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."


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










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.”

Mercedes technical director James Allison says the run of six races in eight weeks starting with Monaco will “test” the team because of how quickly performance can change under the 2026 rules. Allison said: "After Monaco [there is] an intense period of six races in just eight weeks. This is an unusual season from a development race point of view - the development rate is really steep, something like a quarter of a second a month. So it's really important for us that we're able to keep performance coming to the car in this next batch of six races."

The FIA has made a late adjustment for this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, cutting the curfew by three hours on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for up to six team members responsible for tyre fitting. In a statement, the FIA said the concession is “due to the unique logistical challenges presented by the Monaco GP” and applies “for the sole purpose of tyre preparations post tyre fitting from the tyre supplier”, with teams required to nominate the personnel in writing before curfew begins.
The Monaco Grand Prix weekend is forecast to be largely clear and dry, with mild temperatures and light winds throughout. Friday could see a stray light shower, drizzle or fog in the morning, with a 30% chance of rain and temperatures of 17.5-20°C. Saturday and Sunday are expected to stay dry with a small 20% chance of a pop-up shower or storm, temperatures around 17-20°C (20.5°C on race day), and generally light to moderate breezes.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has reiterated his push to bring V8 engines back to Formula 1, saying the next power unit should be “simpler, lighter, safer, louder” and less reliant on battery power. In an Instagram post, he wrote: “I am committed to bringing V8s back to Formula 1”, adding: “Ideally by 2030, but certainly by 2031 as part of the next FIA regulations cycle.” Ben Sulayem also argued V8s would mean “very, very minor electrification” and “reduced battery dependency”.




Nico Rosberg said his relationship with Lewis Hamilton became “proper war” when they were Mercedes team-mates fighting for the world championship. Rosberg said: "There was no relationship. It's proper war. It's like war. No relationship. Don't talk. War! Yes, but when you fight for a world championship, you will always compromise the friendship for getting the world championship, unfortunately. It's such a big dream that you'll choose the world championship over that friendship."

George Russell says he would be willing to team up with Max Verstappen in future, either as Formula 1 team-mates or by sharing a seat in another category, despite their uneasy relationship after a public war of words in late 2024. Russell said: "Never say never. Who knows? As I said, never say never. Max is obviously one of the best. I was asked a lot last year about being teammates with him, but more in Formula 1 rather than sharing a seat. I'm up for it and would relish the opportunity to always go against the best. As any driver, you want to go head to head with the best."
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer says Red Bull’s only “saving grace” heading into the Monaco Grand Prix is the compliance they found with a set-up change between the Sprint and qualifying. Palmer said: "The only saving grace for Red Bull I saw was the change they made from the Sprint to qualifying, where they found a good chunk of compliance. Looking through the sector times, Max and Isack were really quick in the first sector, so that's the only hope I could see for him, and maybe they did find something there that brought them closer towards the picture at the front."

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