Boring or unique? Monaco GP rating hits ten-year low

2017 Monaco Grand Prix Rate the Race result

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The Monaco Grand Prix received an average rating of less than five out of ten this year – the lowest the race has been given since F1 Fanatic began Rate the Race in 2008.

A largely processional race saw Sebastian Vettel take victory after jumping ahead of team mate Kimi Raikkonen in the pits. The change of positions left many wondering whether Ferrari was already favouring the driver who is in the strongest position in the points standings.

Here’s what you had to say about the race.

The Monaco GP should be scrapped – it is boring and the cars are too big for the track. No one ever overtakes because it is simply impossible. The only time drivers change positions is when a pit stop takes place or someone goes out of the race. Boring.

The only reason the race is held in Monaco is for the rich people. It’s more of a chance to show off how wealthy you are than the actual race.
Steve

Just about nothing happened in this race. Even the outcome of the pit stops was quite obvious except for the Bottas and Verstappen thing. I did not even see any tries with a reasonable chance of a take over.
Ronald (@Mosquito)

Excellent racing, exciting passing moves, wheel to wheel action, some flashy crashes and a last lap fight for the victory! I give this race a ten.

Oh right, I was watching the Indianapolis 500… IndyCar showed this weekend that at least one oval race can be more interesting then the Monaco bore-fest that has no reason to keep existing.
Ed Pimentel

However the track has its defenders:

Yes, Monaco doesn’t generate overtaking (when has it ever), but it is a unique challenge – there is nowhere else like it.
Officer Honkengoose

I knew most people would call the race boring but I enjoyed it. Monaco has to be taken with a grain of salt. Watching the cars go round this track in itself is pretty awesome and we got lots of beautiful slow motion shots of the cars brushing the barriers on the limit. The pit stops were very exciting and resulted in quite a few position changes although It would have been nice to see some passing on the track. Loved the radio exchange with Button. You could tell he had no idea Alonso was going to call.
@BrawnGP

I love F1 because there’s variety. There’s a bit of old school and a bit of the new. Monaco is never going to be a track for lots of overtaking; and lots of overtaking is not all that F1 is about. Monaco Grand Prix is older than F1 itself, and deserves its place on the calendar, where drivers need to be inch perfect and the barriers define the edge of the track.

I know this is rate the race, but to have the top three split by less than 0.05 seconds in qualifying is incredible; Vandoorne pushing too hard and stuffing it in the barriers in qualifying, that’s the commitment I want to see, because its the drivers making the difference over a lap, not just the machinery. And it was good to see drivers actually push all race in Monaco, something we haven’t seen in years like in 2013 when they were lapping five seconds a lap slower than they could have done. There was a sprinkling of overtaking attempts, some crashes, some strategy played out and this Monaco Grand Prix compared to the last few years was great.
Kevin Wong (@Fongu)

And as happens every year the unique Monaco television director earned a special mention:

It was mentioned in commentary that the TV footage is controlled by a local director and I don’t think they did that good a job, for example in qualifying there were a few times when they focused on a warm up lap rather than a fast lap. Also in my opinion for the TV viewers the area where Monaco can be the best is the on board footage, with how close they are to the barriers watching on board footage around Monaco is normally the highlight of the weekend but there was hardly any during the race.
@PJA

Earlier this year Lewis Hamilton suggested changing the race format for Monaco – a view Golding1X agrees with:

I’ve think they should do something different at Monaco, as well as the race have a time trial or something. They could make a team time trial even. One guy does a standing start and a lap, as they cross the line the teammate starts from the pit lane and does a lap. Fastest wins, constructors points only.

It wouldn’t affect drivers’ championship and we get to see team mates actually be team mates
Golding1X

Do you think it’s time for the Monaco Grand Prix to be run to a different format? Or dropped entirely?

Or should it be left as it is? Have your say in the comments.

Rate the Race: The Twitter verdict

The reaction on Twitter was, if anything, even more negative.

2017 Rate the Race Results

RaceAverage score
2017 Australian Grand Prix6.408
2017 Chinese Grand Prix7.534
2017 Bahrain Grand Prix7.957
2017 Russian Grand Prix4.900
2017 Spanish Grand Prix7.869
2017 Monaco Grand Prix4.936

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2017 Monaco Grand Prix

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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90 comments on “Boring or unique? Monaco GP rating hits ten-year low”

  1. The Hamilton-effect on the ratings seems to be present this year as well : a race where he performs well is often well-rated, but it’s the opposite when he underperforms (like this year in Russia and Monaco). I don’t believe all users vote like this, but I think there is a significant part that do.

    1. I don’t think that has any significant impact at all. Russia and Monaco had bad ratings because there were no overtakes, no tension, no action. The correlation between these races and Hamilton’s poor performance is mere coincidental; correlation does not imply causation.

    2. To be honest, I would rather say a Kimi-effect, if anything. If he had won, I bet the race would have had at least 2 more points.

    3. Arad (@just-an-fan)
      1st June 2017, 17:07

      Bernie was right about the under 15 fans. They mostly have no clue about the sport, and have only bought into this Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes hype. The only thing that is appealing to them is Lewis’s celebrity-life(He is trying hard to be accepted in American celebrity circle though). The artificial Mercedes domination was perhaps the most damaging domination of all times. Mercedes were given a blank checque to do all they want and get away with it. Sad sad days….. Hopefuly Liberty are looking into this, and FIA slaping Merc’s wrist for oul burning is an early sign to that.

      1. @just-an-fan, given your evident bias, I get the feeling that whenever Ferrari might face action from the FIA (for example, when they were caught abusing the fuel flow regulations in 2015), they will simply be “creatively interpreting the regulations” and being unjustly punished…

        @dan_the_mclaren_fan, the thing is, when you read through the comments in the voting thread, there were a number of people who stated that they were giving a higher rating for the race than normal because of the fact that Kimi had been on pole or because Ferrari had taken a 1-2 finish (having last won the Monaco GP in 2001). If anything, the rating for this race is probably slightly higher than you would expect because of the strong influence of Ferrari on the fan base (being the most popular team globally) and the fact that a number of people also gave more generous ratings because Monaco is a “historic” venue.

        As Owen Smart notes, although there was some interest in the closing stages of the Russian GP, after the opening lap the drivers were soon too widely spaced apart for any real action to occur on track. Add to that the fact that, like in Monaco, there was one fairly obvious strategy – meaning that strategy options were also pretty limited – and you have a scenario that produced, for the most part, a pretty uninspiring race (do you think that the Russian GP should have been rated more highly than it was, for example?).

        After all, in previous years there have been races in Russia where Hamilton won and the race was given a terrible rating – for example, the 2014 race was given one of the lowest ratings ever on this site – and all of the races which have been held in Russia have had relatively low ratings. As Owen notes, I think that it is more of a case of assuming, based on a pretty small data set and on races which have generally not been that popular to begin with, that correlation equals causation.

    4. Michael Brown (@)
      1st June 2017, 17:50

      I disagree. Both races you mentioned only had one on-track overtake, which was missed by the TV director. At least in Russia’s case there was a greater chance of a lead change occurring on the track.

      Personally I think the 2017 aero regs are a failure for racing. Once again the FIA makes a good move in removing the high degradation tires but takes a huge step back by increasing aerodynamic performance. They undid the progress made in 2009/2010.

      But the cars are five seconds faster so that’s good I guess.

    5. Because Vettel only has typical boring Vettel wins

      1. At least he wins. :O

        1. Last year, it was Hamilton v Rosberg. This year, it’s Hamilton v. Vettel.

          No real change.

          1. @grat – See, and that’s where I disagree. Hamilton vs Rosberg was far less interesting, because they were in the same team. I care most about the competition when it is both between drivers and teams. So far this season, it has been quite good in this respect. In most races, even after lap 1, there was a chance that either a Ferrari or a Mercedes would win (excluding Monaco).

      2. @johnmilk Yeah What a Tool, that vettel guy. At least Hamilton managed to make winning the championship look hard in a 2 seconds faster car!

        1. @mrboerns that was on Mercedes. Sabotage!!!

    6. Some mite say its a Seb Vettel and Ferrari effect.

    7. More like the “when nothing happens” effect. Funny that, when the race is boring and nothing happens, it gets a low rating.

    8. Not just the hamilton effect but also the sky sports effect and consequently the ghost team order effect. There were more overtakes and lead changes at monaco than in Russia.

  2. Scuderia-Racing-Or-Ping-Pong (@)
    1st June 2017, 16:33

    Monaco have produced six boring races, with 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2017 having lower than 6 which is an absolutely bad rating.

    1. It is absolutely the worst race on the Calendar. It needs to be removed and replaced with a track that it is at least possible to overtake on. Was there a single proper overtake at Monaco this year?

  3. It’s not or. It’s unique and boring or even uniquely boring but compared to the lottery of Indy 500 still the better race to watch.

    1. @unitedkingdomracing
      How is the Indy 500 a lottery if it’s the fastest guys that always in it?

  4. IndyCar heavy advertising campaign going full steam. Cheap tricks, pathetic, amateur comments etc.
    This won’t make me watch IndyCar.
    But I believe, there may be some distant evil plan to merge F1 and Indy. And I hope it’ll fail eventually.
    Btw. Monaco Gp is unique and I love it. Those who don’t get it, move along.

    1. Not one overtake, what is there to love besides pretentious racing classism of ‘elite’ f1

    2. All that aluminum foil is bad for your hair.

  5. petebaldwin (@)
    1st June 2017, 16:44

    It is both in my opinion. Qualifying at Monaco is one of the highlights of the season for me. The race is usually one of the lowlights.

    I like the idea suggested about a team time-trial or something like that though. Monaco offers a unique challenge but that entirely happens in qualifying where the drivers are pushing to the limit. I’m not interested in watching them follow each other around slowly for 70+ laps.

    1. Agreed.

  6. It’s frustrating when you see drivers struggling behind a slower car and not overtake, if the overtake happens, it’s spectacular, if not then there is insatisfaction. It’s not boring since you expect someone to always crash and spice things up.

  7. Whilst I agree Monaco is incredibly difficult to race at, I think this low rating is unfair. For me a huge part of the entertainment in the principality is simply the spectacle of the cars on the circuit. Nowhere else do you get such a sense of speed, precision or tension.

    I’ve long thought that whilst important, overtaking isn’t the be all and end all of racing. The thrill in Monaco is how supreme a test of driver skill you’re witnessing. Anything other than pinpoint accuracy and you’re in the wall. I enjoy in the same way I enjoy the Isle of Man TT, a driver and his machine on edge. For that reason, it’ll always get at least a 6 or 7 from me.

    1. @zazeems
      “The thrill in Monaco is how supreme a test of driver skill you’re witnessing.”
      But it is NOT. What’s so supreme in driving around the track in the most of predictable circumstances? No-one is trying to overtake you, no-one pushes you out of the line, no-one forces you to compromise your line, no-one makes you go through a corner looking into the mirror etc.
      The walls only make it look more scary, but they do not make it any more difficult. A driver does the same job whether there are walls or not.
      Yes, there is a bit more focus required, but with no actual racing, it all pans out.

      Anything other than pinpoint accuracy and you’re in the wall.

      1. You are crazy. The Walls don’t make it more difficult. Yea right. This is one of the few tracks where absolute precision counts for everything. It truly separates the men from the boys.
        Go back and watch Ayrton’s famous lap around Monaco. It will give you chills. Then read what the other drivers and Ayrton himself said. He was in such a groove, he destroyed the field. I know most of you are too young to have seen it while he was alive, but that is arguably the most talked about single lap in racing history. In over 30 years of racing and watching races, it is only in recent years the number of passes has become the criteria for a good track or race. If you want passing, pretty much any racing series “below” F1 has much more.
        Monaco is a test of bravery and skill to push the limits to the 10th degree rubbing barriers, getting airborne over kurbs. It does not the inherent danger of Indy, but the slightest mistake and it is over. Just ask Schumi when he did not even make through the formation lap some years ago.

        Of course it has produced some upsetting races, David Coulthard’s win, can’t remember which one, was the worst. He was 2 seconds slower than pretty much everyone. However….. this is my favorite day of racing all year. Monaco for breakfast and Indy in the afternoon.
        F1 has historically never been about passing. It is about being the best. PERIOD. That is what makes F1 special. Drop the flag and race til the end. No artificial bunching of the field…. which unfortunately F1 is starting to do. Today’s fans need for instant gratification have pushed F1 into DRS, many more yellow flags, and safety cars. I don’t think I saw a safety car in F1 the first 20 years I watched. I have not missed a single F1 race in well over 35 years. I love Monaco and always will.
        Some of the Tilka tracks are not bad, but they just don’t punish mistakes. You will never hear anyone complain about track limits at Monaco.

        Every F1 game I have ever played, Monaco is always the 1st track I load. To get around their properly is a true test.

  8. Unique. A different kind of race and amazing challenge for the F1 teams’ designers, engineers and drivers. It truly is part of the Formula 1 DNA. It should be on the F1 schedule as long as there is F1. Walk the streets in Monaco yourself, imagine the thrilling spectacle of race cars screaming through these tight twisting corners, amazing scenery and historic landmarks. I have and it was nearly all I could think about as I walked along marveling at the crazy magic that is the Grand Prix of Monaco.

  9. Paradoxal.

    1. Oops, paradoxical.

  10. Spain was more boring imo. I have no idea why people liked that damp squib battle for the win where Ferrari royally messed up once again and THE overtake was merely a DRS highway breeze pass because of tyres/PUs or whatever. Seriously, I was at least amused by some stuff in Monaco. Not that I would call it “fun” either…

    1. 10 ot of 20 circuits in F1 tend to produce boring GP’s very regularly and they have a few things in comon. Melbourne, Russia, Spain, Monaco, Baku, Hungary, Monza, Singapore, Mexico and Abu Dhabi.

      All street circuits are in there, the engine/car depended tracks and the narrow ones. To me Baku and Russia are the worst because they have all the main negatives.

  11. I would make it a weekend long qualifying session.

    Yes you heard it right. Rallye du Monaco en Formel 1.

    With the track reversed on Sunday. Finishing with a head to head super special taking advantange of the Formula E layout

    1. that would be amazing

  12. Duncan Snowden
    1st June 2017, 18:06

    Monaco is a special case, but it’s not unique. We’ve had two of the dullest races in recent memory so far this year, and we’re only a quarter of the way through. The only difference is that at other circuits you’re fairly sure a faster car won’t be able to overtake, while at Monaco it’s more or less dead certain. Just like so often during the refuelling era, the race was effectively over after the pitstops.

    That said, it’s true that this weekend we saw F1 at its worst up against IndyCar at its best. I’ve seen several long-time followers of the 500 say it was the greatest they can remember. The contrast was embarrassing, but it’s rarely so stark. So while I think urgent action is required, let’s not go overboard. The technical regulations need to be altered to allow cars to follow each other more closely in general, and, yes, I think Monaco could be saved with special local rules.

    I like Golding1X’s time trial idea (I vaguely recally hearing that one floated a while back, now I come to think of it), but bringing “real” racing to an end on the streets of Monaco should be the absolute last resort. Perhaps a “time attack”-style event would be a better compromise: a sort of 90-minute quali session on Sunday. I’m sure rules could be formulated to avoid an empty track. But as I said myself, I suspect multiple mandatory pitstops would help as a start. Then again, if next year’s tyres are softer, maybe even they won’t be necessary.

    1. How about Monaco: No Wings edition?

      1. Monaco: not really faster than Formula E edition?

    2. Duncan Snowden, with regards to Indycar, whilst the Indy 500 seems to have picked up a far higher number of international viewers this year (mainly thanks to Alonso) than they have in the past, the information coming through so far suggests that things were decidedly less rosy in the US.

      The preliminary viewing figures which have been released suggest that, despite a pretty intensive campaign, the US TV audience dropped by about 12% this year compared to 2016. It means that, in the past eight years, four of those years (2009, 2010, 2013 and now 2017) have seen near record lows in terms of viewers – 2017 might even turn out to be the worst viewing figures for the Indy 500 in the US since 1986.

      1. ANON, Lower TV viewing numbers do not directly reflect the quality of the race being viewed, but do reflect the (disappointing) quality of the previous races viewed.

  13. The race was not good, but not that bad also.
    But the Indy 500/Alonso propaganda worked really well.

  14. Yes, let’s scrap one of the oldest Grand Prix and replace it with a brand new Tilke track. Great.

    1. @carbon_fibre, Yes, lets insist on new tracks designed to suit the cars rather than the silly old fashioned idea that the cars should be able to race on real roads.

    2. @carbon_fibre I rather watch a GP at Malaysia, Turkey,Bahrain, USA, China or even India and Korea.

      Those are all Tilke tracks. The downside is a lack of fans in attendence but they produce better racing than so called classics like Monaco, Spain and Melbourne for example. Granted, Tilke is also responsible for boring tracks like Russia, Mexico, Singapore and Baku.

  15. Monaco has always been a race where the only way to pass is during pitstops. Overcut or undercut and use the traffic to your advantage. With the tires we had this year the tire wear was pretty meaningless and with all teams basically one-stopping it was always going to be like it was. Usually this rule can be broken if a fast car starts the race out of position but even this could not save this year’s race. Hamilton for example simply followed the train of cars in front of him and only moved up in the standings when the pitstop gave him some free air to put in some hot lap times and jump ahead. Or when a car in front had a dnf. Not exciting at all to watch and not helped at all when the commentators simply run out of skill when all the action is in the lap times and live timing and nothing really happens on track.

    Add in the fact that on track passes in monaco are super rare and generally require massive pace difference between the cars for it to ever lead into a successful pass. Also add the fact that the race was one stopper with 0% chance of any other strategy working unless you get lucky with safety car and it was hard to see cars doing different stints. It had all the things in it that make processional races and it was frustratingly obvious for all to see.

    Only real thing that can really make monaco exciting is rain and we knew there was not going to be any. A good race in monaco generally requires rain – preferrably combined with fast cars out of position. That being said Monaco is very special race for f1 and while it needs all the right things to happen for it to provide an exciting race I think it still deserves its place in the season. Not all tracks need to provide the same kind of “high speed aerodynamics showcase top speed engine performance racing”.

    I think having races like monaco is good in that it provides a challenge for the drivers as well. The tight monaco track is a great equalizer of equipment and is generally the place where a driver can make a difference. For better or worse. This year we mostly saw mistakes from many drivers and only person who managed to outperform his car was ricciardo who basically jumped two positions without anybody noticing it during the race. But the way it happened was almost unnoticeable and as such did not create much excitement during the race.

    1. But pit-stops for new tyres are a relatively new innovation in the history of the Monaco GP, so how did it become so popular and prestigious that Bernie didn’t insist on a fee for racing there ?

      1. Monaco has never been a good race track or venue to provide good racing. It is f1 glamour event turned to eleven. Monaco gp is prestigious because it is in monaco. It is the best place to watch f1 if you are dirty rich and want to be seen. The race attracts tons of celebrities and there is lots of money involved. It is also unlikely to be ever dropped from f1 because it is one of the most prestigious races on earth. Indy500, lemans and monaco. But it has never been about the quality of the racing.

        I find your opinion pretty strange. I think the reasons why monaco is in f1 are pretty obvious.

    2. @socksolid Agreed. I must say I don’t really understand why so many people were disappointed with the race. Overtaking was, as expected, almost impossible, which produced a very static race. Still I enjoyed the strategic aspect of the race.

  16. First time in a long time that I found myself looking for ways to kill time during a race. But I still love Monaco. We might not see high-quality racing, but Monaco does have an incredible knack for generating story lines.

    This time we had the whole Ferrari/team orders debate, last year we saw Red Bull ruin the best drive we’ve seen from Ricciardo, the year before we saw Hamilton and Mercedes throw away an easy win, and the year before that we saw Rosbergs convenient qualifying mistake.

    Through a combination of prestige and a premium on track position, Monaco generates controversy like nowhere else.

    1. There is only a debate if your daft enough to fall for it

  17. Monaco only exists for the teams and the sponsors. Fly out a couple of brand representatives, ensconce them on a boat, gently soak them in champagne and then ask for a few million to put a small sticker on your cars. They may even watch a couple of laps so they can see how their logo would look but not too many laps; you don’t want to bore them to death!
    Although there’s a huge amount of history in this race and the drivers still desperately want to win it there is absolutely nothing in it for the fans. The most exciting part of the entire weekend is the 12 minutes of Q3 – the only thing that can be said about the race itself is that it’s a good thing to fall asleep in front of after a heavy Sunday lunch.

    1. Exactly. That’s what makes it good!

  18. Ive never liked Monaco, it’s an exciting track for hotlapping but terrible for racing. F1 doesnt have enough of good overtaking yet everybody seems to heil a track in which it’s as close to impossible as it gets.

  19. I like the Monaco GP. It’s magical to see these big fast cars blast through the narrow streets. Sure, it’s a little odd. But is belongs to F1’s tradition.

    There is hardly any overtaking possible, and the drivers know it. It makes qualy extra special. And stuff happens during the race, a lot stuff happens usually. This feeds the myth imho.

    This years edition suffered from the 2017 tyres. They are way to hard in gerneral, and especially for the Monaco GP.

    I have a Monaco GP over a Russian GP any day.

  20. Saurabh (@sksahukanker62)
    1st June 2017, 21:03

    Uniquely boring…

  21. Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
    1st June 2017, 21:08

    Perhaps F1 could introduce a new race format only for Monaco.Qualifying being the same,but with points given for the top 10,in a 15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 system.Then in the race day we would have reverse grid,with the currect points system!Based on that hypothetical scenario,Kimi would have gotten 15 points on Saturday,but start last on Sunday!Both Sauuber would start 1-2!We would have a strategical chaos,drivers attempting some extreme overtaking moves…I love F1’s current race format,but only for Monaco we could make an exception

  22. Entitled millennials complaining about overtaking will be the death of F1. Monaco has always been a visual feast that produced a great race only once every 4 or 5 years. Deal with it and keep your dirty hands off it.

    You never hear so much complaining after all the boring football games people sit through every year but every time F1 has a not so great race the cry goes up.

    “WAAAAH FIX IT!!”

    1. Ryan (@ryannema17)
      1st June 2017, 22:57

      Couldn’t agree more

      1. Me either.

    2. petebaldwin (@)
      2nd June 2017, 12:25

      @spawinte If they start playing football at a stadium where the goals are too small for the ball to fit in, I think you’ll get similar complaints…..

  23. I feel Monaco could have been a lot more entertaining if the strategists had dared to leave the cars out on their UltraSofts for longer.
    Everybody knew the UltraSofts were faster than the SuperSofts and would last almost the entire race, and surprise surprise, everyone who pitted early lost out big time to those who pitted later.
    It could have been a chicken run – who dares pit the last? But strategy decisions defused that, and with no correct way of overtaking cars it is up to the reckless (or should I write reckleZ? ;) ) to bring some tension and drama to the race.

    Strategists killed the race.
    In Red Bulls case, it probably helped them get one driver past Bottas. But they could have postponed it and have a chance of getting them both ahead. But it wasn’t to be.

  24. It’s not just Monaco there are several tracks where overtaking is very difficult, Monaco is the No1 offender though. This has been the case for a long time it’s narrow and short and does not help show off what a modern F1 car can do.
    As for the drivers well, what do they think? I’m guessing that it’s not boredom but more frustration that they can’t attempt an overtake without nearly certainly ending up in a wall, and the team orders for Monaco?
    Maybe something like. “Maintain position do not try to overtake we are looking at finishing without damaging the cars. Any changes in position will be attempted by an undercut if the opportunity arises.”
    And of course the fans have changed very much in the last few decade or so.
    The instant gratification generation is here and all sports must cope or risk being left behind. Motor racing has a particular problem in that the danger precludes the fans from direct interaction with the teams and more importantly the drivers. Unless your a VIP or have lots of cash to purchase entry into the pits and the teams mobile mansions.
    Well that’s what I think anyway. See what Liberty Media have planned.

    1. If you buy a ticket for the Anthony Nogues corner at Monaco you can walk into the harbour/paddock area without the need for any VIP access requirement and as there is just a small jetty for access you meet all the drivers, team personnel etc.. Plus the support races use the street that links the stand to the harbour as their car park, double bonus.

  25. I knew there would be hardly any overtaking, but I was not expecting as much action and top level racing as I got. (seriously)
    I still rate Monaco as a unique and great race this year.

    PS and I’m not a Vettel fan or Hamilton hater ;)

  26. Neil (@neilosjames)
    1st June 2017, 22:21

    Dull race with questionable team strategy determining the winner… 5 seems more than reasonable, I think. Not as bad as Sochi, but certainly not a Monaco GP that I’ll remember.

  27. BORING!
    Take if off the calendar ASAP.
    I know it’s not going to happen, but it should. Parties and yachts be damned, the rich can have parties anywhere. The 99.9% of us that watch the race on TV are always bored by F1 cars circulating through a narrow hallway. In fact, all street races should have gone the way of the dodo by now, yet they’re still adding more of them while leaving out fantastic, proper circuits like Sepang.

  28. Monaco should be F1 drivers in shifter karts !
    and allow teams to make exotic parts to impress the yacht club (who bring the money into Monaco, hence why it will never get cancelled)

  29. I love the Monaco Gp, and usually consider it one of the top five races of the calendar, but this year was BORING. Qualifying was very interesting, but the race was frustration after frustration. At least next year can’t be any worse!

  30. Gee, I wonder what race people were watching instead of Monaco?

  31. Maybe next year they should try a race in reverse gear.

  32. Andre Furtado
    1st June 2017, 23:25

    Boringly unique. A necessary one if I must say. A track that’s once a year test drivers skills. If it was up to me it would be worth double points to motivate more of a aggressive approach.

  33. Monaco has been obsolete since the late 60s if not earlier. “Like riding a bicycle in your bathroom” as Nelson Piquet put it.

    The TV pictures used to be glamourous, but now all you can see is catch fencing.

    One lap at Spa is worth 10 years of races at this waste of a venue.

  34. It should be turned into a go-kart race.

  35. I love that, Boring or unique! Being a bit nice there Keith. It was a shocker lets be honest

  36. PeterRogers
    2nd June 2017, 0:49

    Interesting how many here constantly call for Monaco to be scrapped while in all of the worldwide fan survey’s it’s constantly voted as one of the ‘Must keep’ races so clearly the vast majority of F1 fans (And a lot of the drivers actually) actually like Monaco for what it is…. A challenge.

    If all you care for is a million overtakes where even 1 lap of nothing is ‘boring’ then go watch oval racing & leave F1 to those who actually understand what motor racing was/is & should be!

    This recent push for a high quantity of overtakes & all of this is what is doing far more harm to F1 than anything else. Circuits have been ruined in the name of overtaking, The cars were made to look awful since 2009 in the name of overtaking, We have stupid boring gimmicks like the DRS & 2011-2016 tyres in the name of overtaking & the only thing all of these changes have done is ruin the actual RACING, The actual challenge & spectacle of the RACING.

    These low attention kids the past 10-15 years have turned what used to be known as ‘Motor Racing’ & turned it into ‘Motor WWE’.

    Monaco is fantastic, It should stay on the calendar & if you don’t like it then just don’t watch it & leave it for those that fans & drivers that do enjoy it.

  37. I’ve always loved Monaco, One of my favorite circuits & one of my most favorite racing events of the year. Yes fine overtaking is next to impossible & all that but I honestly don’t care because that isn’t why I watch Monaco & it’s not what I expect to see at Monaco.

    I love Monaco because its different, Because it’s a challenge, Because its a spectacle & because of the history & prestige of that race.

    This year’s race wasn’t a classic by any means, But I still enjoyed it because I have always & will always enjoy Monaco for what it is.

    1. BTW this is from the most recent fan survey:

      • Four GPs stand out as critical: Monaco, Monza, Silverstone & Spa

  38. I know it’s a safety thing, but if they got rid of or at least relaxed the chicane after the tunnel maybe there’d be an overtaking spot. But there used to be at least some passing at Monaco, so I think that this was another demonstration of how aero rules need to change to allow cars to follow more closely.

  39. They should really alter the layout imho.

    They could go left at Rascas I recon (where the moterhomes are now) and maybe make a COTA style hairpin there that allows for overtaking (also great for the general admission tickets up the hill there). There’s probably an opportunity with the new Island being build next to the entrance of the tunnel to do something as well.

  40. I love Monaco. It’s one of the few races where the drivers have the biggest impact and pay the ultimate price for a minor loss of concentration.

    It’s not about passing and never has been, it’s about being able to drive fast and keep your car off the barriers – watching the skills, the near misses, the not misses is what it’s all about from start to end.

    The fact that one of the places where overtaking “could” happen had the tarmac break up didn’t help this year but I still enjoyed the race.

    What I didn’t enjoy was the media (sky’s) constant blathering on about “team orders” from well before the race until well after. That was the boring bit.

  41. Most boring, meaningless race of the season. Never been interesting unless it rains or something crazy happens. I guess it’s fun for the drivers only but yet frustrating because it’s impossible to overtake. With all the great race tracks available, Monaco should be dropped to give space to places like Magny Course, Imola, Paul Ricard, Zandvoort, Mugello etc.
    And i understand it’s business but it still should be a proper race on a proper race track.

  42. Sometimes I wish people would stop thinking of F1 as a spectator sport. It is a technical and driving challenge and there is no bigger driving challenge than the MonacoGP.

    Also, with regards the INDY500, I’ll place a fairly large wager that if you offered tickets to most motorsport fans to stand wherever they want trackside at either the INDY500 or MonacoGP they would choose Monaco. Personally I would choose one of the inside apexes in the swimming pool section, I wouldn’t see one overtake but it’s probably be the most exciting and viceral experiences without actually driving a car.

  43. This is not not dad’s Monaco GP. Anybody remember ’82 or ’84 or even ’88? Overtaking, suspense, drama, something lacking in the last few editions of this race.

  44. Monaco is a beautiful circuit. Just the feeling from watching it is special. When you are actually there (outside of the gp) it feels magical. Long may it reign for purists with feeling and appreciation of a real europa.

  45. Been twice – Won’t be going again

  46. They need to modify the track. Macau is as narrow a track but if 2 cars are close on the straight you are guaranteed a great fight into ‘Mandarin Oriental’ corner. Just widen the chicane after tunnel would do.

  47. IMO, it is different and certainly unique. I have never found it boring.

    It is unique because of the atmosphere, which somehow still retains some of the old-world political incorrectness. The setting, the VIPs, the yachts, the vantage points all add to a unique atmosphere that one can find nowhere else.

    People have to think differently to enjoy the Monaco GP. Yes, it is near impossible to overtake, but it is possible to plan different strategies so that team A can outwit Team B. It is also the only track on the F1 calendar where some of the ‘lesser’ teams have a chance of podium or even winning.

  48. It is different and this year’s round was boring in a way that the majority of Monaco GPs are not. I’m used to Monaco being low on the action quotient – more than most of the other races, it rewards planning, caution and precision. The trouble is that for this to work, drivers need to believe that their moves will work for there to be on-track payoff. If they don’t, it’s all down to strategy, which needs either something surprising (rain, someone crashing at a time that doesn’t play into the strategy computer’s calculations very well) in order to prevent the race effectively being won the night before.

    In the olden days, unreliability meant that the “something surprising” was nearly inevitable, even in years when most other rounds were on the dull side. However, in the last 15 years, reliability has improved immensely. So you’re down to relying on confidence, rain or an awkwardly-timed crash.

    The only driver with overtaking confidence seemed to be Perez, born of a combination of only the Force India and Red Bull being much good at overtaking in 2017 and Ocon having a practise crash that took him a little out-of-step with where he’d hoped to be. Red Bull had trouble overtaking because everyone they could have overtaken qualified behind them. Nobody appeared daunted by Monaco’s challenges in qualifying (in contrast to in the race – or indeed practise), so although some were a little off-par, there was a distinct lack of crashing or super-slowness that would have shaken up the field and caused some to think “Hmm, maybe I can pass this slower car ahead…”. This left Perez, whose overtaking worked – until the fourth pass failed due to apparent overconfidence (it’s always a fine line at Monaco, and Sergio no more half-bakes his failures than he does his successes…) Button didn’t seem confident in his overtaking but tried anyway, seemingly out of frustration. It… …didn’t work.

    It didn’t even upset the strategy calculations, since by that point the strategies weren’t in a position to be subverted. Essentially, it was too late in the race; all it did was make Perez’s re-emergence and self-inflicted downfall possible. Finally, it took away the one underdog success that was otherwise possible, because Sauber lost its first points position of the season and Haas are no longer considered underdogs for points. Great for Haas, not so great for Monaco being memorable.

  49. “Boring or unique?”
    Uniquely boring?

  50. Monaco is unique because it’s about how fast a driver can go around a narrow street circuit without crashing. That’s the exciting part. Sure not many overtakes but holding your position and driving cleanly is tricky. Plus for pit crews it is intense. Anyway in the f1 game it’s by far the most difficult circuit.

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