Mclaren will be hoping they can strike it lucky on the streets of Monte Carlo this weekend after the team suffered another poor weekend in Barcelona.
Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen finished in eleventh and twelfth respectively in Spain, despite a number of upgrades being fitted. But the Woking outfit will be hoping Monaco can provide some much needed good fortune.
“I hope we can enjoy a better race than our two previous outings,” said a hopeful Button. “We’ll need to get the absolute maximum from the car in qualifying and on the first lap to be in with a chance to put up a fair showing.”
Button is relishing the chance to tackle the streets for the first time in a turbocharged F1 car, but is hoping the new style of F1 can live up to previous years on the famous street circuit.
“I think this event will show us the most pronounced difference between ‘old F1’ and the new formula. There’s far less of an aerodynamic influence here – it’s just about bolting as much to the car as possible in a bid to find grip – so I think the engine’s influence will be greater.”
Magnussen is also looking forward to Monaco. The Danish driver says he is feeling more and more confident with each race and believes that the team are moving in the right direction.
“I’m happier with the car, not just in terms of my own driving, but also with the way I work with my engineers to set it up. We haven’t totally cracked it, but things are going in the right direction.”
Although this will be Magnussen’s first Monaco appearance in a Formula One car, he has competed there in a World Series race, and he hopes he can use this experience to have a solid weekend. “My (World Series) race in Monaco last year was a bit of a missed opportunity,” said the rookie. “I didn’t hook it all together and ended up finishing only fourth – so, more than anything, I want to have a clean and constructive race this weekend.”
Racing Director Eric Boullier would also like a strong, clean weekend, but will also be hoping lady luck can give Mclaren a bit of a helping hand. “As in its famous casino, you can sometimes collect if you play your luck – Of course, we’ll be relying on a little more than luck this weekend!”
“Monaco is always a bit of a one-off, a racetrack on which you can sometimes achieve more than you can on more conventional circuits. We’ll be bringing a track-specific package to this race but, at the moment, we’re not targeting any particular race as the start of an overall turnaround.”
