Red Bull Has The Most To Lose At The 2022 Monaco Grand Prix

We saw Miami's knock-off version of the famous Monaco Grand Prix in early May, but now the real deal is finally on the horizon. The Miami organizers might want to take notes while watching the Monaco GP this weekend, starting with how to build an actual marina instead of slapping a vinyl wrap on concrete.

To many, the Monaco Grand Prix is the highlight of the F1 season. Monza is the oldest track on the F1 calendar, but since Monaco is a street circuit, it actually dates back to 1215, when the first roads were built.

Either way, the track doesn't matter. Monaco is well-known for putting the circus into the traveling circus known as F1. It's the physical manifestation of old money, and the people who live there have no problem spending $40,000 on an EV Mini Moke.

It puts the Grand into Grand Prix, though there is an argument that it needs to be ditched.

While Monaco's streets date back to 1215, the first Monaco Grand Prix was only hosted in 1950.

Monaco is a sovereign city-state in France, and it takes up an area of 0.81 square miles. That's the circuit's biggest problem. The cars of the 1950s weren't all that powerful and were quite narrow. A modern F1 car is ridiculously fast and broader than a Range Rover. For reference, see Nico Rosberg's 2013 qualifying lap. The cars have grown since then.

Overtaking is nearly impossible. The 2003 Monaco Grand Prix has the unfortunate record of zero overtakes. Basically, it was just a faster version of the traditional Sunday morning procession.

This year the cars will drive in a row for 78 laps for a total of 162.5 miles. The current race lap record is held by Sir Lewis Hamilton, posting a 1:12.909 time.

In our opinion, Monaco is exceptionally boring. We understand the history, and we respect it, but F1 is amidst a renaissance. It doesn't feel like the sport needs it anymore. Please include your feelings in the comments section below.

Following an epic one-two finish in Barcelona, Red Bull leads the driver's and constructor's world championship.

Leclerc's DNF allowed Verstappen to open a six-point gap in his favor. Sergio Perez is also in third place, just 19 points behind Leclerc.

The constructor's championship is not as close. Despite a few Red Bull and AlphaTauri DNFs at the beginning of the season, Red Bull is currently standing on 195 points. Ferrari has 169 points.

The pressure is on team Red Bull to keep the momentum going. Five races in, and they already have two one-twos in the bag. And let's not forget about Sergio Perez's consistent contribution to the tally.

It's the team that has the most to lose going into this Grand Prix, so the pressure is most certainly on.

Charles Leclerc was the world championship leader up until last weekend. He's also the only born-and-bred Monegasque driver on the grid and the only one who calls it home for non-tax-dodging reasons.

Visit Monaco during the offseason, and you'll often spot him driving parts of the track in his daily cars, including several Ferraris. He has a 488 Pista, Portofino, 812 Superfast, GTC 4 Lusso, and an SF90 Stradale.

But there seems to be a curse. Since his debut at the helm of a Sauber in 2018, he has never completed a Monaco Grand Prix. And recently, he crashed Niki Lauda's 1974 F1 car. Guess where...

This is Leclerc's home race, and we want to see him win it. If only to end the curse.

It's fair to say that Lewis Hamilton would most likely want to forget the first five races of this season.

Something seems to be wrong, and it's not the car. Hamilton's young teammate, George Russell, is having a much better season. Russell is doing his best to get that Mercedes F1 car out of the midfield and look competitive against the top-tier teams. As a result, he's currently on 74 points, while Hamilton only managed to scrape 46 points together.

But some magic happened in Spain last week. Hamilton started poorly and even wanted to retire the car to save the engine. But the team pushed him, and the drive that followed was old-school Hamilton. He delivered the GOAT-like drive we know he's capable of, and we hope last week's impressive drive removed whatever was standing in Hamilton's way.

At Monaco, nothing is more important than qualifying. Since it's nearly impossible to overtake, you need to either get pole or second position coupled with an epic start.

While Mercedes has improved its car, it's still nowhere near as fast as the Ferraris and the Bulls. But that doesn't necessarily matter on a technical track like Monaco and its lack of high-speed areas.

This puts both Russell and Hamilton in a good position. Russell did a good job of holding the Red Bulls at bay in the Spanish Grand Prix, and Lewis Hamilton set multiple fastest laps battling his way to the front.

Monaco essentially renders Red Bull and Ferrari's speed advantage null and void, leveling the playing field a bit. That leaves a gap for either Russell or Hamilton to set a blistering qualifying time, possibly ending up on pole or second place.

In a perfect world, we'd see a Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes at the front of the pack, launching the cars hard into that first right-hander. It could potentially be the only chance a driver gets to put himself in front, inevitably winning the race.

By now, you've probably seen or heard of porpoising. This aerodynamic phenomenon results from drastic rule changes that force the cars closer together. We weren't sure whether it would work, but the midfield battle has been spectacular.

In addition to porpoising, the aerodynamic changes have also made the cars gnarlier at low speeds. Monaco is essentially a go-kart track on steroids, so the drivers will have their hands full. As if that's not enough, there's currently an 80% chance of rain predicted for Sunday, adding another layer of complexity. Verstappen is epic in the wet, so a good downpour should play in his favor.