The FIA Formula 2 Championship returns to the Principality of Monaco for the jewel of the calendar this weekend for the third round of the 2017 campaign for the most prestigious races of the year: the entire field dreams of winning around the fabled streets of Monte Carlo, and for two lucky drivers that dream will come true this week.

Last time out Charles Leclerc (PREMA Racing) and Nobuharu Matsushita (ART Grand Prix) took the honours in the second round feature and sprint races respectively in Barcelona: the Monegasque driver leading the standings from Oliver Rowland (DAMS) and Luca Ghiotto (RUSSIAN TIME), and will look to add to his points total in front of an adoring home crowd.

In the teams' championship PREMA and DAMS share the lead just ahead of RUSSIAN TIME, with 8 of the 10 teams scoring points after 2 rounds: the fight between the teams is only likely to get hotter at a circuit that often brings unexpected results given the unusual qualifying process, and the proximity of the barriers. Add into that the prestige of a podium in the principality and the fight for honours should be tighter than ever.

Mario Isola, Pirelli: "Just as in Formula 1, Monaco is probably the most prestigious race in the Formula 2 season. It is not a demanding circuit on the tyres, which is why we bring the two softest available compounds to give the drivers as much grip as possible. Extracting the best from the tyres in qualifying is important to a good weekend as overtaking is difficult, but we have also seen great strategy calls produce top results in Monaco."

Charles Leclerc: First of all it's quite hard for me to talk about the lap, because the only time I've gone round it is in a bus to go to school, or to come back home! It's always a different view when you arrive at much higher speeds, and from a much lower view, and the bus driver doesn't go on the racing line or else he would be in the wrong lane!

"But it's going to be very, very special for me to drive in Monaco in front of my family and friends, and I love city tracks in general: I've done 2 in cars, Pau and Macau, and these are my 2 favourite tracks, so I have no doubt I will love Monaco as well. From the other drivers I hear it's a really tricky track, and seeing it in real life I know it's really tight, the speeds are quite quick, and it's a bit bumpy in some parts of the track. It's going to be interesting to drive it after watching the Grand Prix there since I was born really, and I'm really looking forward to it.

"PREMA has a simulator and we have been working on the circuit there, because for street circuits in particular it is really helpful to have some mileage to get as much information as possible, and every time I go running I'm going round the track in Monaco! Any information I can take is useful, and a big part of it will be to stay calm and not to overdo it: being at home I will probably have the tendency to overdo it a bit, but I'll be working to stay calm and the team will help me with that."

Notes

Robert Visiou will race for Campos Racing in Monaco, replacing Roberto Mehri, having signed to drive for them for the remainder of the season.

Nyck De Vries (Rapax) will have a 3 grid place penalty to apply following qualifying, as a result of his collision with Antonio Fuoco during the Sprint Race in Barcelona.