Felipe Massa: Monaco Grand Prix even tougher with 2014 F1 cars
Felipe Massa believes this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix will be the toughest race of the 2014 Formula 1 season
The Brazilian, who took pole position for the 2008 Monte Carlo event, believes the combination of lower downforce and increased engine torque thanks to this year's regulations will make Monaco tougher than ever for the drivers.
"I think Monaco will be a very, very difficult race," said Massa when asked by AUTOSPORT about the challenge of driving the latest generation of car on the Monte Carlo streets.
"We drive with the car a lot more sideways.
"The torque we have from the engine is maybe double what we had last year, and the grip from the tyre is not very high, so Monaco will be a very easy race to crash.
"I think it will be the toughest race of the season."
Force India driver Sergio Perez agreed that Monaco would present a particularly tough challenge, especially as the rear tyres go off.
"It is going to be a very interesting one - you will see a lot of drivers bouncing off the barriers," said the Mexican.
"These cars are really tricky to drive. If you hit some degradation it will be very hard to do anything."
SMEDLEY DENIES CHALLENGE WILL CHANGE
But Williams's head of vehicle performance, Rob Smedley, played down the prospect of this year's Monaco race being substantially different to any other, despite the technical changes to the cars.
"Fundamentally Monte Carlo is always Monte Carlo - I don't think it's going to be really any different to when we've been there in the past," he said.
"Monaco has always been rear, longitudinal wear limited; for as long as I've done Formula 1 we've always worn out the rear tyres during the race.
"You can allow yourself a bigger margin of degradation, because of how difficult it is to pass there, but the person who manages to keep his rear tyres alive and wear them out less than the other drivers will be the person who dominates.
"It is a different technical regime of the cars,but will it change the spectacle of Monaco? Will it change how we operate? No it won't."
Sir Jack Brabham, three-time F1 champion, dies aged 88
Tributes to three-time F1 world champion Sir Jack Brabham
Tanak scores first Puma win in preparation for WRC Rally Sweden
Ott Tanak claimed his first victory driving an M-Sport Ford Puma after winning the Otepaa Winter Rally in preparation for next week’s World Rally Championship round in Sweden.
Ranking the worst Formula 1 cars to win a grand prix
Cars that rarely looked like contenders for victory have occasionally slipped through the net to become winners of world championship Formula 1 races. But which was the worst of the bunch?
Schumacher radio criticism highlighted F1 privacy change for Russell
George Russell says that the way an off-the-cuff radio remark criticising Mick Schumacher last year became a big deal shows how he is more under the spotlight in Formula 1.
Newgarden impressed by Chevrolet on IndyCar's new renewable fuel
Two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden says he’s been impressed with the drivability of his Chevrolet engine following the switch to renewable fuel and has seen no loss in performance.
How Tyrrell became a racing Rubik’s cube as it faded out of F1
Formula 1’s transformation into a global sport meant the gradual extinction for a small team determined to stay true to its low-budget roots. But Tyrrell would eventually be reborn as a world-beating outfit again, explains MAURICE HAMILTON, albeit in different colours…
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return
He has more starts without a podium than anyone else in Formula 1 world championship history, but Nico Hulkenberg is back for one more shot with Haas. After spending three years on the sidelines, the revitalised German is aiming to prove to his new team what the F1 grid has been missing
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.