“We could look at the format”– Formula 1 is ready to make some changes in Monaco to improve the aesthetics of the race.
Advertisement
The Grand Prix in Monaco is no doubt historic. Still, it also has the potential to be the most boring race of the year because of minimal overtaking opportunities throughout the race.
F1’s managing director Ross Brawn is aware of this situation and has promised to solve the situation by looking into the format and giving a thought to reshaping the track design.
Advertisement
“Monaco is a very special event,” Brawn told RACER. “It’s a whole thing. There are some unique challenges at Monaco, and there’s definitely nowhere else we race with those sort of challenges.”
“The challenges of the nature of the track and the barriers, the conditions you’re working in, weather can be a big factor here… I think we’d all love if we could to make a greater opportunity to overtake in Monaco,” he added.
“Because in the races if the guy in front does a great job it’s very difficult to challenge them, and we’ve seen that over the years many times. We could look at the format.”
“I mean, some of the teams have suggested we only use soft tires for the whole weekend — now, I can recall a race in Singapore where the tires were very soft and the guy in front just queued everyone up until it was the opportune time for him then to change his tires.”
“The teams are so good at taking advantage of the conditions. We could look at changing tire usage or things of that nature but I think the teams will just immediately optimize around it.”
Advertisement
Change in the track design
The biggest hurdle to racing in Monaco is its narrow channels, and it literally prevents the trailing driver from getting past ahead of his leading car, even if they are faster.
“Can we change the track here? That’s a big question. We’re constrained, but maybe we need to have a lateral view of whether there’s anything that can be done with the track or the layout that could enhance the racing.
“But I don’t think we should lose sight of how special Monaco is and what a great event it is. Blue riband event — the world’s focused on Monaco for this weekend.”
“It normally produces an eventful race. There are processions here sometimes, but I can remember lots of races where because of safety cars or crashes or weather, there’s something thrown into the mix that suddenly makes it a real race.”
“So we don’t want to spoil what we’ve got. It’s fair comment but not an easy one to resolve; but we’re completely open-minded to see if there’s a solution.”
Advertisement