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At Monaco 2024, amid Charles Leclerc’s emotional first victory at his home race, a Formula 1 first. Never in the sport’s 74-year history had the top-10 from the start finished the race in the same order but, after a first-lap red flag meant all of the cars could change tyres and did not need to pit again, the order from qualifying took the chequered flag 24 hours later. What’s more, an overtake did not even look close to materialising.
Lewis Hamilton at least tried something different. A free pit-stop on lap 52, saving his medium tyres from further graining and attempting an undercut on Max Verstappen ahead, but Red Bull simply responded with a pit-stop of their own a lap later to thwart the Mercedes driver. The other eight drivers kept position comfortably. Not out of choice, but out of sheer reality.
It’s nothing new: without a driver mistake or strategy mishap, you cannot overtake at Monaco. Period. There is one DRS zone and it is one of the smallest straights on the calendar. The slow-speed twists and turns of the famous principality is, more so now than ever, unsuited to the large, stiff nature of modern-day F1 cars.
The overwhelming sense from the media pen afterwards was one of frustration, amid continued calls for track modification.
Max Verstappen, who finished sixth and could not squeeze his Red Bull past George Russell ahead, said over the radio: ““F*** me, this is really boring… I should’ve brought my pillow”.
Russell, in light-hearted conversation with Verstappen afterwards, suggested their should be mandatory pit-stops at Monaco. Hamilton has previously suggested two pit-stops minimum. This time, he suggested three. That might be the only realistic solution, but is it sporting to incorporate specific rules for specific races? The precedent it could set would be far-reaching and could land F1 in a sticky situation.
A plethora of other drivers called for a change of layout – but how can you change the unchangeable? Monaco’s unique narrow streets make it near-impossible to alter the 19-turn track and a new expansion beyond Portier (the turn before the tunnel) has made one optimistic solution unworkable.
One solution could be to remove the Nouvelle Chicane after the tunnel – creating another DRS section – but the approaching speeds for the tight, high-speed Tabac section after it would make the start of sector three unsafe. And even then, the street does not give enough room for two F1 cars to race side-by-side.
If they do, they end up in the wall. Just ask Sergio Perez, who could do nothing when Kevin Magnussen saw a gap, down the right-hand side up the hill after turn one, which wasn’t there. A tip, a spin, a smash. The pictures of Perez’s destroyed Red Bull afterwards sum up what happens if a move is attempted in the principality.
All of this poses a problem. A problem which has been present for decades. A problem which is seemingly unsolvable. A problem which F1’s entertainment-focused American owners – Liberty Media – may not accept, in contrary to Bernie Ecclestone before them.
Monaco’s deal with F1 – which sees the race pay the cheapest hosting fee given its status – expires at the end of next year and, no doubt, improving the spectacle of the race will be top of the agenda for both F1 and the Automobile Club de Monaco. Two parties, it should be said, who do not really see eye-to-eye over commercial and sponsorship arrangements. For instance, Monaco’s watch sponsor is TAG Heuer – a rival of F1’s global partner, Rolex.
The prestige of the event for celebrities and high-rollers is indisputable. For drivers, too, qualifying on Saturday has a paramount importance unlike any other in the schedule. But from the end of Q3, the race is virtually decided and those same drivers complain of boredom a day later.
Can it be changed, in one way or another? It seems unlikely. The bigger question is, in a sport where an expansion to Miami and Las Vegas places less importance on Monaco’s previous status as the sport’s crown jewel race, will F1 continue to be as accommodating to the principality as negotiations over a new contract begin?
