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Tag: Monaco Grand Prix

  • Monaco Grand Prix

    Image obtained from F1.com

    Boring!

    To try and get away from the race in Monaco being a precession, the FIA introduced a mandatory two stop race. The hype was there before the race; the TV pundits were pondering when people would stop and what strategies the teams might employ. What was to come, I don’t think anyone except the teams considered.

    Instead of throwing some intrigue and strategy into the race, what we got was a grid of drivers driving as slowly as they could. At one point Norris in the lead was lapping almost 10 seconds a lap slower than his qualifying lap and some drivers were going even slower. It seemed the race strategy was to sacrifice the lower placed driver to get them to hold as many people up as possible, to generate a large enough gap for the lead driver to pit comfortably. It was an absolute shower of sh!t.

    Has F1 Outgrown Monaco?

    In short yes. The current era of F1 cars are too long, too heavy and too wide and with 2026 regulation changes coming, it is only going to get worse. The streets of Monaco are simply not wide enough to get past, all the lead driver needs to do is sit in the middle of the road and its game over. With the drivers lapping so slowly, it also takes out any jeopardy of mistakes and accidents happening after the opening laps.

    What really grinds my gears is the fact you have other historic tracks that produce some great racing, that are constantly fighting to keep their place on the grid. In my opinion, it is criminal that circuits like Silverstone and Spa are always at risk of being dropped off the calendar and yet this circuit, that has not produced a decent race in years, seemingly is impervious. We all know the reason for this, it’s because of the people the event attracts. The rich and famous, most of whom don’t pay to attend and don’t care about the sport.

    Formula Time Trial

    Considering this is supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport, this weekend’s race saw the drivers driving as slow as they possibly could. Don’t get me wrong this happens regularly at other races, but this race with the introduction of the mandatory pit stops has exasperated the formula time trial experience the fans get.

    There seems to have also been some confusion for the fans at the race, many of whom seemed to be unaware of the regulation change for the race, with many fans left puzzled as to why Verstappen pitted from the lead with 1 lap to go.

    Redemption for Norris

    Norris secured a stunning pole for the race with the fastest ever lap around the principality. He followed it up with what was really a comfortable win, Leclerc never really looked like he was able to keep up with the McLaren and the only real time for concern was when he was behind Verstappen, who left it as late as possible to make his final pit stop, hoping for a safety car which never came.

    Around the grid

    Everyone else pretty much finished where they started. Alonso suffered an engine failure after running strongly in the top 10 and Gasly retired after running into the back of Tsunoda on the 7th lap.

    A shout out to Hadjar who is proving me wrong by having another solid race, he was helped by his teammate holding everyone up but he made no mistakes and achieved the best result he could.

    Results

    1stLando Norris11thGeorge Russell
    2ndCharles Leclerc12thOliver Bearman
    3rfOscar Piastri13thFranco Colapinto
    4thMax Verstappen14thGabriel Bortoleto
    5thLewis Hamilton15thLance Stroll
    6thIsack Hadjar16thNico Hulkenberg
    7thEstaban Ocon17thYuki Tsunoda
    8thLiam Lawson18thKimi Antonelli
    9thAlex AlbonDNFFernando Alonso
    10thCarlos SainzDNFPierre Gasly

    Race Rating: 1/10

    What’s next?

    Barcelona is next up, it will be the last time the Spanish Grand Prix will be held in Barcelona for some time with the introduction of a boring street race in Madrid for 2026.

    Let me know what you think below:

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  • Monaco Mandatory Stops

    Yesterday the FIA announced that at this year’s Monaco Grand Prix it will be mandated that all teams must make a minimum of 2 pit stops during the race.

    The surprising move comes after the idea was submitted by the World Motorsport Council for consideration by the FIA.

    It’s a positive move and one that recognises that the Monaco GP can be a bit of a dud. In my opinion this mandate should extend to all races, it would remove to some extent these boring races where they try to save tyres as much as they can, so they only have to stop once.

    Do I think it will spice up the Monaco GP? In short, no. The modern F1 cars are too large for the layout and there are almost zero overtaking opportunities. It has long been my opinion, that if it didn’t draw in the rich and famous, the race would not feature on the calendar. I wonder if there is scope to change and extend the track layout to further down the harbour and remove the tight hair pin section.

    Do you think it will improve the race? Let me know below.

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