Monaco GP - I hate it
Discussion
As an F1 fan i'd just like to declare my hate for the Monaco GP. I know it's got the history, the supposed glamour and so on - but the actual racing is so boring. Sure there's some skill in threading an F1 car through the barriers (which have been moved apart in some places over the years) at those speeds. But in terms of racing, it's one big procession where it's practically impossible to overtake unless the other driver makes it possible. Only way is to do a fast few laps when it comes to pit stops.
Am I alone in thinking this about Monaco?
Am I alone in thinking this about Monaco?
To be honest, with all the work that the FIA and the spanker is doing to increase overtaking, I have to agree with you. With all the new Middle East and Far East circuits on board, there are far more glamouorus race tracks to visit now with all your corporate guests.
Would I be sad to see the Monaco GP gone, NO.
I want to watch F1 cars been driven as fast as possible around stunning tracks, not a slow parade around some rich man's backgarden!
Would I be sad to see the Monaco GP gone, NO.
I want to watch F1 cars been driven as fast as possible around stunning tracks, not a slow parade around some rich man's backgarden!
To me, Monaco is great because it represents sillyness at one of it's highest forms.
20 x 700bhp+ cars, each weighing 600kgs being driven around a tiny, narrow circuit.
If someone suggested it as a new proposition today they'd be laughed out of the room, probably by a H&S person.
I agree that for sheer racing spectacle the event is poor - most other circuits provide more wheel-to-wheel action - but Monaco to me isn't about watching the cars race each other and overtake. It's about watching the individual drivers and how they attack and push the limits of the car in such a confined space.
Hamilton is especially good to watch in Monaco, as is Trulli and Raikkonen.
20 x 700bhp+ cars, each weighing 600kgs being driven around a tiny, narrow circuit.
If someone suggested it as a new proposition today they'd be laughed out of the room, probably by a H&S person.
I agree that for sheer racing spectacle the event is poor - most other circuits provide more wheel-to-wheel action - but Monaco to me isn't about watching the cars race each other and overtake. It's about watching the individual drivers and how they attack and push the limits of the car in such a confined space.
Hamilton is especially good to watch in Monaco, as is Trulli and Raikkonen.
Yeah the racing is often dull but save some pennies and take a trip there like I did in 2005. Oh my god, to see the cars thundering through Casino Square on the first lap, you wouldn't believe how narrow the course is and the speed they carry through there.... It's mind boggling. Add to that the noise!! just thinking about it makes my hairs stand on end! the miltiple downshifts sound like gunshots reverberating off the buildings and the engines are amplified by the enclosed feeling of the circuit. Wathching on telly does it no justice at all. Yeah everything is horrifically expensive, so bring a packed lunch and soak up the mediterranean sunshine!! I wish I could be there this year but having been once really makes you appreciate it when you see it on the telly!!
Muzzer said:
To me, Monaco is great because it represents sillyness at one of it's highest forms.
20 x 700bhp+ cars, each weighing 600kgs being driven around a tiny, narrow circuit.
If someone suggested it as a new proposition today they'd be laughed out of the room, probably by a H&S person.
I agree that for sheer racing spectacle the event is poor - most other circuits provide more wheel-to-wheel action - but Monaco to me isn't about watching the cars race each other and overtake. It's about watching the individual drivers and how they attack and push the limits of the car in such a confined space.
Hamilton is especially good to watch in Monaco, as is Trulli and Raikkonen.
Totally agree - its a great laugh 20 x 700bhp+ cars, each weighing 600kgs being driven around a tiny, narrow circuit.
If someone suggested it as a new proposition today they'd be laughed out of the room, probably by a H&S person.
I agree that for sheer racing spectacle the event is poor - most other circuits provide more wheel-to-wheel action - but Monaco to me isn't about watching the cars race each other and overtake. It's about watching the individual drivers and how they attack and push the limits of the car in such a confined space.
Hamilton is especially good to watch in Monaco, as is Trulli and Raikkonen.
I was lucky enough to be at Monaco a couple of years ago and lapped up all it could give. We were in Casino Square for the race, did the track walk and lapped up the experience of the Superyachts in the bay.
For an experience it was ace but for a race it was duller than dishwater. It really was like sitting in the middle of a Scalelextric set but with all the cars on the same side of the track, following in a nice little line.
If you love glamour and cash then it's great. If you really like you're racing then forget it.
For an experience it was ace but for a race it was duller than dishwater. It really was like sitting in the middle of a Scalelextric set but with all the cars on the same side of the track, following in a nice little line.
If you love glamour and cash then it's great. If you really like you're racing then forget it.
I can tolerate the racing at Monaco despite its lack of overtaking, and I like the onboard where it's just incredible how fast and close and committed the best guys are.
What really bugs me is how the media and commentators get so gushy about the place. It's abundantly clear that many of them get starstruck at Monaco and they keep dripping on about it - but if you're not there, hearing about the money and the glamour and the beautiful people while in your bedsit eating cheesy wotsits and contemplating your holey socks is a bit galling.
You get all that malarkey at every race to some degree - just cos Monaco has more of it (and less in the way of mere mortal fans) doesn't make it special or more appealing.
What really bugs me is how the media and commentators get so gushy about the place. It's abundantly clear that many of them get starstruck at Monaco and they keep dripping on about it - but if you're not there, hearing about the money and the glamour and the beautiful people while in your bedsit eating cheesy wotsits and contemplating your holey socks is a bit galling.
You get all that malarkey at every race to some degree - just cos Monaco has more of it (and less in the way of mere mortal fans) doesn't make it special or more appealing.
Personally, I would drop Shanghai, Bahrain, Turkey, Malaysia and other fabricated monstrosities. They might have a state of the art media centre but no charm and no history. Keep Monaco, bring back Canada, take ths shackles off the French and British events and acknowledge that tradition and history do have a place in modern grand prix racing.
Can't overtake there? No-one told Graham Hill that (yes I know that was a long time ago). Dull racing? One of the greatest duels between Senna and Mansell was there. Any track is capable of producing processional racing, at least when it happens at Monaco it is against a charismatic backdrop.
Can't overtake there? No-one told Graham Hill that (yes I know that was a long time ago). Dull racing? One of the greatest duels between Senna and Mansell was there. Any track is capable of producing processional racing, at least when it happens at Monaco it is against a charismatic backdrop.
Edited by profstoff on Monday 11th May 14:51
profstoff said:
Dull racing? One of the greatest duels between Senna and Mansell was there. Any track is capable of producing processional racing, at least when it happens at Monaco it is against a charismatic backdrop.
Indeed and thinking about what classic Monaco races Andrew Benson would be suggesting on the Beeb's website next week made me realise it won't be easy:1981 - Villeneuve wins in a truck
1982 - Chaos on the last lap
1983 - Rosberg on slicks in the rain
1984 - Senna's and Bellof's notices of intent
1988 - Senna loses his cool against Prost
1992 - Mansell crawling all over Senna
1996 - Panis wins amidst the chaos
2004 - Trulli triumphs over Button as Schumacher and Montoya get it wrong
2005 - Tyres fade as the fight builds over the closing laps
2008 - Hamilton's stunning, yet fortuitous victory in the rain
I didn't even bother watching the Malaysia and China, ahem, 'classics'
Monaco has the twin advantages of setting and history.
And as for on track action it is far from the worst of the season.
It might be constructive at this juncture to list the circuits that are worse (IMHO) than Monaco for racing.
Valencia must be the very worst track ever in F1.
Then Hungaroring, Singapore and Barcelona.
I don't think Malaysia and Bahrain are quite so bad as these four.
Then we have Dubai that is new this year, so the jury is out.
So at worst Monaco is fifth from bottom and could possibly be eighth from bottom.
Istanbul is the exception amongst Tilke circuits, it is pretty damn good.
And as for on track action it is far from the worst of the season.
It might be constructive at this juncture to list the circuits that are worse (IMHO) than Monaco for racing.
Valencia must be the very worst track ever in F1.
Then Hungaroring, Singapore and Barcelona.
I don't think Malaysia and Bahrain are quite so bad as these four.
Then we have Dubai that is new this year, so the jury is out.
So at worst Monaco is fifth from bottom and could possibly be eighth from bottom.
Istanbul is the exception amongst Tilke circuits, it is pretty damn good.
I've been lucky enough to go to Monaco to watch several GP's over the years, I can remember 3 or 4 that were particularly memorable such as Hamilton's drive last year, Damon Hill's scuppered victory in '96, and the race where Panis took the chequered flag. Also the noise and atmosphere are superb. Definitely wasted on the TV.
At the other end of the scale, Silverstone has produced some great races on the TV, but if you want boring spectating, nothing beats watching the same acre of flat tarmac for 2 hours.
At the other end of the scale, Silverstone has produced some great races on the TV, but if you want boring spectating, nothing beats watching the same acre of flat tarmac for 2 hours.
I think this year's race could be a classic. Why? The tyre regulations with the huge disparity in lap time between prime and option will make it a very difficult strategy call.
The teams may work out that a three stop prime, prime, prime, short option stint is best, but that could really shuffle up the order if a late-stopper gets 5 or 10 laps more in a stint on the faster tyre.
Or the pole sitter could chose the slower tyre to start on, knowing he will hold up the pack. But if a KERS'd Alonso or Massa was in the top 3 on the grid, it would be a gamble at the start.
Maybe it is not classic wheel to wheel racing, but Monaco has a history of random results. This year, I'll put my money on Alonso.
The teams may work out that a three stop prime, prime, prime, short option stint is best, but that could really shuffle up the order if a late-stopper gets 5 or 10 laps more in a stint on the faster tyre.
Or the pole sitter could chose the slower tyre to start on, knowing he will hold up the pack. But if a KERS'd Alonso or Massa was in the top 3 on the grid, it would be a gamble at the start.
Maybe it is not classic wheel to wheel racing, but Monaco has a history of random results. This year, I'll put my money on Alonso.
g4ry13 said:
As an F1 fan i'd just like to declare my hate for the Monaco GP. I know it's got the history, the supposed glamour and so on - but the actual racing is so boring. Sure there's some skill in threading an F1 car through the barriers (which have been moved apart in some places over the years) at those speeds. But in terms of racing, it's one big procession where it's practically impossible to overtake unless the other driver makes it possible. Only way is to do a fast few laps when it comes to pit stops.
Am I alone in thinking this about Monaco?
Go watch it live, you might change your mind.Am I alone in thinking this about Monaco?
Redlake27 said:
But if a KERS'd Alonso or Massa was in the top 3 on the grid, it would be a gamble at the start.
I can't imagine KERS being much use in Monaco and wouldn't be surprised if noone uses it there. Renault and BMW didn't use it in Barcelona so I doubt if they'll use it for Monaco. Maybe McLaren will use KERS, their KERS seems to be the best. I think McLaren will go much better in Monaco - it's fast corners that are their achilles heel.Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff