HONDA F1

Monaco preparations at Ricard will put Honda in good stead, expects Brawn.

Round six of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship takes the Honda Racing F1 Team to Monaco for the most prestigious motor race in the world. The annual dash through the Principality’s tortuous streets is a unique test of man and machine performed in front of the glamorous backdrop of the Monaco harbour.

The 3.340km (2.075mile) street track requires the cars to run with maximum aerodynamic downforce and the proximity of the barriers makes the 78-lap race one of the most mentally demanding for the drivers, despite the average lap speed of 160kph (100mph) being the one of the slowest of the year. This week’s Monaco preparations at the versatile Paul Ricard test venue will be invaluable this weekend, as Team Principal Ross Brawn points out:

“The first two days of the test programme took place on the short configuration of the Paul Ricard facility which resembles the high downforce and low speed characteristics of the Monaco street circuit. We used the test to evaluate our aerodynamic package for the Monaco weekend with some refinements to the developments that debuted at the Spanish Grand Prix.

“Driveability is very important around Monaco, with so many low speed corners where the driver has to have confidence in the set-up of the car to avoid losing time on exit, so we did a lot of work on this. We also ran the new Bridgestone super soft tyre compound and the indications from the test are that this tyre will perform well as the option tyre during the race weekend.”

Such is the Monaco Grand Prix’s profile and history that it retains many of the traditions from the inaugural race staged in 1929. The most idiosyncratic of these customs is the expansion of the race weekend to four days, with the on-track action starting a day earlier than usual, on Thursday.