Mario James, Gleaner Writer

McLaren Mercedes' Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain looks at the first training session of Monaco's Formula One Grand Prix in Monte Carlo May 24.

Lewis Hamilton faced his first challenge while testing at Monaco's picturesque Formula One Grand Prix circuit in Monte-Carlo on Thursday when he rubbed the Armco barriers while negotiating Sainte Devote, the first corner after the start/finish line. While the motoring world heaved a collective sigh of relief, the McLaren Mercedes' F1 rookie and leader in the driver's championship walked back to the pit lane unharmed, but distressed along with Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson, who exited the circuit in much the same fashion at the same point in the circuit. Lewis' MP-422 had its front left wheel uncere-moniously removed by the impact.

Briton Hamilton, whose father is Grenadian, was matching team-mate Fernando Alonso (last year's Monaco winner) tit-for-tat leading up to the crash during practice. Not the first time around, the track for Lewis, as he has one F2 races held in the principality.

Switching to F1 from the feeder formulas is a bit like being thrown into the deep end without being able to swim. The most important skill to learn in F1 is not really acceleration, but braking. These carbon-fibre bullets come to a stop from 200+ mph in about five seconds, much of the grip coming from downforce. The trouble is, as the car slows, much of the downforce is lost and the car increasingly relies on mechanical grip to prevent lockup. However, since these cars also weigh-in at around 600 kg (with driver and fuel), mechanical grip is very limited and pedal modulation is the order of the day. This is an art that is not learned in four races, I'm afraid.

Monaco has traditionally been one of the most challenging circuits on the F1 calendar; it's a circuit that favours chassis set-up and driver skill over horsepower and raw top speed. Pascal Vasselon, technical director of Panasonic Toyota Racing, as quoted on the www.motorsport.com website said, "More than usual the drivers have to do an outstanding job because somewhere like Barcelona, you can be 20-30cm off line, but in Monaco, you can't. That's really so special, it makes it such a special combination. It is really an outstanding race - the race of the season."

softer suspension

The cars run a softer suspension set-up to cope with the demands of the road surface. Again from Pascal: "The performance factors in Monaco are completely different compared to other races for the very simple reason that the average speed is very slow. It has clear consequences. In terms of engine, most of the circuit is in the region where the car is tyre-limited so you need acceleration and traction. In Monaco, you find more time than on other tracks in the tyre-limited area. It means the engine power is less important than anywhere else, that's the first consequence of the slow speed.

The second consequence of the slow speed is that aerodynamics are still very important, but not as important as anywhere else in the season, simply because of the very slow corners. If you look at the major performance factors of a Formula 1 car, being at Monaco decreases the importance of two of them so you are left with tyres and drivers. This season we all have the same Bridgestone tyres so you could say it will be mainly about drivers. Just to put pressure on them!"

Podium Picks

Look for McLaren to return to winning ways this time around, with Alonso then Hamilton filling out the top two spots. Automotives gives Felipe Massa the nod over Ferrari's Flying Finn, Kimi Raikkonnen because of consistency. The key for Lewis to win will be the amount of downforce that the McLaren can extract from its MP422 chassis so that Hamilton can redevelop confidence in his braking technique around the Monaco streets. He won't want to prang the car again, not with the European media piling the pressure on. Conventional wisdom intimates that he might drive conservatively; however, in his own words, as per motorsport's website, "I have always run well at Monaco, having won there on my previous two visits to the race. I am going to the race again this year with the intention of fighting for the win, but that is the case at everything I compete in. However, we do have to keep being realistic, this will be my fifth race in Formula 1 and I am still developing. [On Sunday] we have to focus on keeping scoring points for both the constructors' and drivers' championships and take it step by step."