Alonso ready for guessing game in Monaco

WORLD champion Fernando Alonso admits he must rely on guesswork as he bids for a first Monaco Grand Prix win this weekend.
       The Renault driver arrives in the principality with a 15-point lead over Michael Schumacher in the standings but cannot afford the kind of slip which hit his chances last year.
       The wrong tyre choice in 2005 wrecked his hopes of victory but Alonso admits the Monaco streets are too unpredictable to guarantee a similar mistake will not happen again.
       He said: “It is nearly impossible and in Monaco sometimes you have to guess a little bit with set-up and make changes thinking about qualifying and the race, not the immediate moment.
       “The circuit starts the weekend very dirty and cleans up with every lap, getting better and better all the time. So you have to have some guesses and put a set-up on the car, then work from there.’’
       The Spaniard admits he is no great fan of Formula One’s only true street circuit, claiming the tight confines make it impossible for drivers to clock a perfect lap.
       He added: “Monaco is different to anywhere else, completely different.
       “First of all, we run a special set-up to cope with the bumps and tight corners, so the car feels very different and is quite hard to drive.
       “The circuit is so tight that it is hard to get the car and tyres to the maximum, or to use maximum power on this track.
       “At the end of the day, from the point of view of getting maximum performance from a Formula One car, this is not my favorite circuit.’’
       The unique characteristics of the track, which is a main road through the principality for the rest of the year, mean drivers face a step into the unknown when practice begins today. Alonso’s teammate Giancarlo Fisichella expects to take his time before he dares go flat out on the concrete-lined streets.
       He said: “It is really unusual. The feeling is very different compared to the first laps of the weekend at a normal circuit.
       “You go round the first few times and you’re telling yourself that it’s impossible to drive on the limit at this track.
       “Then, after 10 or 15 laps, you get more confidence, you feel more comfortable, you start braking later, and you find the limit.’’
       Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, hopes to pull off a double this weekend.
       A victory in Monaco would be his second straight in Formula One’s most prestigious race, an apt way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of McLaren-Mercedes’ first race in F1.
       It won’t be easy. No driver has won two in a row on the quirky street course since Michael Schumacher did it in ’94 and ’95.
       “To lay the foundation for a good result you have to perform well in qualifying,” Raikkonen said. “In Monaco overtaking is almost impossible as the track is so twisty and narrow. Because of this, I am sure we will see some interesting strategies from all the teams. You need to be precise.”
       Raikkonen won last year on the 3.34-km (2.076-mile) circuit, claiming an easy victory from the pole.
       Alonso has won three of the six races this season, with two victories for seven-time champion Schumacher and one for Alonso’s Renault teammate Fisichella.
       Alonso has never won in Monaco, and his best finish was a modest fourth last year. Schumacher has not won at Monte Carlo since 2001 and remains stuck on five victories.
       “I didn’t know it was that long ago,” Schumacher acknowledged. “ I couldn’t care what happens in the past. I just care what happens this year.
       “It will be easier this year rather than last year. Last year it was clear we were not competitive. This year we have a good chance.”
       A sixth win here would match the late Ayrton Senna. But to do it, Schumacher will have to overcome a string of bad luck.
       Seventh last year, in 2004 Schumacher was involved in a crash with Juan Pablo Montoya while he was swerving back and forth, warming his tyres behind a safety car. He finished third in 2003, which came in the middle of four wins over five races.
       In 2002, when Ferrari dominated, he had a four-race winning streak stopped on this course.
       The course is unpredictable, and Schumacher and Alonso know it.
       “You need a little more luck than normal,” Alonso said.
       “Sometimes if you are off in qualifying or in the race, you go into the grass, tires on the outside or on the curb. Here you cannot do any mistake. You go into the wall and your race is finished. You have to be a little bit lucky on that.” Bloomberg with AP