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The death on Monday night of Austrian Formula One great Niki Lauda,
a triple world champion and non-executive director of the Mercedes
team, has cast the showcase race into a different light.
A week ago there were those who feared a sixth successive Mercedes
one-two finish, at a tight and twisty track that has seen plenty of
processions in the past, would have the fans turning off in droves.
Now that looks more like a fitting tribute to a man who won his
titles with McLaren and Ferrari but would have been cheering on the
Silver Arrows of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas as loudly as
anyone.
Various tributes are expected for one of the sport's greatest
characters, who won for Ferrari in Monaco in 1975 and 1976.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said his compatriot had been a
guiding light.
"As a team-mate over the past six and a half years, Niki was always
brutally honest -- and utterly loyal," he said.
"It was a privilege to count him among our team and moving to
witness just how much it meant to him to be part of the team's
success."
Hamilton leads Bottas by seven points going into one of the Briton's
favorite races, and one he has won twice already, and the
characteristics of the car suggest Mercedes will again be
frontrunners.
"If you look at their performance in the low-speed section of this
(Barcelona) circuit, you would expect them to be very strong (in
Monaco)," Red Bull boss Christian Horner said after Hamilton won in
Spain 10 days ago.
"They’ll certainly be very much the favorites."
VERSTAPPEN HOPE
Red Bull won last year from pole position with Daniel Ricciardo, but
the Australian has moved to Renault and Max Verstappen is the main
hope now.
The young Dutchman does not have such happy memories of the track,
wrecking his chances last year by hitting the wall in Saturday's
final practice and lining up last.
"Looking at the low-speed performance in the last sector (in Spain),
we are clearly not the favorite and I also don’t expect it to be
like last year when we were super strong in Monaco," he said.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel is a two-times Monaco winner but much of
the attention will be on Leclerc, who was born in the principality
and can become the first local driver to score points at home since
Louis Chiron in the 1950s.
A first career F1 win for the Monegasque, who crashed out last year
on his debut with Sauber, would be truly momentous.
"It’s my first home GP as a Ferrari driver and it’s bound to be a
special weekend," he said.
"I remember as a kid, I would spend the afternoon with a friend who
lived in a flat with a balcony overlooking the Ste. Devote corner.
We used to play with toy cars while the real ones rushed past
beneath us.
"I always told myself that one day, it would be great to be driving
in this race."
Ricciardo, who has finished only once in the points this year with a
best result of seventh, is unlikely to be standing on top of the
podium on Sunday but the Australian does expect a better showing.
"I’ve done it before so it’s familiar territory. I’m really curious
actually to see how I perform this year in Monaco," he told Reuters.
"I think we can get a good result. Maybe our best of the year. We’ll
see."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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