FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2016 - Second practice session

FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2016 - First practice session

2016 Monaco - Wednesday Press Conference (video)

Renault set to debut upgraded engine in Monaco

This car is from another year. You know which year?

Renault are hoping to have their updated ‘B-spec’ power unit available to at least some drivers at this weekend’s Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2016. Its introduction had been scheduled for the next round in Canada, but successful tests in Spain last week have made an earlier debut possible.

“The current power unit used since Australia has had several smaller upgrades and all the drivers were very happy with the standard,” said Renault engine chief Remi Taffin. “In parallel, we’ve been working on the new spec since the start of the season but needed to sign off all the parts for reliability and mileage before using on track.

“The tests were very positive and showed it to be more powerful and driveable. We had originally planned to use the new version in Canada when the current units are scheduled to be removed from the cycle, but if we can get the units together and completely validated by Monaco we will use the ones available at this race.”

This could see just one upgraded unit available to each Renault-powered team - their own works squad and Red Bull Racing. Neither has confirmed which driver would get the improved engine in such a scenario, though such decisions often favour the man ranked higher in the championship.

In Renault’s case that would mean Kevin Magnussen, who - unlike team mate Jolyon Palmer - tested the new power unit in Barcelona; and at Red Bull it would be Daniel Ricciardo, who still heads Max Verstappen in the table despite the latter’s maiden win in Spain.

Commenting further on the revised engine, Taffin said: “The power unit we have used since the first race in Australia was really a continuation of the work started in the ‘Spec D’ power unit we introduced at the tail end of 2015. We explored some concepts in that earlier iteration and the 2016 unit took them further, for example in the turbo. This new spec goes even further down the line and also includes significant modifications to the combustion system.”

The upgrades - for which Renault have used a small proportion of their development token allocation - will make the engine more powerful and more efficient. Though unlikely in the confines of Monaco, at other circuits the changes should be worth around half a second per lap.

(source: f1.com)

2016 Monaco Grand Prix preview

Monaco, the most legendary track in Formula One. It starts on Thursday because Friday is usually a day of. There is no real explanation but some say that drivers celebrate in Monaco on Thursday so it wouldn't be ok to drive the next day. Maybe there is some other explanation nowadays? I don't know.

Monaco hosted their first F1 Grand Prix in 1950. It was also the second F1 race ever driven. Back then it was just sick how many laps they drove! 100 laps and it took over 3 hours!! Monaco has hosted GP's also before the F1 series started. The first race was in 1929.

The first F1 race in Monaco was won by Juan Manuel Fangio who started from pole and also set the fastest lap of the race. 9 cars crashed on the first lap and one car on the second. Only 7 cars finished the race and Fangio was much faster than everybody else! Alberto Ascari was 2nd 1 lap behind, Louis Chiron was 3rd 2 laps behind, Raymond Sommer 4th 3 laps behind, Prince Bira 5th 5 laps behind, Bob Gerard 6th 6 laps behind and Johnny Claes 7th also 6 laps behind.

The next time they held an official GP in Monaco was in 1955 and it has been a part of the calendar since that year.

In 1959 Monaco was the first race of the season and Jack Brabham won the race. He was such a super driver! He had his own team and won a championship with it. Who else has done that?

Monaco started the F1 season many times after 1959 but when they wanted more races in the calendar they had to fit in other races before it. The race in Monaco has always been in May.

I could talk about Monaco for days so let's stop here about the history and move on to statistics instead. Maybe I'll talk a bit about history as well.. can't control myself when it's Monaco we are talking about.

Most wins in Monaco: Ayrton Senna, 6 wins. 1984-1993 the Monaco GP was only won by Ayrton Senna or Alain Prost. Senna could have probably won in 1984 if the race wouldn't have been stopped. In 1988 he led the race almost 1 minute over Prost but made a mistake when McLaren told him several times to slow down.

Most wins by constructor - McLaren, 15 wins. Senna 5 times, Prost 4 times, Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton once and David Coulthard 2 times.

The fastest lap in Monaco is 1:14.439 and it was set by Michael Schumacher in 2004.

The track length is 3.340km and they are lapping it 78 times.

Then it's time for my predictions. Yes I know that I haven't talked much about this year's race but I'll focus on this year when the race is over.

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

The race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Sergio Perez has pushed hard in Monaco but failed almost every time. Maybe he will succeed this year?

Remember to post your own predictions to our F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE.

POINTS: 1st - 3
2nd - 5
3rd - 10

+ possible bonus points

HOW IT WORKS: the aim of the game is simply predict who comes where in the race (top3). A total of 18 points can be won on a race day. For example if you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PREDICTIONS: send an email to f14lifeblog@gmail.com or message the Facebook page to submit your predictions. You have until lights out to make them. If you submit them when the race has started they won't count. So be quick!

THE PRIZE: the winner of the league will win themselves a admin place on the F1 4 LIFE page along side AE, JT, MW, MH, JI & PM. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway.

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