The Monaco Grand Prix no longer has its place in Formula 1

Thursday 28th November 2024 12:09 AM

World champion Max Verstappen in his works in Monaco.image: Getty

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Some rumors suggested a possible disappearance of the Monaco Grand Prix. However, it has just been extended and will be on the F1 calendar until 2031. A regrettable choice.

The Monaco Grand Prix is undoubtedly the most prestigious on the Formula 1 calendar. It is also one of the oldest, since its first edition was held in 1929 and it appeared on the program of the very first championship of the world in 1950.

Its circuit is emblematic. He talks to everyone. Who has never seen a single-seater tumbling out of the tunnel along the sea to cross the famous port chicane? The event therefore has at first glance no reason to be contested. However, it is only down to the bling-bling of the micro-State and the “did you see me” – the sport having long since fled the Monegasque rock.

Run in the city, the Monaco Grand Prix has never been conducive to overtaking. But this is even more obvious today, the fault of ever more imposing single-seaters. Result: there were no crossings in 2021. And this year, Monaco was the scene of a sad first in F1: an unchanged Top 10 from lights out to the checkered flag.

In short, we go to sleep on the last Sunday of May in the Principality.

However, this argument alone is not enough. It in no way allows us to wish for the disappearance of the famous Monaco Grand Prix. The race would still have its place in a traditional calendar, that is to say outlined following traditions and taking into account the history of F1. But this is no longer the case today.

Local Charles Leclerc won this year in Monaco. He was the pole sitter, as often in the Principality.image: Keystone

The European Grands Prix are set to disappear in favor of exotic destinations. The one in Germany has not been raced since 2019, whether at Hockenheim or at the Nürburgring. The Belgian GP has been extended until 2025, but it is under threat and will soon undergo the alternation. In the future, the circuits of Silverstone, Imola and Monza could also be content with a sporadic presence. So even if we have to choose, let’s preserve the Temple of speed and fans, or Spa-Francorchamps, an atypical circuit appreciated by drivers, sometimes cited as the most beautiful in the world and above all, renowned for its diversity allowing us to crown the most complete drivers.

Let’s favor the real circuits, and not Monaco in the city, where the Sunday race is reduced to a procession.

The recent agreement signed between the Monegasque organizers and Liberty Media, holder of the Formula 1 rights, now guarantees the micro-state a place in the world championship until 2031. It seems obvious that money played an important role in the negotiations. The Grand Prix will pay twice as much each year for pilots to base themselves once a year on the marina’s yachts. The race will also be rescheduled for June. These are the only two changes coming.

However, a more substantial development would have been welcome. Because even if the single-seaters will be 20 centimeters shorter and a little narrower from 2026, the Grand Prix must evolve so that its interest is no longer limited to the spectacular qualifying session, during which driving in town at all times speed remains an art. A sprint weekend or a time attack event would certainly energize the event and give it new legitimacy.

However, as it stands, Monaco no longer has its annual place in the F1 calendar and should instead be one of these events which undergoes alternation.

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