This year’s Monaco Grand Prix has reignited the debate about how to make the race more exciting. Even the drivers found it dull, with minimal wheel-to-wheel action due to the bigger, heavier cars.
Christian Horner, Red Bull Team Principal, acknowledged the issue, mentioning the cars’ increased size compared to a decade ago. He noted, ‘We have to think about whether we can do something to create an overtaking area. It’s not a real race if you’re three or four seconds off the pace because the other car has no chance of overtaking.’ Horner suggested looking at minor track modifications to introduce overtaking opportunities, as the top 10 positions often remain unchanged throughout the race.
Adjusting tyre strategy has also been proposed. This year, tyre conservation turned the race into a procession, with drivers like George Russell from Mercedes admitting there was no point in speeding up, as it would only cause issues later. Russell suggested a simpler solution: running only soft tyres in Monaco. ‘One soft tyre wouldn’t last the whole race. And you might even have to do two stops. Someone might try one stop. I think running on soft tyres for the whole weekend would solve a lot of problems,’ he stated.
Lewis Hamilton echoed the sentiment, pointing out that tyres were central to the issue. ‘At the end of the day, I think our tyres can last a whole race. The compound here is too hard. You have to find ways to spice up the race, maybe three mandatory stops or something to spice it up a bit,’ he said.
Implementing Russell’s proposal could introduce a variety of strategies, making the race more unpredictable and exciting. Teams could be more aggressive with pit stops, and it would discourage trying to run the entire race on one set of tyres. Such a change wouldn’t require a huge investment or complex track modifications. A simple vote in the Sporting Advisory Committee could push through this rule change for just this race.
Even Max Verstappen showed openness to new ideas. ‘The whole weekend is really cool, only Sunday is a bit boring. If we can find a way to make the race a bit better, why not? That would be my preferred solution,’ he said.
The Monaco Grand Prix saw a dramatic incident involving Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly at Portier corner. The collision led to Ocon’s race ending prematurely, a significant penalty, and speculation about Mick Schumacher stepping in as a replacement for the next race. Ocon received a 10-second penalty, translating into a five-place grid drop for the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix.
There seems to be a consensus among drivers and team principals that something needs to change to inject more excitement into the Monaco Grand Prix. Whether it’s through track modifications or tyre strategies, the goal is clear: make the race more thrilling for everyone involved.
