Monaco Grand Prix: Ferrari preview

Fernando Alonso (L) and Felipe Massa celebrate their double podium finish in Spain.

With four podiums so far this season for Fernando Alonso and one for the improving Felipe Massa, Ferrari have had a much more productive year than they did this time last year. The Italians are second in the Constructor’s Championship and are only fourteen points behind the leaders, Red Bull.

They achieved a podium double in the Spanish Grand Prix and will be looking to continue their strong run of form into the French Riviera. Alonso has won the race a total of two times in 2006 and 2007 and it’s been a while since he stepped on the top of the podium here.

Felipe Massa has resurrected from a dry spell that kept him almost anonymous during the first half of the season last year. Ever since then, he’s come back stronger and has justified Ferrari’s choice in offering him a year’s extension as their driver.

That double podium in Barcelona was result of strong upgrades that were brought in for the team for the European season and with the way they worked in Spain, the team will be hoping for an even better performance in Monaco considering favourable weather. The Principality has temperatures on the lower side of the scale and with the way the Pirellis are performing, Ferrari will be hoping they can optimise their advantage.

In Spain, Alonso stopped by the pits four times before clinching his trophy whereas most of the other drivers pitted thrice, minimum. There was a total of 79 pit stops that Sunday and it stood as one of the highest in the sport for quite a while.

Pirelli have since announced that they’ve modified the tyres hoping that a minimum of two pit stops should suffice given you have the right strategy in place to aid your drivers. Ferrari’s Andrea Stella and Rob Smedley are amongst the best in the business and nothing makes them better than being under pressure. With Pirelli’s new tyres and the low yet-unpredictable weather of the Principality, they could help Ferrari continue their feat.

Driver-wise, Ferrari have Fernando Alonso, possibly the best driver in the grid and along with the reliable Felipe Massa, they can achieve another podium double if no other parameters played their parts negatively.

This race could be tight given that some of the teams around them specialise in such weather. On the top of the deck is Mercedes and they’ve posed the biggest threat to any team in the pit at Monte Carlo for the past two years and Ferrari will surely have to keep an eye-out for the Silver Arrows.

Red Bull and Lotus are pretty much sailing in the same boat as the Italians. Mind you, this boat is behind the one carrying Mercedes. Expect a podium for the team. Two getting on will be really good but they’ll need luck on their side. If things go as they stand, expect ‘a’ podium.