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Well, that was one action-packed F1 Monaco GP if there ever was one. The race had drama with the start delay, followed by a wet start. There were a handful of sensational overtakes as Pierre Gasly marched his way through the field, and then finally there was the ultimate race changer, with Sergio Perez taking advantage of a better strategy from Red Bull to win the race.
This year's event was far more than the 78-lap procession it was expected to be. Sadly though, with the race being the last one in the current contract and no news of a renewal, there is a possibility that even the action-packed latest edition wasn't enough for the stakeholders to sign a new contract.
Extenuating circumstances meant the race was a spectacle
It all started with the rain at the start of the race. With a wet race start on a track like Monaco which is not the best to pull off overtakes, only a few brave ones like Gasly, Mick Schumacher, and Sebastian Vettel made the bold choice of pitting for intermediate tires.
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Consequently, the first half of the race saw a scenario where a handful of drivers who were bold enough to pit for the inters hassled the other drivers on worn-out wet tires. As a result, we had Gasly getting ahead of both Guanyu Zhou and Daniel Ricciardo, both of whom had almost lost grip on their tires.
It was these circumstances and the lucrative gamble of just staying out on wets and directing pitting for slicks that made the race all the more interesting. We had Perez, Charles Leclerc, and Max Verstappen pitting for intermediates and setting the timing sheets on fire while we had Carlos Sainz going the other way and staying out for a direct switch to slick tires. In the end, it was this confusion and anticipation to see which strategy was going to work that made the race a humdinger. Ever since the 2016 Monaco GP, where Ricciardo almost tragically lost out on his win, this has been the most action-packed race on this track.
In a way, this was Monaco GP putting in its best possible effort to show that it belongs on the F1 calendar.
It's time to face reality with the Monaco GP
To be fair, though, this race has made it obvious that the sport has outgrown the event. Talking about overtakes, we had less than 10 in the entire race, which came to fruition with difficulty as the defending car had worn out wet tires that were at least 3 seconds slower on a drying track. Vettel lost 15 seconds trying to overtake Ricciardo, while Schumacher could not even make the move.
When it came to the wheel-to-wheel moments, there were virtually none, primarily because the track was too narrow. There used to be a time when, even if few and far between, there used to be overtakes out of the tunnel or at various other spots.
Sadly, though, the factor that used to aid that is not there anymore. The cars are wider due to which late lunges are no longer feasible. Further, with the brakes getting bigger, the braking distance has decreased even more, which makes outbraking out of the tunnel virtually impossible.
F1 has evolved with the times as it should, but the Monaco GP has remained the same. In its current configuration, it's just next to impossible to pull off overtakes on the track in normal conditions. For instance, in the second part of the race, Fernando Alonso was lapping at 3 seconds a lap slower than the leader. Despite this, Lewis Hamilton could not make a move on the Spaniard.
Why? Because there is no space, which would not have been a concern 2-3 years ago.
Monaco is a classic track and it deserves its place on the calendar, but the scenery has changed now. F1 has added new fans to the sport, many of them from the US market. For these fans, it is a spectacle that is sold. The Monaco GP this Sunday was a spectacle. Had it not rained, however, it wasn't going to be one. Compare this race with even the Australian GP (that has been the worst race of the season so far) and you would have termed Monaco as "boring".
The new F1 fans demand action, competition, and drama from the sport. At a normal Monaco GP, all of this will be done by Saturday when the grid is set up. On a Sunday, when most of the casuals tune in, it's a rather uneventful 78-lap procession. The event pulled out all the stops this weekend and put on a great race. Sadly though, for F1 and what it is looking for as a product, the short track of the tiny nation just does not fit the bill anymore.
