Pre Race
The ultimate street battle!
Nico Hulkenberg and the rest of the Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber are gearing up for the absolute highlight of the season. The Monaco Grand Prix – the home race of Monte Carlo-based Nico Hulkenberg – is a true classic, but it’s also one of the most extreme circuits on the calendar. The narrow and unforgiving layout leaves no margin for error, and securing a strong qualifying position is essential to achieving a good race result.
To further intensify the weekend, this year’s event features a mandatory two-stop strategy, posing an additional challenge for the teams.
“Monaco is a race like no other and definitely one of my favourites. To wake up in your own bed and go to the track on your scooter is something I really enjoy. The racing itself is very demanding and all about precision, and it will be interesting to see what impact the two mandatory pit stops will have on the race on Sunday,” says Nico Hulkenberg.
“We want to take the positive feeling from a clean and well-executed race in Imola. Of course, we still have some work to do, and we will keep pushing to improve our package to be able to fight for points consistently.”
While qualifying will take place on Saturday, the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix will get underway on Sunday at 15:00 (GMT+2) local time.
Three Facts About Monaco:
- Opened in 1929, the Monaco circuit hosted its first Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1950. It is one of the few existing tracks that were on the calendar in the championship’s inaugural season – and it hasn’t been off it since 1955.
- Last year’s winner, Charles Leclerc, is the only local Monegasque driver ever to win an official Formula 1 race on the streets of Monaco.
- The street circuit features both the slowest corner in Formula One (the Fairmont Hairpin, taken at just 48 km/h) and one of the fastest (the flat-out kink in the tunnel, three turns beyond the hairpin, taken at 260 km/h).
Qualifying
Ready, set, Monaco!
Recap from Saturday’s qualifying session, where Nico Hulkenberg managed to get his Sauber C45 into Q2, securing P13 on the grid for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix. That’s a promising start to the challenging street race, where tyre strategy will play an even bigger role this year due to the mandatory two pitstops – one more than usual.
“Reaching Q2 was an important target, and I’m pleased we achieved that. To be honest, however, I was hoping for a stronger grid position than P13. In the final runs, I wasn’t able to find more lap time, especially in sectors one and two. Sector three was really strong, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough to make it into Q3,” said Nico Hulkenberg.
“Our focus now shifts to tomorrow’s race. We showed solid pace on long runs during yesterday’s free practice, which gives us some confidence. The real challenge, though, will be managing the three mandatory sets of tyres. It will be interesting to see how teams approach that, as there are quite a few strategic options on the table.”
Exciting stuff, Nico! We can’t wait to see those red lights turn off. Sunday’s 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix will get underway at 15:00 (GMT+2) local time.
Race Day
“There was little we could do”
Nico Hulkenberg finished 16th after a disappointing Monaco Grand Prix that was much more about strategy than pure racing. The German started the 78-lap race from 12th but was caught in traffic several times, as competing teams employed extreme speed tactics to benefit their teammates in the narrow streets of Monte Carlo. Even though the Sauber crew executed efficient pitstops, there were limited opportunities to fight forward.
“I had a good start, gaining a position on the opening lap, but the rest of the race didn’t unfold as we had hoped. Unfortunately, I frequently found myself caught in traffic, largely due to teams in front of us obviously executing strategic plays,” said Nico Hulkenberg.
“Obviously, team plays are part of the sport, but from a racing standpoint, it was not what everyone was hoping for. Realistically, starting in the top 10 is probably the only way to avoid this, and while our own strategy and the pitstops were well executed, there was little we could do to achieve a better result.”
On to the next one, Nico! The good news is that it’s already race week again. The Spanish Grand Prix takes place this weekend, on June 1.
