Marko Names Rival Driver He Expects 'Expects A Lot' From In Monaco

Tuesday, 21 May 2024 at 22:00

Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko revealed which driver from a different team he expects to be the main candidate for the victory in Monaco.

The Monaco Grand Prix is a unique race. While everyone wants to see F1 cars flying through the streets of Monaco, the race result tends to be decided already during Saturday's qualifying rather than the Grand Prix race on Sunday.

Many drivers (like Daniel Ricciardo) and fans said they didn't enjoy last week's race at Imola Circuit as there was very little overtaking. That makes sense because Imola is the second circuit with the lowest average number of overtakes in the F1 calendar.

However, if you didn't like the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, brace yourself for this week's race in Monaco—the first track with the lowest average number of overtakes on the F1 calendar.

As it stands, there are three main candidate teams for the win. Depending on which team can deal with the bumpy street circuit, it should come down to any of the drivers from Red Bull, McLaren, or Ferrari. Marko hinted he expects this to be Red Bull's worst race so far, as he told De Telegraaf:

"We must certainly take up the challenge with McLaren. And now we go to Monaco and there it's almost all about qualifying. I think that will be the most difficult race for us so far, also because of the bumps and curbs there."

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The team that has performed well on the bumpy street circuits like Singapore or Las Vegas lately has been Ferrari, and analysts tend to agree the team from Maranello might have a real shot to score big in Monaco this time.

Marko also said he expects a lot from the Italian team and suggested he expects a lot from Charles Leclerc, the man from Monaco who is regarded as one of the best qualifying drivers on the grid.

"I also expect a lot from Ferrari and especially from Charles Leclerc."

The 26-year-old really wants to win his home Grand Prix, and he came incredibly close on quite a few occasions, but it somehow always slipped right through his fingers.

Leclerc has been so unlucky at his home Grand Prix that people have started calling it the "Monaco curse." However, the Monegasque driver does not believe in such things and will be ready to fight for the victory next week.