Monte Carlo,
28
May
2023
|
19:39
Europe/Amsterdam

2023 Monaco Grand Prix – Sunday

MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR      
 

“The Monaco weekend was filled with emotions, both for the people watching the race in person and those following it at home on TV and online. Just like a year ago, all five types of tyre brought to Monaco were used, with the new specification of wet tyre – which doesn’t require blankets – making its debut. First impressions of its performance seem in line with expectations, although you obviously can’t really compare Monaco with anywhere else. When it was dry, the race was a chess game between those who started on the mediums and those who opted for the hards: actually, a bigger number of drivers than we had anticipated heading into the race. Just one person, Guanyu Zhou, went for the softs at the start. As is often the case in Monaco, it was at first a question of seeing who made the best of the traffic to find the right time to make the decisive move and pit. But then there was the uncertain weather, with the rain that everybody knew was coming but nobody expected to be quite so heavy. All this added up to a race that was extremely difficult to manage without making mistakes. The first stint on the medium was much longer than expected: not only did Verstappen complete 55 laps on this compound, but both AlphaTauri drivers did 53 laps, while Lando Norris did 50. On this track in particular, tyre management, even with graining, had to be carried out according to traffic and weather conditions – as was definitely the case today.”

THE RACE FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW

  • Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Monaco Grand Prix with Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso in second. Esteban Ocon was third for Alpine. All the drivers on the podium took the chequered flag on the Cinturato Green intermediate. As was the case last year, all the compounds were used: three different types slick and two wets, including the new Cinturato Blue full wet.
  • As usual in Monaco, qualifying was decisive for the race result, with the top three on the grid finishing in the same order. Charles Leclerc had originally qualified third, ahead of Ocon, but received a three-place grid penalty. 
  • Verstappen and Ocon started on P Zero Yellow mediums with the intention of switching to the P Zero White hard for the finish. But after the rain came, Verstappen could move directly to the intermediate. Alonso also started on the hard compound, but pitted for mediums which he ran for just one lap before changing to intermediates. 
  • Half the teams split their strategies for the start: Mercedes, Alpine, McLaren, Alfa Romeo, and Haas all fitted their two cars with different compounds. The only driver to start on the P Zero Red soft was Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), who stopped after just one lap to fit the hard tyres, as did Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull).
  • Rain started to fall about 25 laps before the end of the race, initially between turns 4 and 8. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) was first to fit the intermediate and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) was last to visit the pits for rain tyres, swapping the hards for the full wet.
  • The new Cinturato Blue Full Wet tyre, which had been due to make its debut at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, was used by the two Haas drivers and Perez. It is the first Pirelli Formula 1 tyre that does not require the use of tyre warmers.
  • Bottas had the fastest time on the intermediates, setting a 1m24.637s on lap 76. Hulkenberg set the best time with the full wet tyres of 1m32.994s on lap 72. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) did the overall fastest lap of the race (1m15.650s) on lap 33 when he was on the hard tyres while the best performance on mediums came from Leclerc (1m15.773s) on lap 46. Magnussen had the longest stint, using the hard for 56 laps.
  • The rain caused the asphalt temperatures to drop sharply from 41°C to 27°C while the ambient temperature fluctuated between 28 and 23°C.

DTM

The first round of the DTM championship, supplied by Pirelli, concluded at Oschersleben on Sunday. On Saturday Franck Perera (SSR Performance) gave Lamborghini victory, winning race one in his Huracan Evo2 ahead of the Porsche 911 R of Tim Heinemann (Toksport WRT) and the Ferrari 296 of Jack Aitken (Emil Frey). There was an all-Porsche podium in race two today, with Christian Engelhardt and Heinemann scoring a one-two for Toksport ahead of poleman Thomas Preining (Manthey Ema).

What's next?

Next week Formula 1 will travel to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix (2-4 June). The P Zero White hard will be the C1 tyre, the P Zero Yellow medium the C2, and the P Zero Red soft the C3. The circuit has been modified for this year with the removal of the final chicane, making it more fast and flowing.

PIRELLI IN MOTORSPORT

Founded in 1872, Pirelli is a company with deep Italian roots now recognised all over the world for its cutting-edge technology, capacity for innovation, and the quality of its products. Motorsport has always played an important part in Pirelli’s strategy, following the ‘race to road’ philosophy. The company has been engaged in motorsport for 116 years and today supplies tyres to more than 350 championships on both two and four wheels. Pirelli pays constant attention to the most efficient use of natural resources and energy, aiming to reach carbon neutrality by 2030.
Pirelli has been Global Tyre Partner of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship since 2011. The company also supplies championships including FIA Formula 2, FIA Formula 3, Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, FIA World Rally Championship and GT World Challenge, alongside numerous national series.