Heroics Into Saint Devote

Zzzzz… Zzzzz… Oh! It’s over! Thank god. Hello and welcome back to Heroics Into Saint Devote. This weekend was the ‘crown jewel’ in the Formula One Calendar. The Monaco Grand Prix. And for this year, the FIA introduced a new rule, which dictates that teams must complete 2 pit-stops during the race, or face a 30-second time penalty for each mandatory stop that they do not complete. Whilst I suspect the governing body of the pinnacle of motorsports meant well by this, I do not think it worked as effectively as they wanted.

It was Norris and Mclaren who prevailed of the streets of the principality and took the win in this sorry excuse for a Grand Prix race. Leclerc was close behind to take a P2 in his home Grand Prix, and championship leader Oscar Piastri completed the podium. But how did we get here? Well. Admittedly, I turned over and watched the British Touring Car Championship weekend instead during the race as it proved to be much more exciting. But I digress.

The race started with most cars starting on the medium C5 Pirelli P-Zero compound, with Verstappen taking a gamble and starting on the Hard. On the start, Leclerc got a rocketship launch down into Saint Devote, where Norris completely locked up both his front tyres, but managed to defend his lead. Verstappen nearly got by Piastri around the outside too, but nothing coming of it on the exit. On the first lap, Bortoleto executed a fantastic move around the outside of Antonelli at the Grand Hotel Hairpin, as Mercedes attempted to recover from their horror-show qualifying. But Antonelli then threw it down the inside of Bortoleto at Portier, heading the Brazilian into the wall, breaking his front wing and bringing out the Virtual Safety Car. A few cars pit early, but I was nowhere near as enthralled as I normally am.

When the VSC ended on Lap 4, Norris and Leclerc began stretching their legs away from Piastri behind. Though Norris was running around the 1:18s mark, which was somewhere between 9 and 10 seconds slower than qualifying. This isn’t normal. Normally the drivers run maybe 5 or 6 seconds slower than qualifying at the start of the race, with harder tyres and heavier fuel loads, this is expected. But teams were employing tactics that I simply think have no place in Grand Prix racing. A notable example of this, which wasn’t televised as much as the Williams team-play, was Toro Rosso. The team ran Lawson slowly, ahead of the train of cars behind him, much slower than his teammate ahead, who was able to build a pit-stop gap to Lawson, pit twice without losing position and thus complete his mandatory pit-stops. Williams also executed this well and swapped Carlos and Albon so both cars can complete their strategy.

A frustrated Geroge Russell took matters into his own hands at one point behind Albon, when the Briton didn’t even attempt to make the corner coming into the Nouvelle Chicane, going straight on and powering away from Albon. The Race Director’s instructions dictate that, should this happen, the car must return the position before Tabac, the next corner. Though when Russell was instructed, he said he’d rather take the penalty. As director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, this is, in my view, unacceptable behavior. And the stewards deemed it so too, and handed Russell a deserving Drive-Through penalty. When Russell was told, he said he’d “prefer not to speak”.

The drivers in the lead also had their own complaints. Both Norris and Leclerc were unhappy with the marshals not showing blue flags for lapped cars ahead of them. All in all, the weekend feels like a bit of a disaster for the sport. I never want to take away from the driver’s achievements of completing the Monaco Grand Prix without finding the hedge, but it did not feel like a proper Grand Prix. It more felt like a scripted race that the teams were manipulating for their own gain. It really was a poor excuse for Grand Prix Racing, which should be the best of the best.

There was also a number of incidents this weekend, with multiple drivers picking up grid-penalties before the race. Hamilton gained a 3-place penalty for a simple case of impeding on Verstappen in qualifying. Stroll got a 1-place penalty for his impeding stunt on Leclerc in FP1 at the hairpin, then also got a 3-place penalty for pulling the same exact move on Gasly at the Nouvelle Chicane in Qualifying. Bearman got a 10-place penalty for overtaking under red flags in one of the early sessions too.

Other than Gasly flying into the back of Tsunoda after seemingly out-braking himself at the Nouvelle Chicane, and Fernando’s Aston Martin letting go, nothing happened during the race. And when I say nothing. I mean nothing. It was an incredibly dull race, and I don’t think I can justify writing much more on it. Especially when there was British Touring Cars on at the same time.

A moment for the support series races this weekend though. Every. Single. One. Had a red flag during the race. And both F2 and the Porsche Supercup ended with a complete Car Park outside of Saint Devote. Thankfully, all drivers were okay, though Alex Dunne, the McLaren junior, has been awarded 3-penalty points and a 10-place grid penalty for his next race for his involvement in the turn 1 incident.

It’s safe to say that changes need to be made, whether it be new rules in place, or a complete removal of the Monaco Grand Prix. It’s been voiced by thousands and thousands of fans around the world, but the cars are simply too big for the circuit. Formula One has outgrown Monaco, despite what the Sky Sports F1 ‘pundits’ may think. My solution would be to remove Monaco altogether, and replace the weekend with something on a real racetrack. Alot of folks suggest Hockenheim as a worthy circuit, but I just don’t see it as such. I think Istanbul or Portimao would be a good replacement for the Monaco Grand Prix, and brings us back to circuits we have come to in the past. Maybe even Mugello. That was a good race.

I’m going to leave this one here as I’m just disappointed with the Grand Prix really. It wasn’t good enough and makes a mockery of Grand Prix Racing. I believe James Hunt said that about somebody in Monaco once.