MONACO – The duality of the race so often described as the jewel in the crown of Formula One, the Monaco Grand Prix, remains clearer than ever.
While qualifying for the event, which winds through the winding streets of Monte Carlo harbour, is rightly considered one of the highlights of a Formula One season, many see the often processional race that follows on Sunday as a of the worst. Lewis Hamilton, a four-time grand prix winner and one of the principality's many resident F1 drivers, is one of the biggest proponents of a change in format.
“Don't you fall asleep on Sunday watching the race?” he asked the media before this weekend's event. “I do not know how you do it”.
Like most in F1, Hamilton's reservations about the final product do not diminish his love for what the event means and what it represents. His childhood idol, Ayrton Senna, is as synonymous with the race as the yachts that line the harbor during the three days of on-track action.
“I always feel like when you look at the harbor, you look at this place and you think about the history, it just blows your mind,” Hamilton said. “I remember watching on TV as a kid, dreaming about going through that tunnel where Ayrton was. It's very, very surreal to think today that I'm one of the 20 to do it. Although it's been so many years and I've been doing it for so long that I think that I was really grateful for that moment this morning to feel that.
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“I was reflecting on when I first came here when I was 13, and that really opened my eyes. It became a dream, like, OK, this is the most beautiful place I've ever been; this is where I want to live “
The Monaco race is certainly unlike any other. The yachts lining the harbor form an iconic backdrop, as do places like the Casino Plaza hairpin and the famous tunnel section. That backdrop, a city for the super-rich nestled between the Alpes-Maritimes and the French Riviera, is unmatched by 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 dating back to 1955.
The narrow 3,337 kilometer circuit is the shortest in the championship. Its narrow roads, lined 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 with that,” said two-time race winner Fernando Alonso of Saturday's qualifying. “Maybe only Sunday is the bad day, let's call it! There's not much you can do.” [about that]. It can also be a bit boring, you just have to get the car home and stuff like that.
“All the sponsors want to come here. All the VIPs want to come here. So, like I said, even Sunday is the best weekend of the year.”
What makes the ranking so good?
It is often said that qualifying in Monaco is the one day of the year when the driver can make the biggest difference throughout the season. They will risk everything like they have not done for a year.
“It's the only qualifying of the season where you take corners at a speed you've never done before, so it's a total assumption and a total commitment,” Alonso said. “The adrenaline is very high.”
Drivers spend the week's three practice sessions, each lasting an hour, gaining confidence to attack the circuit at full speed in qualifying. It's all or nothing, as the slightest brush against the wall is enough to ruin the entire event and send a driver to the back of the grid for a long, frustrating race on Sunday.
Alonso himself will know this better than most, having crashed during the final practice of 2010, when he looked a strong contender for pole position. The damage prevented him from participating in the classification. Both Max Verstappen (in 2018) and Charles Leclerc (in 2021) ruined an entire race weekend by crashing during qualifying when they were in competitive cars.
“The highs are high and the lows are low because you know that if you qualify badly, the weekend is pretty much over,” Daniel Ricciardo said before this year's race. “You can only be optimistic on a track that doesn't really allow overtaking. That's why qualifying is such a powerful feeling here, and when you do the lap it's just a crazy, crazy feeling of cool. It's just fun.”
That qualifying spectacle is so special that it can be difficult for drivers who have raced there before to watch it from the sidelines. Ricciardo, race winner in 2018, can talk about that, as he was a spectator 12 months ago when he was Red Bull's reserve driver; his surprise return to AlphaTauri, as RB was then known, was still a few races away.
“There's so much envy that, I don't know, the feeling of driving around here and having the opportunity to push a car to the limit is so amazingly scary and beautiful and insane and intense that it's like one of life's greatest experiences,” Ricciardo said. “It's hard to match a feeling like that, and I'm so excited to have that opportunity again. That's the best thing.”
Ricciardo watched last year from the top of the pit lane complex with Red Bull boss Christian Horner.
“I remember being there with Christian maybe during the beginning of qualifying, and I think he even said, 'You're missing this, aren't you?' And I was like, yeah, I was like, 'I'm really jealous of these guys right now.'”
Monaco is no longer the only F1 street circuit (Singapore and Las Vegas have recently joined), but the satisfaction of achieving a good lap remains incomparable.
“In Monaco you are always fighting with the car because of the track layout, the bumps and the way the track is made,” said Alpine's Pierre Gasly. “I would say the challenge and the exercise of really hooking it and getting that lap in Monaco is harder than anywhere else.
1:23
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 you do it, the satisfaction is greater than on other tracks. You just feel when it's the turn. When it's not the turn, you've had a click, a little more slip, the car doesn't respond, you “You missed an apex or something, it feels the same as any other circuit… but that satisfaction when it all comes together, if you get that in Q3 for example, it's a pretty awesome feeling.”
Another factor has changed the Monaco Grand Prix in recent years: how F1 cars have become increasingly wider with various regulation changes. While that has reduced the probability of overtaking from slim to almost zero, it has also had consequences for the way drivers approach qualifying sessions.
“Getting to the limit here with no margin for error, that's the challenge in Monaco,” said Aston Martin's Lance Stroll. “Now it's not just about that, it's about the traffic; there's always a problem here every year in the last sector, everyone gets spaces to start their laps, so it's not just about the walls and the thin margins , but also the position on the track, trying to Being in the open air, you know that there is a lot of lap time here, and to prepare the tires properly it is a track where you need good confidence in your tires in Turn 1, so it's definitely a challenging track in a lot of ways.”
Is a format change the answer?
The Monaco race follows the conventional format that most F1 events follow, with qualifying setting the grid for a full-length grand prix on Sunday. With the calendar expanding in recent years (to a record 24 this year), F1 has experimented with the sprint format to add some variation. This year there have been two sprints and four more to come.
Hamilton believes something completely different should be considered for Monaco, especially given the size of modern F1 cars.
“Monaco is still… it's Monaco, it hasn't really changed much,” he said. “The cars are getting bigger. You can't really overtake without risking a collision. I wish we had bigger roads and the track could be wider, but I don't think that will be the case in Monaco.” because it's just a small place.
“The race is more or less the same continuously. It's a one-stop race. I would say maybe special tires for this race, so there are more pit stops which creates more variability. Whether we have finishes or not sprint weekend or… You can definitely come up with a specific weekend. You've got the sprint stuff they've added, but for this particular weekend, I think they should come up with a new formula instead of it just being the same thing. . my opinion.”
Ricciardo suggested that F1 should take advantage of the fact that a low fuel lap is very good at the Monte Carlo circuit.
“It should be like a three-day time trial,” he said. “The rink is open for three days in a row. Nine hours a day and you just choose when the temperature is right, when it's right and you try to calm down.”
“Maybe that would make it different and interesting. Maybe it would make Sunday a little more interesting.”
“It's still a different place, I've lived here for 11 years and it still doesn't feel like home when I'm here during race week. It feels like this place has transformed so massively that it just has a different feel.”
