Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto expect the 2026 F1 cars to be tricky and challenging at the Monaco GP.
The low-grip conditions in Canada caught out almost everyone as the cars slid around in corners. It was challenging for drivers to not go over the white line in the new generation of cars. Even though the cars are smaller and nimble, it still slides around, where the drivers have to constantly catch it.
While in Canada, they had run-off to catch the cars, it will not be same in Monaco, where the walls are pretty close. Alpine’s Gasly highlights the unpredictability of the 2026 cars as key point, which will make life difficult for everyone in the narrow streets of Monaco.
Gasly assess 2026 cars to be challenging in F1 Monaco GP
“Yeah, I think it could prove to be quite challenging, but a bit similar to the start of the race in Canada, it was very, very challenging, low grip conditions in Monaco with these cars,” said Gasly in the print media pen after Canada. “You see how much we were struggling on braking, you see how easy it is to lock the wheels.
“I feel these cars are a bit more unpredictable than they used to be in terms of, like, braking, arriving speed, deployment, etc., so it could prove to be quite tricky around Monaco, but that’s what we’re sure it’s going to be,” summed up Gasly, who finished eighth in Canada.
Colapinto agrees with Gasly regarding F1 Monaco GP
The Frenchman had a torrid weekend, where he felt something fundamentally wrong with his car, but managed to eke out a points result. Teammate Colapinto had a much better weekend to register his best result of sixth. However, the Argentine concurs with Gasly about Monaco GP.
He feels the cars will be very slow, especially since the clipping is positioned earlier than normal tracks. He senses power boost in the corners unlike before. But the strange feeling will be at the end of the straights when they will be a lot slower.
Cars feels slow in F1 Monaco GP
“I did a few laps in the sim,” said Colapinto. “I’m not sure of how it’s going to be the energy, but from what I know, it doesn’t feel very fast in the straights. It actually feels very slow because we have an earlier clip compared to normal tracks than Monaco.
“That’s a bit weird, how slow we are in the top speeds. But then we have so much power out of the corners, because we have an earlier deployment, and then it clips, which makes it really strange how much power you have out of the corners in a pretty tricky track.
“That is a place that should be a bit more managed, but then quite slow at the end of the straights. Let’s see how it is. Hopefully it is much more natural and better. [But it will be] much more challenging. I think it’s going to be much more difficult in Monaco than last year,” summed up Colapinto.
