Sit down, tune in and enjoy the Monaco GP

Round 6 of the 2012 Formula 1 World Championship takes place around the streets on Monte Carlo, the jewel in the crown of Grand Prix racing. If the glitz, glamour and the girls aren’t enough of a lure to this weekend, here are some other reasons to look forward to the Monaco Grand Prix.

1. The 2012 season has been as unpredictable as it gets – 5 races, 5 different winning drivers all representing 5 different manufacturers. That is simply incredible! Every team and driver says they genuinely don’t know how they will fare around Monaco as there is relatively no form book this season. Monaco can often prove to be a lottery at the worst of times – so this weekend should be mega.
2. Momentum is everything in Formula 1. The winner last time out in Barcelona was remarkably Pastor Maldonado, and now we arrive at his favourite F1 circuit where he believes a podium result could be on the cards, perhaps even the win. There’s good reason to believe him too. In 2011 he was running brilliantly well until his infamous crash with Lewis Hamilton at turn 1.
3. If we’re talking about Lewis Hamilton, he will no doubt be one of the guys to watch this weekend. Lewis is yet to win in 2012 despite him driving what the majority of people say is the fastest car on the grid. McLaren have made plenty of mistakes this year, including one that cost the Britain pole position and therefore a probable victory in Spain. He has nothing to prove as his speed is clear, but he’ll be more determined than anyone to be on the top step of the podium on Sunday afternoon.
4. Formula 1’s ageing king, Michael Schumacher, goes into the Monaco GP weekend with a 5 place grid penalty hanging over his head. This comes from the steward’s guilty verdict on the crash with Bruno Senna in Spain into turn 1. Both Mercedes GP drivers believe they will have a fast car in Monaco, but will Michael be able to overtake cleanly round the demanding street circuit if he’s out of position?
5. Young F1 hot-shot Sergio Perez returns to Monte Carlo after leaving a year ago with a concussion. During qualifying, he crashed his Sauber on the exit of the tunnel and slammed sideways on at the Nouvelle Chicane. He didn’t race that weekend and also pulled out of the following Canadian GP practice session. Many believe Perez will go all the way in F1, me included. This weekend should be a real test to see if his accident affects how he attacks the circuit.
6. Another driver to watch intensely this weekend, although he won’t want you doing so, is Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. The Brazilian is now under great pressure from his team to perform at a far greater level after taking just 2 points from the first 5 races of this campaign. His team mate Fernando Alonso is currently leading the World Championship on 61 points. Ferrari even issued a statement on their official website saying they are there to support Felipe after his recent problems. It was basically a very backwards way of saying he was hugely underachieving.
7. If you are in the United Kingdom, BBC will be airing the Monaco GP live and judging by previous year’s coverage, it should prove to be another winner with the audience. We’ll be hoping for more pool dips on Red Bull’s “floater-home” and who can forget watching the F1 Forum when Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel jumped into the harbour 2 years ago?

So there you have it – plenty of reasons to tune into the coverage of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. On a final note, I return to the UK after over 6 months of travelling on Saturday afternoon. I haven’t been home since attending the Abu Dhabi GP 2011 – all I can say is it’s been one hell of an after party!

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