Red Bull Racing has dominated the season so far, winning every race and taking pole position everywhere except Azerbaijan. One of their big advantages is the car's exceptional straight-line speed – but that is not much use in Monaco, and that could give their closest rivals a sniff of a chance.
Having said that, the last two winners around the Principality were in a Red Bull, with Sergio Perez victorious last year and Max Verstappen the year before. A battle between the pair could be in the offing then, and given the current tense atmosphere in the team, there could be fireworks.
As F1 heads to Monte Carlo, we take a look into the current form.
Pole potential
Pole position is vital at Monaco because overtaking on the narrow twisty track is so difficult, so topping Saturday's session takes on greater priority than it does at other circuits.
So far this season, pole honours have been shared evenly between Verstappen and Perez – but crucially Ferrari's Charles Leclerc got the better of both in Azerbaijan, which is also a street track, albeit much faster than Monaco.
More telling, perhaps, is the fact that Monaco-born Leclerc has claimed pole position for the last two races in his home town and he is becoming a bit of a single lap star, making him a decent chance for a pole hat trick.
Podium challengers
Red Bull has finished first and second in four of the five races so far, and that small blip was only down to a technical fault on Perez's car in Australia that put him to the back of the grid from where he was unable to do better than fifth.
It is likely, then, that Verstappen and Perez will be fighting up front again this time and probably the only thing that could prevent them from winning is a rival getting on pole – although even then, if any team can pull out some slick strategy and pit work to leapfrog the leader in the pits it is Red Bull.
Fernando Alonso has been the most regular non-Red Bull visitor to the podium with four third places from five, but given Leclerc's Monaco mastery, the Ferrari man could be the most likely challenger to Red Bull this time. Alonso may well need Ferrari to suffer one of their regular technical issues or strategy slip-ups to collect another third-place trophy here.
There may be one additional surprise at the front, however. The cancellation of the race at Imola last weekend put a pause on the latest car upgrades, but Mercedes had promised a significant step with new bodywork, a new floor and a new front suspension.
Whether the upgrade is suitable for this high-downforce circuit remains to be seen, but if so it could put three-time Monaco winner Lewis Hamilton into the mix. Watch out for his team-mate George Russell, though, as he is 4-1 up in qualifying so could become a Mercedes-shaped track blocker for his stablemate and sneak a podium himself.
Points players
Every single team on the grid has scored at least one point this season, demonstrating how unpredictable the midfield order actually is. A clear gap has already been built between the top four – Red Bull, Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari – and the rest, but Monaco often offers opportunities for an upset.
McLaren looked like it had got to grips with its new car with a double points finish in Australia but other than that it has been dismal results for the Woking team. Alpine has been more consistent in picking up the final points, and they would have more were it not for some silly mistakes.
With no French Grand Prix, this is Alpine's most important race of the year, so expect them to be pushing hard to get into the higher points-scoring positions if any of the big four teams slip up.
Chance choices
The fastest lap has become hotly contested since F1 made it worth a point, but predicting who will get it is not easy. Verstappen took the most last year with five, but seven other different drivers also took at least one.
Things may be a little different this year, as the intra-team title battle has seen three of the five fastest laps go to the Red Bull drivers, but going for a flyer at Monaco is a risky business so perhaps that will open the door to a different driver this time. Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu was fastest at the season opener in Bahrain while George Russell also has notched one up this year.
So far this season there have been 10 retirements in total – an average of two per race – although the last event saw all cars get to the finish. Monaco saw three retirements last year, but in the previous three only one car failed to finish each time.
Heavy rain last year caused the race to start behind the safety car and it was deployed a further three times during the race. It was a similar situation in 2016, starting behind the safety car but this time seeing it reappear four times during the race – so if it is wet, expect plenty of stoppages. In the dry, however, it is less likely, averaging one appearance in recent years.
