F1 must react to bizarrely boring Monaco GP
May 27 (GMM) As Charles Leclerc and Ferrari celebrated, the Formula 1 world was united in describing Sunday’s Monaco GP as a strange and “boring” spectacle.
The spectacular lap 1 crash triggered a red flag that enabled the drivers to attach brand new tyres – and then drive around in a slow and unchanging procession.
“I should have brought my pillow,” world champion Max Verstappen said on the radio.
Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur admits that, en route to victory, Monegasque Leclerc “could have driven three to four seconds faster”.
And, yet, the big and heavy cars – on the tight and twisty streets – meant that the entire top 10 started and finished in exactly the same order.
“It has never been worse than that,” Dutch commentator Olav Mol said on Ziggo Sport.
Oscar Piastri, who followed Leclerc home in P2, said: “It was the slowest race I’ve ever driven. Formula 2 must have been faster than us.”
Mercedes’ Toto Wolff admitted he also found himself in uncharted territory.
“I got myself a yoghurt and an espresso,” said the Austrian. “I’ve never done that in 12 years.”
Wolff’s Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner said: “It’s no longer a race when you slow down three or four seconds because the other car has no chance to pass you.”
During a post-race interview with Viaplay, Verstappen joined the discussion with George Russell and told the Briton: “My God, that was awful. How boring was that?”
Russell replied: “They really need to change something for the Sundays here. Maybe compulsory pitstops.” Verstappen playfully responded: “Or a compulsory nap.
“The hardest thing about the race was that after 20 laps I really had to go to the toilet.”
F1 veteran Fernando Alonso thinks the situation was triggered by the relatively new phenomenon of F1 allowing the drivers to change tyres during a red flag.
“The only point of interest in racing in Monaco is the pitstops,” said the Spaniard. “So we lost that. And if the rules compromise the race so much on certain circuits, maybe we need to re-open the debate about that.
“The current cars are also the worst for Monaco – bigger, heavier,” Alonso added. “The F2 cars still have an overtaking option. And our tyres are too hard for Monaco.”
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher agrees: “It’s actually intended that the tyre breaks down at some point and overtaking becomes possible.
“What we saw today is dangerous for Formula 1,” he told Sky Deutschland. “No one wants to see it and it’s also difficult to commentate on. We need to see racing.”
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