F1 needs to turn Monaco Grand Procession into a Grand Prix

A problem that needs sorting ASAP warns Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko.

As the fanfare of Leclerc's famous triumph that had everyone in tears including the Prince, there are issues that need tackling, namely the 'Elephant-in-the-Room' so to speak: How can we make Monaco a better race track?

The grand street circuit layout was built for cars to race on over 100 years ago to promote the sleepy hamlet that was Monte-Carlo at the time. A concept championed by Antony Noghès who is credited as the founder of the Grand Prix de Monaco as we know it today. The first edition took place in 1929.

The circuit boundaries remain pretty much the same as it was for the first winner William Grover-Williams and his Bugatti as it is for today's 2-metre wide, longest, heaviest (796kg) and bulkiest F1 cars the sport has ever seen. Thus no surprise the 81st edition of the Crown Jewel race was a boring stalemate.

While acknowledging the race in the Principality is indispensable for F1, Marko highlighted the problem: "After the red flag, the Monaco GP was a procession, but it is still impossible to imagine Formula 1 without Monaco because this track is to tracks what Ferrari is to Formula 1 teams.

"But something has to be done. The simplest thing would be to change the track, and there are already plans and ideas for that. Another option would be to require two mandatory pit stops, for example, or to require all three types of tyres to be used so that a bit of strategy comes into play."

However, Marko has reservations about smaller-lighter cars: "That alone will not solve the problem. We either need to stipulate the number of tyre changes or have a route that at least offers a realistic chance of overtaking," explained the former F1 driver and Le Mans winner.

As for the eight points, scored in what was Red Bull's worst weekend since their double DNF at the 2022 Bahrain GP, Marko summed up: "Local hero Charles Leclerc was in a class of his own. The Ferrari was practically floating over the curbs through the swimming pool section, so he was out of reach.

"We had more trouble riding the kerbs. That was sorted relatively well for qualifying and we could assume that Max would have made it to the front row. But of course, when you have a car that is so nervous, even a driver like Max can make a mistake.

"We are optimistic that we can at least find out why the simulator produces data that does not correspond to reality. But Montreal could also be a difficult weekend for us," lamented Marko.

Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix up next, it is fair to say that Red Bull and their world champion Max Verstappen are not going to cruise to the 2024 F1 World Championship titles as they did during last year's incredible campaign.