Monaco 2011 - GP Preview - Force India Mercedes

Vijay Mallya: Few sporting events can rival the glamour and spectacle of the Monaco Grand Prix. It’s a truly unique event that sums up what Formula One is all about and a weekend that everybody enjoys.

Our approach to Monaco will be similar to Barcelona as we continue to evaluate our new aero platform. It’s especially challenging to introduce this without in-season testing and it will take time for us to fully understand and bring through this new philosophy. We will therefore continue to run elements of the new package this weekend so that we can have a phased-introduction over the next few races.

We saw in Barcelona just how competitive Formula One is at the moment and the teams around us in the midfield are all quite evenly matched. I expect another close fight in Monaco, but we will be pushing hard to be at the head of the midfield group to try and pick up some more points.

Paul di Resta: Monaco is one of those races that every driver dreams about. It’s one of the most challenging circuits of the year and one of the ‘big’ races in motorsport. Monaco is also where I live these days, which means I will have two ‘home’ races this year. With all the yachts in the harbour there is always a real buzz to the place and I know it’s going to be an exciting weekend.

Obviously to go around the streets in a Formula One car, where I normally drive my road car, will feel very special. I’ve raced there before in Formula 3, but that was six years ago and it will feel totally different in a Formula One car.

Qualifying is normally the key in Monaco. It used to decide your race. We’ll have to see if it’s any different this year with the nature of the Pirelli tyres and the different strategies, but I think overtaking will still be very difficult. I’m definitely looking forward to the challenge.

Adrian Sutil: Monaco is a very special place for me. I’ve always liked street circuits, but I also have great memories there. It’s a circuit where I’ve usually gone well and 2008 was a great race for me, even though we didn’t get the result we deserved.

It’s a special race weekend in general. It’s a little bit longer because you have Friday free and you can let all the glamour soak in. But after the weekend it’s nice to go back home and back to reality.

Monaco has no margin for error. Some of the modern circuits are too easy, but Monaco is a real old traditional place. The barriers are close but you respect the limit more and you have to build your speed up slowly through the weekend so that you don’t go over the limit.

A race against the clock

Moving the race team from Barcelona to Monaco in just a couple of days is not without its challenges, especially where the team’s three-storey hospitality unit is concerned. In fact it took a group of eight people almost 18 hours after the race in Barcelona to break it down and pack it away into six trailers. After that, 12 drivers set off in the trucks to begin the 700km journey to Monaco arriving late on Monday evening.

Setting up in Monaco isn’t exactly straightforward either because you can’t necessarily begin straight away. That’s because the vast city of ‘motorhomes’ have to be built in order. So it could be Tuesday before the set-up crew can start thinking about rebuilding the unit. When they do get started, it takes the best part of a day to get everything in place and operational.