Oh, Monaco. Should it stay, or should it go? Despite being full of glitz, glam and motorsport heritage, last Sunday’s F1 race did nothing to convince fans that the race around the streets of Monte Carlo is the spectacular that it once was. However, with Charles Leclerc FINALLY breaking his infamous “Monaco Curse” by winning his home race, it did turn out to be a stark reminder as to why we, as fans, love motorsport so much.
On social media, fans weren’t afraid to brand this particular race as a bore. Heck, even Max Verstappen, who was having a mediocre weekend running the race in 6th, moaned about his lack of stimulation several times over team radio. It doesn’t help that in this day and age Monaco is not suited to this era of Formula One car. Overtaking is almost non-existent, and instead we find ourselves watching a procession of cars filing through the narrow streets one after another rather than an exciting, nail gripping motor race. This year’s proceedings was particularly labelled a “snooze fest.” Bar lap one, of course, that was chaos and the ultimate factor that played a part in Monaco’s 2024 downfall.
There was action at the front going into turn one on the opening lap between the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, making contact as they both got their elbows out for position. The former would come off worse with a puncture that led to him pulling out of the race up by the Casino section of the circuit. Piastri would continue, albeit with plenty of floor damage. Further back, it was carnage. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who had had yet another shocker of a Monaco race weekend thus far for the second consecutive year, found himself being tagged and spun by Kevin Magnussen in the Haas. Perez would hit the barrier at speed before taking out the second Haas of Nico Hulkenberg eventually coming to a halt, bringing out the red flag in the process. A sigh of relief for both Sainz and Piastri, who could fix their damage in the pits. For the other three, it was game over. It was also game over for Esteban Ocon in the Alpine who collided with his teammate, Pierre Gasly, at Portier. With race ending damage to his car and an enraged Alpine team boss, Ocon must have left the circuit that evening with his tail between his legs. Not a good look when 2025 driver contracts are on the line.
Of course, with a Red Flag comes tyre talk. With drivers able to change their tyres during the halted session, they’ve effectively been given a free stop, voiding the need for any more mandatory pit stops during the race once it restarts. This is where it all went wrong for Formula One. Should drivers and teams be allowed to change the car, including tyres, under a Red Flag? The rules say yes, but the debate rages on.
Come the restart and it was much cleaner than the first, with everyone getting through the first few corners unscathed. For drivers, teams, fans, pundits etc, it quickly became apparent that this race was going to be long. George Russell, in his Mercedes, was one of many drivers that took the “slower wins the race” approach, by driving... slowly, making the tyres last to the very end. Read the room, Formula One without pit stops simply isn’t fun. So, of course, when Sauber brought in one of their cars for a change of tyre, the F1 world suddenly awoke from it’s deep Sunday afternoon slumber.
And, Sauber weren’t the only ones to make a change. Come the latter stages, the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen had built up big enough gaps that a pitstop wouldn’t harm their already lowly positions in anyway, if anything, giving them a slight advantage of a fresher tyre towards the end. But everyone’s eyes were firmly fixated on the front quartet of Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz and Lando Norris, as they attempted to build a pitstop or more gap to fifth place man Russell. Of course, this being Formula One, neither Ferrari or McLaren felt it necessary, or wise for that matter, to make a final stop in the end, leaving Leclerc to drive away into the sunset as Sainz and Norris hunted down a struggling Piastri, who’s tyres had had enough.
I suppose, despite it being a strategic-type race, Monaco wasn’t totally doom and gloom. In fact, there were battles and there were overtakes. Unfortunately overshadowed by the negatives of the race, but they were there. You can imagine the glee on everyone’s faces when Lance Stroll managed to push his way by not once, but twice. An overtake! It was like we’d never seen one before!
During the final stages of the race, others were also catching and battling for position. Verstappen, who had pitted, managed to hunt down Russell, who had not. As mentioned before, Piastri, who’s tyres had given up, was defending his second position for all his worth from Sainz and Norris. Alas, despite some light at the end of the tunnel, this was Monaco and nobody made any late race dives for position. Leaving Russell ahead of Verstappen and Piastri ahead of Sainz and Norris.
Regardless, many will moan about this race for some time to come. With some demanding F1 do something to make it more interesting for 2025. But, if anything, with two Ferraris and two McLarens finishing in the top four, it’s visual proof that Red Bull are vulnerable in 2024 and that the Championship battle may not be over thus yet! As for the Monaco race itself, it was boring. I don’t want to admit it, but it was. Hey, we can't have it our way all the time, no?
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