Future of Monaco Grand Prix sealed after Sunday's terrible F1 race
The future of the Monaco Grand Prix in Formula 1 is clear after an awful race in Monte Carlo on Sunday, which was won by Lando Norris from pole with zero overtakes completed on track by anyone
Monaco is still "a mega venue" for Formula 1 despite the lack of entertainment on track. That's the view of Toto Wolff as the Mercedes chief rushed to the defence of the sport's 'Crown Jewel' event after another dire Sunday devoid of action.
Lando Norris won from pole but, because the streets of Monte Carlo are so tight, he didn't have to break a sweat to hold off Charles Leclerc behind him. The top four finished in the same places they started and Lewis Hamilton only rose two places to fifth because of a quicker pit stop than Isack Hadjar and through an engine failure for Fernando Alonso.
But there was still plenty of entertainment to be found earlier in the weekend with Saturday delivering another fantastic and fraught qualifying session. And Monaco isn't going anywhere soon, having late last year agreed a deal to continue hosting F1 races until at least 2031.
But Mercedes boss Wolff believes the Monaco Grand Prix is a rare exception in elite sport where the size of the event outweighs the sporting spectacle itself. He said: "The perspective I look at is that most of the relevant sporting event is on Saturday and it always has been.
"What Formula 1 has created here is unbelievable. Grandstands, full terraces, full boats like I've never seen before. We have spectacular races on the Saturday. Even if this was a zero stop race, it's still a mega venue and then it's the Saturday shootout that matters."
Mercedes driver George Russell said racing in Monaco with today's wide and heavy F1 cars is "pretty silly" but agreed with his boss that "95 percent of people don't come to watch the race". The Brit joked that a sprinkler system could be installed to wet the track, and suggested replacing the race with a second qualifying shootout.
Max Verstappen quipped that throwing bananas Mario Kart-style might be the only way to improve the Monaco action. F1 bosses made all drivers stop twice for new tyres on Sunday in a bid to liven up the action, but it did little to help.
Christian Horner felt the change added "more jeopardy" but concurred with rival Wolff that Monaco should stay and proposed a layout change instead. The Red Bull boss said: "I would say it was an improvement, it was strategically more interesting, there was more jeopardy to it. The fundamental problem is you cannot overtake here. That's circuit specific, it's been on the calendar for 52 years.
"I think it [changing the circuit layout] is the only way to really encourage any form of overtaking. Trying to create a bit more braking, you know, area either on the exit of the tunnel or turn one, if there was any way of creating a longer braking zone somewhere we should really investigate it."
Race organisers the Royal Automobile Club of Monaco had to make several concessions in order to get F1 to agree to extend the event's contract. One of those was for the Monaco GP to move from its long-held slot on the final weekend of May, where it clashes with the Indy 500, to the first weekend of June from next year.
But in truth F1 bosses remain keen to keep Monaco around as much as most of the drivers and team bosses are. And while that appetite remains, those who would be glad to see the back of F1's dullest race are set to be disappointed for many years to come.
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