Kamui Kobayashi is predicting a good race for his Sauber team in Monaco this weekend, revealing that the Hinwil-based team have done a lot of work on the C30 for slow corners, of which there are plenty in Monte Carlo.
The Japanese driver is unsure about whether the DRS will make a difference in this race, and also mentioned the financial affairs of some of his fellow drivers:
“I think Monaco is a very nice circuit and it is also very exciting to be racing there,” he said. “Last year it was a very difficult race for us, but I think this year it is going to be different. We have been working a lot on our car for the slow corners, and I hope we have a good performance there.
“I think it is still going to be very hard to overtake, but maybe there will now be a chance with the rear wing system. But we never know, and it may also be risky. I think it helps if you are a driver living there, and you also get tax relief!”
Team-mate Sergio Perez is also a big fan of this famous race, and it is one he has been looking forward to very much. “I love that tight street circuit – it is one of my favourites,” said the Mexican. “Last year I won the GP2 feature race there and now I can't wait to get my first Monaco Grand Prix under my belt.
“It will be a very special weekend for me. It is the race I was waiting for and on this circuit a driver can make a bigger difference than on others. The atmosphere is great and, of course, it is the Grand Prix every driver wants to win in his career.”
Sauber Technical Director James Key reveals that the team will be bringing more upgrades to Monaco, and is interested to see how the super soft Pirelli tyre performs on its race debut.
“We will bring a few new aerodynamic and mechanical parts to the race, in the hope we can improve our car particularly for the nature of Monaco, which is high downforce and quite a big dependence on mechanical grip,” Key explained. “We will have some parts, in some cases specifically for that race, and in others just general developments which will go on the car in Monaco.
“I think the things to watch out for will obviously be the tyres. It is the first time this season we will be running the super soft tyre. We ran it in winter testing, but that was in Barcelona and Jerez, not in Monaco with a very slow speed track and possibly high track temperatures. We will have to re-learn a litte bit about how the super soft tyre is working, but certainly in winter testing it was quite a good tyre. It will be interesting to see how that lasts and how its degradation is. Then the soft tyre is the prime tyre which we are fairly familiar with, so there will be a bit of learning on that. I think from a driver point of view we know both of ours are fairly strong at Monaco.”
