By Jamie Makin
May 19 2005

The race through the tight and twisty streets of Monte Carlo may be the most glamorous event of the year for fans and sponsors, but for the teams and drivers it is by far the toughest. Just keeping the car out of the armco and getting it to the finish line is a victory in itself. The SAUBER PETRONAS team has only finished in 12 starts out of 22 in the principality. However, five of those finishes yielded the team points as front-runners dropped out.

The races has seen the highest of the highs an the lowest of the lows for the team. Despite the challenges faced, the team recorded their best-ever Formula One finish when Johnny Herbert found himself on the third step of the podium when he was the last car running. Teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen fell short of finishing but was still classified fourth in the rain-soaked race.

The lowest point in the team's history came in 1994 when Karl Wendlinger crashed hard during practice sustaining serious head injuries. This came on he heels of the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger in San Marino two weeks earlier. The team withdrew both C13's on the grounds of safety that year.

Last year was an equally mixed bag of results for the team. Giancarlo Fisichella rolled his C23 against the armco barrier in a collision with David Coulthard obscured in the smoke of Takuma Sato's Honda engine failure. Fisichella was unhurt but could not continue in the race. Felipe Massa turned around the team's fortunes though, climbing up to finish in 5th place after a lowly 16th place start.

Qualifying is critical on the tight city streets as overtaking is close to impossible. The track also places special demands on the car which Technical Director Willy Rampf explained in detail.

"Monaco is a great challenge, both to the drivers and to the engineers. It is a maximum downforce circuit, and we will be bringing a revised aero package to Monte Carlo to achieve this. Unlike other tracks, the speeds are relatively low so that pure efficiency is less important than outright downforce.

"Traction is also crucial. The C24 is much improved in that respect, and we are continually refining our traction control settings, but you need to make sure the engine does not suffer. The track is also tough on the drivetrain; due to the high number of corners and the associated braking and acceleration, we have more gear changes there than anywhere else. Among other modifications are revised front suspension geometry to facilitate more steering lock specifically for this track, and further refinement of the power steering.

"The brake material for this track has to offer a high level of controllability and consistency to avoid severe wheel locking, but also needs good performance as there is no long straight to cool down. Tyre wear could be an issue as we use the softest tyre compounds of the whole year. The track itself only offers low grip as it is used for public traffic.

"Overall, our target is to combine good grip and traction with neutral handling balance. The car needs to behave with precision because the run-off areas are very limited, and they are one-way!"

SAUBER PETRONAS - Prior Results at Monte Carlo, Monaco:

• Starts: 22 (1993, 1995 - 2004)
• Finishes: 12 (54.5 %)
• Best Finish: 3rd, Johnny Herbert, 1996
• Average Finish: 7.7
• Best Qualifying: 7th, Johnny Herbert, 1997
• Average Qualifying: 13.1