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Featured Sport News

Focus turns to Monaco

Author: Sir David Smith
Date: 22/05/2009

Brawn GP's dominance of the first third of the season could come to an end this weekend when the Formula One circus moves on to Monte Carlo for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Sportsbook experts believe that Ferrari are back in contention after making technical changes to their car.

The Brawn team leads the constructors' championship by 29.5 points after the first five races of the season with Jenson Button heading the drivers' championship by 14 points from team-mate Rubens Barrichello after tasting victory in Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain and Spain.

It is all a far cry from 12 months ago when Button finished more than a lap behind the Monaco winner Lewis Hamilton on his way to picking up only three championship points all season.

However, Button may find it more difficult to clinch a fifth race win of the season as the other teams' technical changes start to take shape.

New aerodynamic packages to maximise downforce were introduced in Spain a fortnight ago with Ferrari in particular hoping they can build on the progress they made in Catalunya.

The race takes place under a cloud of controversy though following Ferrari's failure to stop Formula One's governing body from introducing a controversial spending cap on teams.

The Italian team have threatened to end their association with the sport if the 40million budget cap is introduced from next season and they, along with Renault, Red Bull and Toyota, are now not expected to submit entries for the 2010 championship by the May 29 deadline.

With such a backdrop, it will be difficult to concentrate on Sunday's race, but both Red Bull and Toyota are once again expected to be Brawn GP's main challengers.

Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel continued to impress in Spain with the Australian taking a podium spot while Toyota will be keen to return to their form in the first four races of the year after struggling in Spain.

Both are much fancied in the latest Formula One betting odds.

Jarno Trulli was involved in the first corner incident which forced him to retire from the race while Timo Glock finished outside of the points, but both drivers have enough quality to challenge for a top-three finish at Monte Carlo.

Williams duo Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima have done better in practice and qualifying than in actual races so far this season, while McLaren are confident that their car is suited to Sunday's circuit.

Renault's Fernando Alonso will be looking to make it three wins in the last four years at Monaco, while Force India's Adrian Sutil could be a dark horse for a points finish after his misfortune last year.

The German was fourth as the race entered its closing stages only to be forced out after Kimi Raikkonen ran into the back of his car.

With good weather forecast and a circuit that is not conducive to overtaking, it may not be the most incident-packed race, but the drivers that can master the slow course and tight corners best will prosper.

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