The Monaco Automobile Club has already announced the “most beautiful week of the year”. The expensive yachts jostle in the harbor, the teams set up their accommodation for the classic Formula 1 in the smallest of spaces.
Formula 1 races through the small principality for the 68th time. The premier class was on the Côte d’Azur in the first year of the World Cup. But the question is: for how much longer? “It would be a shame to lose something that has been part of the sport for so many years”says Mick Schumacher.
Monaco is Formula 1. That has been an unwritten law for decades, since the narrow streets were first driven in 1950. “A Formula 1 without Monaco is unimaginable”says Christian Horner from Red Bull.
The myth of Monaco
Monaco and Formula 1 – an enticing combination for the rich and beautiful. The fact that the Cannes Film Festival is taking place at the same time could increase the number of celebrities again this year. “If the World Championship had to be reduced to one race, it would have to be Monte Carlo”82-year-old three-time world champion Jackie Stewart once said. “Driving in Formula 1 in Monaco is like flying a helicopter in your living room”, once said Nelson Piquet, also a three-time champion.
But the myth threatens to fade. Monaco is the pilot’s battle against the track. And then against the opponents. Monaco means: It’s practically impossible to get past. “Doing a race where you can’t overtake is nonsense”, says former pilot Marc Surer in a talk on the “formel1.de” portal. His verdict: The route is no longer up to date.
The race in Monaco has to reinvent itself
“We can’t live in the past”says Mick Schumacher’s Haas team boss Günther Steiner. “If Monaco wanted to be added as a new track and they say well we have the lowest entry fee of any track and you go where you can’t overtake – Monaco would never be on the calendar.”says Horner.
But Formula 1 has long since shifted up a gear under the leadership of the American media group Liberty Media.
Despite all human rights and political discussions about the venue, the new street circuit in Saudi Arabia offered pure spectacle. Miami celebrated the premiere this year, Las Vegas will follow next year. Now Monaco has to shift into the next gear. The contract ends after this race.
This weekend shows that Formula 1 is also breaking with tradition there. For decades, the pilots in the Principality always practiced on Thursdays. The reason: The training day often fell on Ascension Day, so Friday was always free. Training is on Friday this year.
There are proposals for reform
One lap is only 3.337 kilometers long. There is no shorter event on the racing calendar. So why not extend it? Surer suggests an additional loop. “As long as we drive past the casino and along the port, Monaco is Monaco”he says.
The head of the Monegasque Automobile Club recently expressed his confidence that Formula 1 will stop in Monaco beyond this season. They are in talks, Michel Boeri was quoted as saying by the “Gazette de Monaco”. There may be an opportunity this weekend to start a new Formula 1 future with the race from the past.
Source: dpa