekend will also see the paddock mourn the loss of Formula One legend Niki Lauda who passed away this week with a number of teams paying their respects with black armbands and graphics on their cars. 

 

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Emilia

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