Nick Heidfeld has played down the debate about whether Monte Carlo is now too dangerous a circuit for formula one.
With sleeker V8 engines and softer tyres this year, cornering speeds have risen by as much as 20 kilometres per hour.
But Heidfeld, BMW-Sauber’s German lead driver, denied that the increase in danger is more significant at Monaco than at any other venue on the calendar.
”With the V8 engines, we have less top speed,” he said, ”so we probably won’t be going over 300kph in the tunnel like we have before.”
Heidfeld, who finished second here last year and once won a F3000 race in Monaco, said he ‘gladly’ races on the narrow track every year.
He said: ”And I think I speak for a lot of other drivers, too, when I say that we want to keep coming back here.
”The risk is a bit higher, but after Suzuka it is one of my favourite tracks.”
McLaren’s Juan Pablo Montoya also scolded those usual suspects who often complain about the danger at Monaco.
Ralf Schumacher, for one, is a traditional critic of the track, and he crashed heavily in his Toyota last year.
”I have being saying it for ten years,” the German said on Wednesday, ”but I do believe that the circuit is not safe enough.”
But Colombia’s Montoya said: ”You hit the wall, that’s it. Get out of the car and deal with it.”gmmf1 dailyf1news.com
