Monaco GP: Williams technical preview

Talking technical

Car dynamics

Average turn angle indicates the average angle of a circuit's corners expressed in degrees. The higher the average turn angle, the more acute the corners in the circuit's configuration and the greater propensity for understeer to compromise lap time. At Monaco, the average turn angle is 950, against a season average of 1100, ranking it as the circuit with the 5th lowest average turn angle across the Championship.

The end of straight (EOS) speed at Monaco was 286kp/h in 2008. Monaco ranks as having the slowest EOS speed on the 2009 calendar, and this is one indicator of the wing level typically selected to optimise the downforce/drag ratio. Meanwhile, Monaco has the slowest average lap speed of any of the tracks on the calendar.

Pitlane & refuelling strategy

The pitlane length and profile (i.e. corners in the pitlane entry) contribute to the determination of the optimum fuel strategy. The pitlane loss at Monaco is approximately 17.8 seconds, the 14th most penalising pitlane in the Championship. To complete a normalised distance of 5km around the Monte Carlo circuit requires 2.58kg of fuel against an average of 2.42kg per 5km across all circuits this season, making the circuit the 2nd most demanding track of the year in terms of fuel consumption.

Safety car

Another key contributor to the determination of race strategy is the likelihood of safety car deployments, which are influenced by weather considerations, the availability of clear run-off areas that allow racing to continue while recovery takes place and the circuit profile, especially the character of the entry and exit into turn one at the start of the race. Since the 2000 Monaco Grand Prix, there have been 7 safety car deployments, making it statistically likely that the circuit's character will induce safety car periods.

Temperature, pressure & humidity

As an example, it is a long observed tradition that drivers arriving at Interlagos complain about a lack of grip and an absence of engine power. Having become acquainted with a baseline of engine and aerodynamic performance during the season, the climb to 750 metres above sea level for one of the final races can, courtesy of the reduction in air density, rob a Formula One car of engine power, aerodynamic performance and cooling. The losses can come close to double digit percentages and thus have a very real impact on car performance. Air density is a factor of the prevailing ambient temperature, which varies most significantly by season, air pressure which is closely linked to altitude and, to a much smaller degree, by humidity. Thus if races are run at the same time each year, the factor that tends to have the greatest bearing on air density is elevation. Like half the races on the calendar, Monaco is close to sea level, ranging from 2m to 29m above, and has an average pressure (1,014 mbar).

* Please note these statistics do not take into consideration Abu Dhabi.

-credit: williams