Disclaimer: TheJudge13 provides a platform for Formula 1 fans to publish their voice on matters relating to Formula 1. The views expressed in Voice of #F1 Fans are those of the contributor and not those held by TJ13.
Thanks to Glyn Atherton for his submission.
Well after the fun of Spain its a quick journey along the coast to the shining lights of the principality. The huge boats are probably already lowering their anchors their tenders fueled and ready while every sain Monégasque has left and now let out their one bedroom apartment for the price of a small island.
The movers and shakers of the celeb world will be landing straight from Cannes followed by the hungry lenses of the press…then the fans try to get a space.
I don’t like the Monaco GP for all these reasons but the biggest is the track,here we have a road circuit that is dripping with history,if the tarmac could talk it would be pulling you around a fire and placing you on its knee and then telling you tales of heroic drivers and quick cars, of crashes into every barrier and the time we actually had noise in the tunnel.
In the past there was some spectacular races, cars leaving the track and landing in the harbour and gladiators dueling on public roads with walls less than inches away so drivers faced death at every turn but that was the past.
We now have wide cars with power that was only ever whispered about in hushed voices and a pit lane that is only just serviceable. Once a car is out in front it’s just about impossible to overtake and these new regulations don’t help,the race is often over on a Saturday afternoon barring any natural intervention because if those clouds open,it’s all bets off but again we all know that if it pours down like in the past Charlie will be throwing a red flag or safety car.
So what’s the draw of this race? From what I have seen it’s a bunch of phoney plastic people who have no interest in the racing as example,cara delevingne appeared on the grid last year and was interviewed by Sky and she really didn’t have a clue what was happening and she was on the grid before the start! most true fans would have given their right arm for that honour.
We then have the cost of the race for the fans..I have framed a bill from one of the bars I attended one race weekend many moons ago,it was just over £500 for a clutch of bottled lagers and some nibbles,no joke, I was stunned and thank the maker for an expense account.
If you Take a car for the weekend? Forget it! I drove all the way from the UK,entered Monaco on the Wednesday then had to park in the next country for the weekend,I can’t blame the hotel as they did say the space would be taken but I figured I would fudge a place somehow…oh what a fool I was,doh!
I could drone on and on but you can probably get the picture. The drivers all put on their best PR smiles,the teams go into total hospitality mode and try to out Celeb each other and the ever present MrE pats himself on the back for another year in the totally unsuitable circuit. There have been calls to scrap Silverstone and Monza over the facilities but if you look around this track you wonder what the management has been smoking as there are tales of trees growing up through the commentary boxes but I think I know why it’s never brought up, this isn’t a race for the fans,it’s a corporate get together and a showcase for the glamour. Diamond studded helmets and swanky after race parties,it is opulence on a massive scale with boats the size of the principality itself,more jewellery than the whole of Holland and food that could wipe out hunger in a third world province.
So like the title says,its a zoo where we the paying customers get to see the human animal in its peacock feathers,free to roam and make more of the species and all the while in our head there is the gentle dolcid tones of David Attenborough reminding us of the beauty of the event . Now,after all that can you see the problem I have? Will I be watching this outdated,out classed and frankly tacky race?………..yes..because I love the damn thing and f1 would be poorer for its loss?
I love monaco. The only circuit on the calendar where drivers have to do what we admire them for. Only place on the calendar where an error gets penalised. Not just a second slower because you had to drive the 800m wide runoff tarmac. Only track on the calendar where power isn’t the main thing. Where cars that don’t belong in the top ten can get a top ten finish. When people ask me why I love f1 I do one thing. I show them the clip I have on my phone of Senna, in qualification at monaco. Best f1 clip I have ever seen on my whole life. People say motogp dudes are insane, f1 drivers aren’t. Well any driver that goes to his limits in monaco has my respect.
That’s the problem…an insane track loved by all which is only tarnished by the part time fans and huge ego’s. These are the type of tracks that need to be preserved and it shows the very core identity of F1, we don’t see the WEC or MotoGP here,its the track that is F1 and its the atmosphere that the likes of Dubai, Valencia, Singapore just can’t match…..yet.
My friend, as you know, I don’t disagree with the Senna clip but Monaco now is a poor substitute for what Senna and the historic greats raced around.
I understand the safety aspect of most modern F1 circuit design but Monaco has lost walls from Ste. Devote, from Rascasse and Anthony Nodes corners which have made the challenge of the Principality less.
But worst of all is the nannification of the swimming pool entry and exits. Those used to be lined by concrete which was unforgiving of a drivers mistake. Now they just surf the rumble strip.
Of course the circuit is still a challenge but not the one that G Villeneuve, G Hill, A Prost, O Panis, M Schumacher and of course Senna raced around…
Ok fair point. Than put it this way, it’s the only track to come close to the experience of how it used to be 😉
BRRRIIIIINNG IT ONNNNNN!
Seriously, I always look impatienty forward to Monaco. Only wednesday…