Monaco Grand Prix Tips: George Russell to Win?
The Monaco Grand Prix is synonymous with glitz and glamour, but while the race forms part of motorsport's unofficial Triple Crown, along with the Le Mans 24 Hours and Indianapolis 500, it can often be a frustrating experience for the drivers.
The circuit is not a racetrack at all, but is formed out of the twisting streets that serve the seaside town and is the complete opposite to the kind of roads on which the cars were designed to excel.
That can make for some unusual results, if not the most exciting races, as overtaking is at best very difficult and at worst impossible.
Tip 1 - George Russell to win Monaco Grand Prix @ 16/1
Qualifying well is important everywhere, but it is essential in Monaco given the difficulty in making up places during the race.
World Championship leader Oscar Piastri, his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris and defending champ Max Verstappen have carved up the seven pole positions this season between them.
However, Verstappen's Red Bull did not cope well with the low-speed corners of Monaco last year, as he qualified and finished the race sixth, and it could be a similar story this time.
That would be a welcome scenario for the McLaren drivers, but while their car is the class of the field in race conditions, it is less clear-cut over a single lap.
Norris has found the machine tough to tame on a light fuel load, making several costly errors in qualifying, and while Piastri has three pole positions this year, his form in races has been much better.
Ferrari has been struggling to extract maximum pace in qualifying, so Mercedes could be dark horses in Monaco.
Kimi Antonelli nicked a surprise pole for the Miami sprint race, but his more experienced team-mate, George Russell, has been the more reliable qualifier this season.
His third place on the grid at Imola last week was his fourth top-three grid position of the year, and the Mercedes is one of the few cars that has generally looked better over one lap than in races.
That's not much of an issue at Monaco, where keeping cars behind is no challenge, and Russell could well be in the mix for pole position.
He has been less than two-tenths of a second away from the pole time at each of the last four Grands Prix and should give his backers a good run for their money.
Tip 2 - Fernando Alonso top-10 finish @ 19/20
Fernando Alonso lamented being the "unluckiest driver in the world" as he saw his chances of a decent finish ruined by the timing of safety cars at Imola last week.
However, while he remains without a point this season, the Spanish veteran has cause for optimism given the level of improvement his team showed in Emilia Romagna.
A major package of car upgrades saw Alonso and Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll qualify fifth and eighth at Imola, and had the race proceeded without interruption, they may well have finished close to those positions.
Alonso, a two-time winner at Monaco, is worth a bet to finish in the top 10.