Monaco F1 Grand Prix: Mark Webber Secures Win in Lacklustre Monte Carlo Race

In a year where we have had exciting, unpredictable racing for five consecutive races, the annual visit to Monaco could only be an anticlimax.

And, as per usual, Monaco didn’t fail to disappoint.

While Mark Webber continued the unpredictable start to the 2012 season—becoming the sixth different winner in six races—the race itself offered little to excite fans, particularly after the previous five races.

The unfortunate Romain Grosjean provided the most exciting moment of the race, getting tangled with Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher as the herd stampeded to the first corner off the start line and being left stranded before he got to the corner.

This ridiculous anachronism of a track would not be tolerated anywhere else in the world. It has remained virtually unchanged since Formula One began and, in the modern era, rarely produces racing worth watching.

The 2012 race didn’t vary greatly from the script of previous efforts, despite the top six drivers finishing within six seconds of the race winner.

While Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel all probably had faster cars than Webber, any thought of overtaking—even with DRS—is a pipe dream at Monaco.

Yellow flags in the DRS zone put even that remote chance beyond doubt toward the end of the race.

When the race is decided by tyre strategy, qualifying and the start, as opposed to wheel-to-wheel racing, it signals a return to the bad old days. The first six cars into the first corner were the first six finishers in the race—with the only positional changes as a result of pit strategy.

Monaco maintains an underserved pride of place on the F1 calendar. The history of the race and the fact that it is the home race for many drivers may well make it one that everyone wants to win.

That’s not the same as saying it’s a good race.

It is one of those events that ranks up with the Indy 500 or the Le Mans 24-hour race in terms of recognition on a global scale. But, while it is universally known, it is perhaps more for races past than anything in recent memory.

It is the track where Ayrton Senna made his name, in the wet in his Toleman against Alain Prost. But rain makes any track exciting.

Indeed, it was the threat of rain that added the only hint of excitement to this race. Sadly, the weather gods didn’t manage to deliver on that threat.

In what passed for a race this year, Rosberg finished second, with Alonso securing the final spot on the podium and, in doing so, an inexplicable outright lead in the championship.

Vettel secured fourth place after starting from ninth, relegating Lewis Hamilton to fifth and adding another layer of frustration to an already disappointing weekend for the McLaren pilot.

McLaren proved to be the big losers for the weekend, with Hamilton finishing fifth and teammate Jenson Button not making it to the chequered flag after frustration got the better of him following Heikki Kovalainen and being unable to make a pass.

The best thing that can be said for the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix is that it’s over.

It really would be best relegated to an exhibition race at the end of the season, even more so if Bernie Ecclestone gets his way and expands the calendar.

It will never happen, and we’ll be stuck with the annual procession masquerading as a race for years to come. The charade will continue.

I can hardly wait.