Monaco Grand Prix – Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was visibly bored after the race, and suggested that changes could be made to the circuit for the future.
Hamilton finished P3 in the race, following the sick Red Bull of race winner Daniel Ricciardo and second placed Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari. This meant that Hamilton’s championship lead over Vettel was reduced by three points.
The Mercedes man said that the race, in which pace was very muted due to Ricciardo’s power problems and an inability to pass on the tight confines of the Monte Carlo circuit, wasn’t really a race: “We were just cruising around from lap six, maybe. Literally cruising. So it wasn’t really racing. I mean, Daniel did a great job today, so super happy for him, but ultimately we were all turned down and just cruising around, making sure we get to the end.”
Fernando Alonso, who retired from the race towards the end, branded the event ‘one of F1’s most boring races ever’ and suggested circuit changes, something that Lewis Hamilton thinks has merit: “It’s the most special race of the year. I was thinking, ‘It’s just a shame that the race isn’t as exciting as the whole spectacle and the track is’.
“There’s no place like it, but I think Formula 1 needs to apply a different rule or schedule or something. You shouldn’t be able to do a one-stop here. Maybe it’s got to be a different format or something here. It’s got to be more mixed-up things – I don’t know what. You look at NASCAR, they put in a bunch of safety cars for no reason at all to bunch the pack up. There’s like 100 yellow flags in the race to bring them all together.
“That was the longest 78 laps ever. It was long.”
Formula 1 has used roughly the same layout in Monte Carlo since 1929, with land reclamation around the Rascasse area allowing for tweaking and proper pitlane facilities to be put in place. There is virtually no room or possible areas that would allow the track to be edited, but further development is ongoing around the Portier section, entering the tunnel, meaning the possibility of track tweaking in that area if needed once the work is complete.
