Chester: Monaco, a real one-off compared to any other track we visit

Technical Director Nick Chester looks forward to Monaco and talks about the particularities of racing in the Principality.

Can you explain the unique challenges of Monaco and what they mean for the team?

Monaco is very different from anywhere else. It is a slow speed track, extremely narrow and very bumpy being a street circuit. It’s a real one-off compared to any other track we visit. This means that the car set-up is significantly different also. We will have a high downforce package specifically for Monte Carlo and we will take with us some of the work we’ve done at the Barcelona test this week - specific set up work focussed on Monaco.

It’s a street course with little grip, no run-offs, close barriers, track evolution, high downforce, softest tyres – what are the implications of all these factors?

It’s a track where the drivers have to build up through the Thursday sessions as it takes a little bit of time getting back into. The surface evolution is massive and even through the two practice sessions on the Thursday it easily picks up a couple of seconds. The grip is improving very quickly and the drivers have to adapt to that as well as adapting back to a circuit that is so narrow and rough. We will have the Pirelli’s soft and the super soft compounds in Monaco and indeed you need the softest tyres possible at that track.

Does running on Thursday, but then not on Friday make a difference?

It definitely does make a difference. The track would have improved significantly throughout Thursday to then lose grip again with no running on the Friday, when the roads will have been open to the public all day and night. The track grip then improves again through FP3 and Qualifying and the circuit is significantly quicker by the end of the Grand Prix.

Monaco’s notoriously difficult for overtaking, so what does that mean for the race strategy?

With very few overtaking opportunities, qualifying position is key but the particularities of the track are an extra challenge on race day. The track evolution during the race is such that when you are working out how much the tyres are degrading it can be tricky as the track is getting quicker and the tyres are getting slower. This may look quite odd but it’s a real challenge that we must carefully take into consideration when making strategic decisions.

In Barcelona we saw exploding bodywork, jaunty endplates, and some challenging pit stops. What’s been going on?

Barcelona was a busy weekend with a lot going on! On the Friday morning we had a gearbox problem on Pastor’s car; it was a fairly minor one that we fixed for FP2. In the afternoon, we had some fixings break which caused for bodywork to come off on Romain’s car. It was repaired and then the bodywork was fine. In the race, there was a bit of a tangle between the drivers and as a result it weakened the end plate on Pastor’s car and then it broke. We decided to continue to run until we were sure that there weren’t going to be opportunities for points and then it was sensible to retire the car. Romain had a gear problem during the race which he managed very well. We are currently investigating what had caused the issue. And both drivers stopped long at their pit stops on Sunday…

How are the pit crew?

I’m glad to say that they are okay. Harry, who does the left front wing flap adjust, had his foot trapped slightly during Pastor’s stop. Jason, who is the front jack man, took a bit of a hit when Romain stopped long and it certainly looked quite dramatic! Craig, whose position is ‘right front wheel off’, was also caught in the action during Romain’s stop. There are some bruises but they are all good. Again, the pit crew are doing an amazing job and they kept their cool in difficult circumstances.

How much of a challenge is it working in Monaco with the small garages set away from the rest of the team’s set-up?

It’s a bit more challenging as everything is a lot tighter – the garages are small, the offices are tight, the tyres are kept at the back and everything is narrow – but it isn’t that bad in reality compared to years ago when we used to work at the harbour and move the cars and all the kit into the pitlane for each session! So yes, the venue is different to anywhere else but we are well used to it.