Monaco is The Odd Track Out In a Rejuvenated Formula One World

Monaco. It’s synonymous with Grand Prix racing. The playground of the rich and famous and home to anyone who earns a head-spinning salary and doesn’t like paying tax. Monaco has been part of the F1 landscape for longer than anyone can remember.

And it shows.

It is a circuit that has seen its time and should be relegated to a demonstration circuit; maybe for an annual end of year celebration—but without points.

In a year that has seen the re-emergence of overtaking and competitive racing, Monaco is a throwback to the days when races were decided not on the track, but in the pits and the odd driver brain fart.

Yes, Monaco rightfully claims a central position in F1 history, but how many of us apply that logic to communications and listen to the race on a crystal radio rather than watch HD TV?

In a sport that is all about being on the cutting edge of development, all about the new and exciting, there seems to be little room for tradition; no desire to look backwards.

That being said, wouldn’t we have gladly brought Murray Walker back to mangle “Aqua Minerale” than listen to James Allen’s season long love song to Lewis Hamilton? Not that we have to do that any more. But I digress.

Can anyone seriously argue that if this circuit was dropped anywhere else in the world, that it would be tolerated? It is slow and tortuous and doesn’t reward either a fast car or exceptional driver.

Witness Lewis Hamilton languishing at the rear of the field in a car that could have potentially been on pole. And that’s what it’s all about—qualifying. Put your car on pole and the race is yours to lose.

Not that it’s easy. Monaco is one of, if not the hardest race in the calendar. There is not a moment’s respite around the circuit. Any momentary loss of concentration is rewarded with an up-close, and usually terminal, look at the Armco barriers.

And that may be its saving grace. Monaco is interesting on an intellectual level as opposed to the more visceral excitement that you get at Monza. It is a race for those who spend their lives memorizing F1 stats and have barcode collections...

Is there room for both types of racing in the championship? Maybe. Now that F1 is about racing again there might just be room, but Monaco is now only a jewel in the F1 crownnot the jewel—and a faded one at that.