Martin Brundle says George Russell must keep the faith that “what goes around comes around” after the Mercedes driver fell 43 points behind his teenage team-mate Kimi Antonelli. Brundle said: "George Russell is now 43 points behind his teenage team-mate, that's equivalent to a first and second place, and he has to believe that what goes around comes around. There's still a very long way to go, but McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull are not going to stand still either."

Liam Lawson says Racing Bulls must “maximise every session” at the Monaco Grand Prix after what he described as a mixed weekend for the team in Canada, where team-mate Arvid Lindblad failed to start because of a gearbox problem on the grid. Lawson said: "We're coming into Monaco after a mixed weekend for the team in Canada, where there were positives to take away but also things we know we can improve on. Monaco presents a completely different challenge, so it's important that we maximise every session and build confidence quickly. It's a track where precision is everything, so we hope to put together a strong weekend for the team."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says his team still believes it can fight for the Formula 1 championship this season despite a start he described as “definitely below” expectations. Stella said: "It's definitely below what would have been our expectation to be in contention for the championship, but at the same time, we want to take the positives. It's still five races out of at least 22 – we will see if the Middle East races will be recovered... and we are definitely believers that the championship is not signed off. We want the championship to be decided in Abu Dhabi."
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin is making progress by fine-tuning its AMR26, even though the team will not bring upgrades until after the summer break. Alonso said: "There is progress every time we hit the track; there are new things on the car, on the engine, on the settings, and on the gearbox from Miami [to Canada], and we improved a lot the gearbox, the gear sync, the down-shifting. How that translates into lap-time is difficult to quantify, but we were definitely faster than in Miami with exactly the same car, just because we fine-tune things."

Charles Leclerc says Ferrari “need to be careful” about Mercedes at the Monaco Grand Prix, after rivals suggested Ferrari are favourites for pole in Monte Carlo. Leclerc said: "We need to be careful. I think Mercedes is a very, very, very strong team and a very all-rounded team, whether it's in corners or on the straight. If there's one race this year where I feel we could have more of a shot at pole, [it] will be Monaco, and I hope it can be the case."
Gabriel Bortoleto says Max Verstappen has done “a lot” for him while “expecting nothing in return”, leaving the Audi driver “extremely grateful” to the four-time champion. Bortoleto said: "He's just a guy that does a lot for you, expecting nothing [in return], and these types of people are special people, and I'm going to be extremely grateful for the rest of my life. So, hopefully one day I can do the same for another kid that he did for me."

Honda trackside general manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara said the manufacturer has run Monaco-specific simulator work with Aston Martin to optimise energy management for the Monte Carlo weekend. Orihara said: "Circuit de Monaco is very unique, and our power units require dedicated preparation to adapt to the conditions. We have conducted specific driver-in-the-loop sessions at the AMR Technology Campus to optimise our energy management settings."




Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will race with the designs of their newly released McLaren special edition Lego helmets in Formula 1's Monaco Grand Prix








Cadillac team principal Graeme Lowdon said the team “has to be ready for whatever’s thrown at us” amid uncertainty over Formula 1’s future engine direction, after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem indicated he wants a return to normally aspirated V8s by 2031 at the latest. Graeme Lowdon said: "To a large extent, we've had to be ready to react to anything. All of that said, typically, regulatory stability is one of the things that leads to close racing... in a basic summary, I would say: we have to be ready for whatever's thrown at us. This is a competition, and we respect the regulations, and whatever form those regulations take, we have to cater for that."



Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari are “massively down” on Mercedes for power but believes the Monaco Grand Prix could still give him a chance because it is a track where power is less decisive. Hamilton said: “That’s [Monaco] the one track that power is not king. I think that’s definitely [dependent on pure] car performance. I think our car could be really strong there. And if you take away the power deficit, we’re in the fight with these guys, but unfortunately that’s not the way it is today. So that’s how much grunt that they have and we’re massively down.”

Mattia Binotto says Audi already has the fourth-best chassis on the grid in its first season as a works outfit, based on the team’s analysis and discussions with its drivers. Mattia Binotto said: "I'm very pleased by the chassis. Even discussing that with drivers, not only GPS telemetry analysis. First, we got a good correlation with the wind tunnel and the simulator. But, I think our car is pretty fast in the corners. We believe that maybe we're even the fourth team in terms of chassis, which as an ex-Sauber, it's an outstanding result."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team dropped its new front wing after first practice at the Canadian Grand Prix because it showed an aerodynamic “deviation” and early data suggested it would not be a “game changer” in Montreal, so McLaren wanted more testing before committing to it. Stella said: "We knew that this front wing had some element of deviation from an aerodynamic point of view. So we've tested the wing. We want to repeat some testing and gain some further information. And also for this kind of circuit, the wing would have been better, but it wouldn't have been a game changer. So before we adopted [it] in a sprint event, we wanted to be just more reassured that we understand the full extent of the changes we're making on the car."

Lando Norris says Ferrari will be the favourites for pole position at the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix because of their low-speed performance. Norris said: "Honestly, I think that Ferrari will be on pole next weekend in Monaco. Their low-speed performance is far better than everyone else."




Length of lap 3.337 km Lap record 1:12.909, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 2021 Start line / Finish line offset 0.0 km Total number of race laps 78 Total race distance 260.286 km Pitlane speed limits 60 km/h in practice, qualifying and the race CIRCUIT CHANGES The track has been resurfaced in a number of areas. These are: from Turn 19 to Turn 1; the Turn 5 run-off; from Turn 7 to the entry of the tunnel, and at the pit entry and pit exit. Extended debris fences have been installed at: the pit exit; Turn 1 on the left-hand side; Turn 3 on the left-hand side; from Turn 4 to Turn 5 on the right hand-side, and at Turn 10 on the left- and right-hand sides. The entry gate at the front of the grid (grid position 5) has been moved. The guardrail at Turn 3 has been realigned and extended on the left side, while the one at Turn 10 has also been extended and the opening reduced. The guardrails at Turn 11 and Turn 12 have been extended, while an additional line of guardrail has been added at the pit entry. On the left-hand side of Turn 4 the tyres have been replaced by Tecpro. The beginning of the kerb on the left-hand side at Turn 6 had been made smoother and the entire kerb at Turn 7 on the left-hand side has also been smoothed. The sausage kerbs at Turn 10 and Turn 16 have been reduced in height.





Alpine head into the Monaco Grand Prix looking to build on its strongest points haul of the 2026 season so far in Canada, with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto both targeting another top-10 result. Gasly said: “We come off the back of our best team result of the season in Canada with a big haul of points,” adding that Monaco and Barcelona are a “double header… where we aim to continue our points-scoring streak”. Colapinto said Alpine’s “target is to once again finish in the top-10 and continue our solid performance.”

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