Monaco GP: Williams Racing Grand Prix Preview

The seventh round of the 2022 Formula One World Championship brings us to the streets of Monte Carlo for perhaps the most famous race of the year, the Monaco Grand Prix. Encapsulating the glamour, heritage and precision of the sport, Circuit de Monaco runs through the centre of the Principality, with landmarks such as The Monte Carlo Casino and the world-famous harbour just metres away from the track. The tight and twisting 3.337km circuit is highly unforgiving, providing the ultimate test of both driver and car ability. As Nelson Piquet remarked, “Monaco is like riding a bike around your living room.”

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
Monaco is always a challenging circuit that requires a specific approach to setup and car management. With the new 2022 cars, this is going to be an even greater challenge as it will be necessary to move the car away from the aerodynamic optimum in order to be able to deal with the bumps and kerbs of the Monte Carlo streets. Apart from some additional brake cooling and steering options, we have no test items or upgrades for this event and so we will be free to spend the practice sessions exploring the car setup and helping the drivers to get maximum confidence in the car.

The tyres are the softest of the Pirelli range, including the C5 compound, which we last used in Melbourne. This very soft compound worked well at Albert Park and so it may require a different approach to get it into the best window in Monaco.

Although normally warm and dry, there is always a risk that the cloud cover on the mountains can quickly move over the circuit, completely changing the character of the track. We will need to be mindful of this and look to capitalise on it if it happens.

Nicholas Latifi:
It's always exciting to go back to Monaco. It's a track with so much history and has such a special feeling, more so than any other street circuit we race at. It'll be my second-year racing there in a Formula One car, and I'm expecting it to be more of a challenge in these new regulation cars. I'm looking forward to that challenge though, so hopefully we'll have a good weekend.

Alex Albon:
Monaco is one of the biggest races of the year. It's a really cool circuit and I live about a three-minute walk from the paddock, so it's an easy morning commute for me. The track itself is a proper street-circuit with a great atmosphere which means it's always special. We'll be pushing hard and hoping to finish off the double-header well.