MONACO — The duality of race is often described as Formula oneThe jewel in the crown, the Monaco Grand Prix, remains as clear as ever.
Although qualifying for the event, which takes place around the winding streets of Monte Carlo’s harbor, is considered one of the highlight moments of the Formula One season, many consider the race to be a regular on Sunday was one of the worst races yet. Lewis HamiltonThe four-time Grand Prix winner and one of many F1 drivers who are residents of the principality, is one of the biggest advocates for the format change.
“Didn’t you guys fall asleep on Sunday watching the race?” he asked the media ahead of this weekend’s event. “I don’t know how you do that.”
Like most people in F1, Hamilton’s reservations about the final product do not diminish his love for the meaning and significance of the event. His childhood idol, Ayrton Senna, is as synonymous with racing as the yachts that line the harbor throughout the three days of competition.
“I always feel like when you look at the harbor, you look over at this place and you think about the history, it blows your mind,” Hamilton said. “I remember watching TV as a child, dreaming of going through the tunnel where Ayrton was. It’s surreal to think that today I’m one of 20 people to do that. Even though it’s been so many years and I’ve been doing it for so long, I think I’m really grateful for this moment this morning of feeling it.
– Watch the Monaco Grand Prix all weekend on ESPN
“I just remember the first time I came here when I was 13, and it really opened my eyes. It became a dream, like, okay, this is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. ever been; this is where I want to go.” living.”
Monaco’s race is certainly like no other. The yachts lining the harbor form an iconic backdrop, as do locations such as the hairpin in Casino Square and the famous tunnel passage. The setting, a city for the super-rich nestled between the Maritime Alps and the French Riviera, was unprecedented at any other event. The circuit has remained largely unchanged in its long history as a world championship race – only the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 interrupted a series of races stretching back to 1955.
The narrow 3.337km track is the shortest track in the championship. The narrow roads, with barriers on both sides from start to finish, have made qualifying one of the most revered and anticipated days of the year.
“One of the best moments of the season, I agree on that,” said the two-time race winner Fernando Alonso talking about Saturday’s qualifying round. “Maybe Sunday is just a bad day, let’s put it that way! There’s not much you can do [about that]. It might get a little boring, just bringing the car home and stuff like that.
“All the sponsors, they want to come here. All the VIPs, they want to come here. Like I said, until Sunday, it’s the best weekend of the year.”
What makes qualifying so good?
It’s often said that qualifying in Monaco is the one day of the year where a driver can make the biggest difference throughout the season. They will put everyone at risk like they haven’t done since a year ago.
“This is the only qualifying of the season where you go through the corners at a speed you have never achieved before, so it’s all about guesswork and total commitment,” Alonso said. “Adrenaline is very high.”
Drivers spend three practice sessions during the week, each one hour long, to build confidence to qualify. It was all or nothing, with just the slightest graze against the wall enough to ruin the entire event and send a rider to the back of the grid in a long and frustrating race on Sunday.
Alonso himself will know that better than most, having crashed in the final practice session in 2010, when he was considered a strong contender for pole position. Injury prevented him from participating in the qualifying round. Both Max Verstappen (2018) and Charles Leclerc (in 2021) ruined the entire race weekend due to a crash during qualifying while driving competitively.
“The highs are high and the lows are low because you know that if you hit a poor standard then the weekend is pretty much over,” Daniel Ricciardo said before this year’s race. “You can only be so optimistic on a track that doesn’t really allow overtaking. That’s why the quali gives such a strong feeling here and when you do a lap, it’s just It’s a crazy great feeling.”
That qualifying spectacle was so special that it was hard for drivers who had raced there before to watch from the sidelines. Ricciardo, the 2018 race winner, can talk about that, having been a spectator 12 months ago when he was a Red Bull reserve driver — his surprise return to AlphaTauri, as RB was then known, there were still a few races left.
“It’s so jealous, I don’t know, the feeling of driving around here and having the opportunity to push a car to the limit is so terrifying, so beautiful, so crazy and so intense that it’s like one of the best things in life.” experience,” Ricciardo said. “It’s hard to get that feeling and I’m really glad to have that opportunity again. That’s the best thing.”
Ricciardo watched last year from the top of the pitlane complex with Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
“I remember standing there with Christian at the beginning of the audition, and I think he even said, ‘Are you missing this?’ And I said, yeah, I said, ‘Now I’m really jealous of these people.'”
Monaco is no longer F1’s only track – the likes of Singapore and Las Vegas have joined in recently – but the satisfaction of completing a good lap remains unparalleled.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly speak. “I would say the challenge and actually catching up and completing that lap is harder in Monaco than anywhere else.
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Why Monaco GP qualifying is ‘more exciting’ than the race
Laurence Edmondson explains why qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix will be more entertaining than the race.
“For that reason, when performing, the feeling of satisfaction is higher than at other races. You only feel it when you get to the circuit. Before the lap, you get a jerk, the wheels spin a little more, the car doesn’t respond, you missed an apex or something, it feels like any other circuit… but the satisfaction When it all comes together — like if you get that in Q3 — it’s a pretty great feeling.”
Another factor that has changed the Monaco Grand Prix in recent years: how F1 cars have become more widespread with many regulation changes. While that has reduced overtaking ability from low to almost nothing, it has also affected how drivers approach qualifying sessions.
“Pushing the limit here without any mistakes, that’s the challenge in Monaco,” Aston Martin Lance goes for a walk speak. “Now, not only that but also the traffic; here there’s always a problem every year in the final sector, everyone has space to start their lap, so it’s not just the shots good walls and curbs but also the track position, trying to be in free air, you know that here there are a lot of lap times and proper tire preparation is a track where you need to have confidence good news on my tires at Turn 1, so it’s definitely a challenging track in many ways.”
Is changing the format the answer?
Monaco’s race follows the usual format most F1 events follow, with qualifying setting the grid for a grand prix on Sunday. With the calendar expanding in recent years – up to a record 24 this year – F1 has experimented with the sprint format to add some variation. There have been two sprints this year and there will be four more.
Hamilton feels something completely different should be considered for Monaco, especially given the size of modern F1 cars.
“Monaco continues to be… it’s Monaco, it hasn’t really changed much,” he said. “The cars are getting bigger and bigger. You can’t really overtake without risking a collision. I wish we had more big roads and the track could be wider, but I don’t think that will happen in Monaco.” because it’s just a small place.
“Continuous racing is quite similar. It’s a one-stop race. I would say there could be special tires for this race, so you have more stops to create more variation. Whether we have weekend sprints or not… they can definitely come out on a specific weekend. You’ve got the sprint stuff that they added, but for the weekend In this particular case, I think they should come up with some new formula for it instead of just that.”
Ricciardo suggested F1 should rely on the fact that a low-fuel lap would be very good around the Monte Carlo circuit.
“It was like a three-day experiment,” he said. “The track is open three days straight. Nine hours a day and you just pick the right temperature, the right time and you try to settle in.”
“Maybe that would make it different and interesting. Maybe make Sunday a little more interesting.
“It’s still a different place, and I’ve lived here for 11 years and it still doesn’t feel like home when I come here for race week. It feels like this place has changed so much that it just feels this sense of difference.”
