MONACO, MALDONADO AND MERCEDES.

The highly-anticipated Monaco Grand Prix is the next race on the 2012 F1 calendar and in just two days the practice sessions will begin; they're on Thursday for Monaco instead of Friday! Following the incredible Spanish Grand Prix just under a fortnight ago we have been left craving more racing and Monaco will most certainly live up to our expectations.

The 2011 Grand Prix, the sixth on the 2011 calendar, was full of drama, controversy, excitement and it was the fifth win of the season for Sebastian Vettel. Oh how things have changed... We are now going in to this race with five different winners from five races; Button, Alonso, Rosberg, Vettel and Maldonado are the lucky ones who have been able to grab the top spot on the podium so far! So, if last year's race is anything to go by we are in for a good one! Throw in the fact that no one has any idea as to what will happen this year and the excitement factor just shoots upwards.

Maldonado won the last race in Spain and he has a good previous record in Monaco leading to some people suggesting that he could make it two wins in two races and become the first driver to win more than one. We know Williams have a good car, if we judge things on what happened two weeks ago, but we also know that means nothing considering the rate at which everything seems to be changing this season. A few of you replied to me on Twitter saying you don't think Pastor can take the win once again and, from what I can see, Hamilton seems to be the favourite on the Twittersphere. Hamilton's teammate, Jenson Button, doesn't believe the MP4-27, McLaren's car, is suited to the Monaco track and doesn't have high hopes for a win here. So if Button tells us the car isn't up to it, can we really argue? Of course, Button didn't seem to be pleased with the car's performance in Spain whereas Lewis set the fastest time in Qualifying and climbed a massive 16 places during the race. It's fair to say what suits one driver doesn't necessarily work for another.

I genuinely don't have any predictions for this race/weekend. Monaco can be home to some great overtakes so what we see on Saturday may not decide how the race ends and, as you should already know by now, tyres will also play a vital role. Once free practices 1 and 2 are over we may have more of an idea as to who the track is suited to and who can demonstrate good race pace but even then I highly doubt that many people will be certain of their predictions.

In other news, just briefly, Mercedes have confirmed their interest in Paul Di Resta, should 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher re-retire at the end of the season. I personally think Di Resta would be a good choice for Mercedes and a good partner for Nico Rosberg. There are quite a few contracts expiring at the end of this year and I think I might have to do a post on this at some point to examine who might be leaving who and who could replace them. There are a lot of great, young drivers on the grid at the moment who would be ideal to fill seats in more established teams and the likes of Di Resta and Perez and co. will have some big decisions to make before the 2013 season begins. However, that is too far into the future to start thinking about at the moment and for now they have a Grand Prix to get on with...

Aqsa, @aqsasformula

(Image: redbull.com)