With Mercedes having once again locked out the front row, their 🃏strategy for today's Monaco Grand Prix has been at the centre of speculation.

With the team having struggled with tyre wear throughout the season there has been a train of thought that a 'rear gunner' strategy could be used, with either Nico Rosberg or Lewis Hamilton being protected by their team-mate to allow the race leader to open a commanding lead 🃏at the front of the field - depending on who is running at the head of the field.

Speaking to reporters, including mahbx.com, team boss Ross Brawn dismissed any such specula💙tion:

"Obviousl๊y the tortoise and hare strategy is one that people will speculate about but I don't think that either of our drivers are tortoises," he said. "We'll let the race run and see what develops. Obviously our ambition is a one two but it is impossible to speculate on how we can 🐈achieve that."

Impro🌼ving their tyre management has been a key emphasis for Mercedes following their disappointing Spanish grand Prix, where both drivers struggled with badly worn tyres, and Brawn went on to comment about the challenges faci🦄ng his team.

"The tyres have certain characteristics," said the Englishman. "If you do not exceed the capacity of the tyre, either through the driver or the car, you can get a lot more life out of the tyre. It's non-linear so if you go🍎 five percent over the limit you can half the life of the tyre.

"So you don't need to improve by a huge margin to get the tyre back in🐲to a good area. We've been in a good place a few times this year and we've been in a bad place a few times. It's impossible to know what to expect on Sunday."

by Stephen English