WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Round 5 and the keys to Monte Carlo mastery

It’s the one they all want to win more than any other: Monte Carlo.

The Formula 2 paddock heads straight to the Principality for the crown jewel event of the season for Round 5, and after yet another change of Championship leader, who will steal the initiative this time?

Here’s a few items to keep a close eye on this weekend around Monaco.

QUALIFYING GROUPS

As is always the case in Monte Carlo, the field is split into two groups for the all-important Qualifying session.

The odd-numbered cars are in one group, the even-numbered cars in the other. Which order they run in is determined by the draw held in the Drivers’ Briefing on Wednesday ahead of the on-track action getting underway, with Group A followed by Group B.

While you might expect that it’s Group B that holds a huge advantage over Group A, three of the last four Monte Carlo F2 pole sitters have been drawn in Group A.

Perhaps the pressure ramping up with a target to beat is the difference maker around a circuit that demands drivers get into a perfect rhythm and fly by their instincts.

Or will the improvement in track conditions make it too much to overcome for those in Group A, who have to run first and further clear up the track for their rivals yet to venture out?

The smallest track temperature and grip change can make all the difference, which makes Friday’s grid-setting session absolutely unmissable.

STRATEGY GAMBLES

If things don’t go your way on Friday, don’t worry, there’s always a game of luck to be played around the streets of Monte Carlo.

While Casino Square might be more associated with a gamble, strategy means that a bad start to the weekend doesn’t spell the end for hopes of points or even podiums.

Perhaps the best demonstration of this point comes from our most recent Feature Race around the Principality, where ART Grand Prix and rookie Zak O’Sullivan confounded the field to take victory against all the odds.

Having started from P15 on the grid, his weekend was an uphill struggle from the moment Qualifying ended, yet a strategic gamble paid off and then some on Sunday.

Running the alternative strategy, O’Sullivan was essentially hanging out as long as possible before making his pitstop in the hopes a Safety Car would play into his hands.

In the final laps, contact between Zane Maloney and Joshua Duerksen prompted the Safety Car appearance they’d been hoping for.

With just two laps to go, the Briton made his mandatory stop and emerged ahead of Isack Hadjar, who’d looked set to cruise to victory had the race gone green to the end.

O’Sullivan held off the future Racing Bulls F1 charger to earn his maiden F2 victory in the most dramatic of circumstances. It left Hadjar and Campos speechless in parc ferme, the same as ART and their race-winning driver, for altogether different reasons.

WATCH THE SKIES

There’s nothing quite like the challenge of Monte Carlo, which makes the weekend so special.

But that challenge gets cranked up to 11 when the skies darken, and rain begins to fall around the already incredibly tricky street circuit.

Everyone’s best-laid plans will fall by the wayside, and it becomes a game of survival as much as speed of who can be the bravest. Those demands increase tenfold should the session start dry and then turn wet or vice versa.

So, you might want to keep up to date with what the weather will do this weekend, particularly on Saturday, with the chance of rain hanging around 50% throughout the day. That would make the Sprint Race an altogether different proposition for the teams and drivers.