Can the Monaco Grand Prix be fixed by changing just three corners?
Formula One
Check out this idea from ex-Benetton driver Alex Wurz. No sprinklers or mandatory two-stops required Skip 1 photos in the image carousel and continue reading
That whole two mandatory pit stops thing didn't really work, did it? The top four all finished as they started, overtaking was basically impossible, and the only real drama came from watching RB and then Williams tactically back up the pack. Meh.
So how do you actually fix the Monaco Grand Prix? In a way that doesn't call for a randomised sprinkler system, or a cockpit full of bananas a la Mario Kart ?
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Well, former F1 driver and double Le Mans winner Alex Wurz – who happens to run his own racetrack design company – has come up with a couple of suggestions. And they look… kinda sensible. Check 'em out in the video below.
First, the Austrian recommends getting rid of the existing Nouvelle chicane, thus giving drivers an extra 80m of straight to work with out of the tunnel. Just enough to make a divebomb possible instead of fanciful. You might like
This'd be followed by a 90-degree left- and then a tight right-hander, and would need a small amount of harbour filling in with concrete. It's Monaco, so well within the locals' budget.
Then Wurz suggests reprofiling Rascasse by moving the apex of the corner out by a couple of meters and widening the outside, forcing drivers to make a choice between taking the ideal racing line or defending the (slower) inside. Could open up some opportunities at Sainte Devote, that.
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Finally, Wurz reckons that widening the Fairmont hairpin would boost the number of overtaking chances at his new chicane, as it'd slow down the defending driver.
READ MORE Monaco GP: what does the track look like normally?
All sounds entirely logical. Which means there's zero hope the organisers will actually do it. We reckon George Russell was onto something when he straight-lined the chicane on Sunday: imagine if every driver could do that, with three permitted joker laps per race?
Just a thought. Any other suggestions out there?
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