🇲🇨 F1'22 R7: Dashboard Processional

There isn’t really a way to sum up the Monaco Grand Prix, so I’m not going to approach the race itself in any great depth. But there are lots of ways the famous race should be improved. 

It was Sergio Perez who took his first win of the season, taking the win from third ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who took another second place. In the title race, it was Max Verstappen who extended his lead over a distraught Charles Leclerc, who finished his home race for the first time, but - after starting from pole position - lost out on a win after a communications mix-up and a Red Bull overcut.

The race didn’t start on time because of a sudden downpour and then more time was lost later due to Mick Schumacher’s violent shunt which severed the car in two and time was needed to repair the barrier. It meant the race was timed out, but after the restart, it was somewhat processional, with Fernando Alonso holding up Lewis Hamilton and everyone else , splitting the field into two clusters. At the end of cluster one, Lando Norris banked the extra point with a free pit stop and fastest point.

But there are rumours that this race - arguably Formula 1’s most iconic and historic - won’t be on the calendar in the future. Monaco pays no race fee to host the travelling circus, and the cars are so large and heavy now that overtaking is very much the exception, rather than the rule. With the premium placed on entertainment, as well as sporting achievement, Monaco’s difference could be emphasised with a series of new rules and status changes that would only be activated in Monte Carlo. 

Use all dry compounds

In a normal race, drivers are obliged to use at least two dry weather compounds. This normally leads to Monaco being a one-stop race, with drivers either starting on hards and going to medium or the other way round. One way to force this change is to ensure that everyone has to use all three dry compounds in the race, meaning drivers have to make at least two stops. 

The 2022 race was a bit different as the weather meant multiple pitstops for everyone, with Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda eventually using every set Pirelli bring with them to the race weekend. The three-tyre compound thing isn’t my idea, but I can’t find the person’s corresponding Tweet that normally backs these ideas up. 

The other way you could possibly switch things up is by extending the Pirelli range for one race only. 

Pirelli bring three sets from five possible compounds to each weekend. However, for Formula 2, they use a purple-walled supersoft tyre as well as a medium. For Monaco, they could extend that range by combining the multiple stops with a C6 super-soft tyre to emphasise just how different the two-mile long circuit is. 

Turn off the clock 

Perez’s victory was not done on the basis of laps. Instead, the clock ran out on the Grand Prix and he took 25 points after two hours + 1 lap. 

Canada 2011 had everything. The longest F1 race saw Jenson Button eventually take the win after over four hours of entertainment (albeit with red flags, penalties, spins, weather and everything else.

Nowadays, races have a time limit added to them, but - fuel levels and sunset times aside - races should be run to the number of laps. This would have probably changed some decisions on whether to run medium or hard tyres after Schumacher’s crash. 

Turn off the blue flags

Newsflash: It’s tough to overtake at Monaco. This isn’t new, and we’ve already talked about how the cars are bigger and heavier than ever. Winning this race should be a test. So, this idea would be to let the back markers fight. 

It’s a short circuit at Monte Carlo, so if you’re 4-5 seconds slower than the lead cars, you’re going to get caught in 15-20 laps. It shouldn’t be a major problem for the leaders to get past the stragglers with that much difference, and even if it is, it can bring the other lead drivers into the race. 

Give it major status

This has been a pet belief of mine for a while. Lots of other sports have majors, with those tournaments simply meaning more in that sport. 

The F1 argument is that every race is a major - a Super Bowl-sized event on a Sunday with the world’s best going wheel-to-wheel. Well, I massively love F1, but that simply isn’t true. Some races are amazing, some are not. If someone invented a Grand Prix around those streets in those cars tomorrow, they’d be laughed out of the meeting - especially without a race fee, so it needs that extra hook and making it a major makes sense.

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The other idea is to steal something from McLaren last year, with the papaya-coloured team switching to a classic Gulf Oil blue and orange livery. It looked incredible in the Monaco sunshine, and one way to make it more visually appealing and traditional is for every team to run a throwback livery for the weekend. Sure, Ferrari will be in red, but it would be a great way for F1 to pay tribute to its past, while there’s such a focus on its future. 

And in the immediate future, June brings another two street circuits for F1 to tackle, with a long-awaited return to Montreal and Azerbaijan before that, where Perez won his first race for Red Bull.

The Mexican driver is only 15 points off his teammate for the championship lead, with Leclerc just nine off Verstappen. The first third of the season is over, and after seven races, this is the closest it has been between the top three in several years. 

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