2005 MONACO GRAND PRIX PREVIEW
22 May 2005 - McLaren F1

The picturesque streets of Monte Carlo provide the setting for round six of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix.

From Thursday May 19th until Sunday May 22nd, the small Principality will be taken over by the Formula One fraternity for the race. The Monaco Grand Prix marks Mercedes-Benz´s 200th in Formula One, including 12 races in 1954 and 1955. The West McLaren Mercedes team arrives in Monaco, the start of the series of four sets of back-to-back races, remaining in third position in the World Championship following Kimi Raikkonen´s victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, with 37 points. Kimi lies third in the driver standings, with team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya in eighth. Alex Wurz will take the wheel of the West McLaren Mercedes third car for Thursday´s Free Practice sessions.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA

''I always love racing at the Monaco Grand Prix, the location, atmosphere, history, and my victory here in 2003 is a highlight of my career. It does have its difficulties, no run off areas, tight Armco, an interesting track surface with gutters and manhole covers, but with Monaco, they don´t really bother you. Because of the track surface you will see the cars with the highest ride height of the season. Good front end grip is key for all the twisty corners, and you need to be quick through the apexes. Also aero efficiency is not as important as handling here, and everybody will run with maximum downforce. We had a good test at Paul Ricard, working on set-up for the race, so I am looking forward to getting back out on track on Thursday. ''

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