No fun to be had in Monaco Grand Prix even if you’re winning, says Hamilton

2021 Monaco Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton says he wouldn’t have enjoyed a “boring” Monaco Grand Prix even if he’d finished higher than seventh.

The Mercedes driver lost the championship lead to Max Verstappen in last weekend’s race. He started and finished in seventh place, his worst result of the season so far.

“I probably won’t re-watch this race,” said Hamilton after a frustrating afternoon which saw him lose places to Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel through his first pit stop.

“I’ll probably watch a highlight just to kind of [get] a bit of an understanding of where I lost three places, for example, or potentially three places, two at least.”

Before reaching F1, Hamilton also won at Monaco in Formula 3 and GP2 (now Formula 2). But he has often said the track does not produce satisfying races with modern Formula 1 cars.

“I’m glad the race is over because it was the longest race,” he said. “It was so long.

“I’ve been saying it time and time again, it doesn’t matter what position you’re in, this track is just not fun to race on. Because you don’t see any overtaking, you can’t follow.”

Hamilton is a three-time winner of the 92-year-old grand prix which takes place on the streets of the city he lives in. But victory doesn’t make it a more satisfying race, he said.

“It’s great, of course, when you win the race,” he said. “But even when you’re leading the race and you’re far ahead, it’s also boring. I’m sure for Max it was a pretty chilled afternoon for him.”

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118 comments on “No fun to be had in Monaco Grand Prix even if you’re winning, says Hamilton”

  1. Feels like Hamilton’s a bit sour on Monaco! Quite a few comments from him over the past week on how boring a race it is.

    Is it not a race of pure concentration, skill and challenge?

    Methink he doth protest too much as an excuse for his poor form!

    1. Was it boring because there was no (V)SC, which could’ve shaken up the order?
      Was it boring because DRS was ineffective?
      Was it boring because there was no red flag?
      All the rest was the same as before.
      And without those gimmicks and race equalisers it was maybe even the best Monaco race in a long time (score 5 instead of 4).

      1. Disagree on it being the best monaco race in a long time, don’t get me wrong, I loved to see other people up front instead of mercedes, BUT as far as the racing going on it’s one of the worst races of the last 10 years imo, nothing happened basically, and the 2019 race was better, the 2018 one too.

        1. There was more of a strategic battle in 2018, and more of an on track battle in 2019.

      2. It was the worst race in Monaco in some time and that says a lot.
        It was so bad people are calling that piece of action between Gasly and Vettel an overtake.

        1. It was the worst race in Monaco in some time and that says a lot.

          Not for those of us who don’t like the artificial unlapping/closing-up of a SC/Red Flag, or the lucky free stop due to a fortunate VSC, and even less so the overtakes with DRS.

          As bad as Monaco is to overtake, at least this was the purest of racing there we’ve had in a long time.
          But that might be just my PoV.

          1. if definitely is only your pov man.
            20 races like this per year and F1 is bankrupt in 2 years, maybe less. it was a non-event really.

            The drivers don’t enjoy it, the audiece don’t enjoy it. The only people who enjoy it are the ones that are having fun on the spot, and that hardly have anything to do with the action on the track.

            it’s curious that the best race in terms of results for the championship, was also by far the worst of the season.

          2. (it’s) definitely is only your pov man.

            You don’t know if it’s just me, and please don’t refer to me as ‘man’.

            And why do you think I want 20 races like this?
            I thought rating it with a ‘5’ should be clear enough to most.

            I suggest you stick to arguing what you like, and please stop belittling my opinion if you cannot even read the full comment.

          3. Well, the 2018 and 2019 races didn’t have a SC or VSC that significantly changed the situation in the race, the 2018 was the ricciardo-chase with damaged mgu-k and 2019 the hamilton chase by verstappen, including some serious attempt at the end.

            I found them more interesting than 2021, in any case I’m ok with a monaco race a year, just not a lot happening.

          4. @jff

            Tell me where did i say tou wanted 20 races likes this. That’s just the number of races we have each season. F1 is not popular because of races like this.

            As for the rest, whatever man, just chill. You’re too nervous for no reason at all.

    2. ian dearing
      27th May 2021, 8:12

      I think its a qualifying of concentration, skill and challenge, and why the weekend to me is practice and qualifying. When you are coasting 5s-10s of those times on a Sunday, knowing that no one can put a move on you, not so much.

    3. @captainpie He said something about ‘you’re doing the same thing lap after lap’. I guess he means the track is so narrow and the cars so large, plus low speeds, there’s not much you can do to change your lines over the course of the race.

    4. I agree, he’s coping

  2. Max seemed happy at the end, so were Carlos and Lando :)

    1. I guess the point Hamiton made went straight over your head.

      1. Fred Fedurch
        27th May 2021, 11:53

        Hamilton had a point? All I read was whine, whine, whine.

      2. The point isn’t going over anybody’s head. Only, nobody believes it.

  3. An enjoyable circuit purely driving-wise but terrible for overtaking, although not because of aero, but lack of room and proper length flat-out sections.

    1. Indeed, I gave it a look and it seemed like they only had 8 sec on the throttle in the tunnel straight!

    2. @jerejj If you mean F1 games (presumably), I often skip Monaco during seasons as I absolutely hate the circuit and find it tedious beyond belief. However, Hamilton (and other drivers) have often gone about how special the place/race is, so I’ve thought it must be more exciting for them.

      1. I skip it cause I invariably put it in the wall within the first 5 laps of any given session…

        1. @tommy-c That too :o)
          The problem is the ‘amount of concentration v. not binning it’ ratio just doesn’t work for me.

  4. Rick Howell
    27th May 2021, 8:01

    Enough Lewis. We get it! You’ve been whining about this track for a week. Just stop already.

    1. ian dearing
      27th May 2021, 8:14

      Thanks for confirming that he has indeed moaned about the track all week, which puts the sour grapes argument to bed.

      1. GS (@gsagostinho)
        27th May 2021, 10:02

        Yep. And if it was Kimi complaining about the same thing, everyone here would be ‘oh he’s so cool, he speaks up his mind and doesn’t care that his opinions might go against the majority.’

        1. Yeah, Kimi is the King of Cool!
          You know why? Because he doesn’t whine for a week!
          He just says: “Bwaaa” and sips his vodka.

        2. Cause the only thing Kimi does complain about is when he can’t have a drink.

    2. Not just a week, this is Hamilton from 2018: “It was intensely boring. (..) There is not a lot of action, you’re just trying to bring it home. (..) When it finished, I was like, ‘thank goodness’.”

      Winning is obviously a bonus, but Hamilton has complained about this race before. There are probably other examples from longer ago.

      1. 2018?…..Hmmm…..Another race where he was beaten on outright pace…..Interesting!

  5. “I’m glad the race is over because it was the longest race,” he said. “It was so long”

    Fact: Fastest ever Monaco GP.

    Sounds like sour grapes. I’m sure I remember him saying he enjoyed Max pushing him all the way last time. His usually likes a close battle.

    1. Indeed, and he probably means longest race of the year, I wouldn’t be surprised, it often is.

      1. I thought Singapore was?

        1. Singapore 2017 was the longest race without ever being stopped.

          1. But if I recall it rained in singapore 2017, in fact I’m absolutely sure it rained, hamilton made a good start and ferraris crashed with verstappen, it’s not fair to compare a wet race to a dry race, you lose a lot of time in the wet, monaco also easily goes over time limit if it rains!

    2. Yeah, this really rather reflects Lewis being on a bit of a downer after a disappointing weekend for him than a well thought out view on the race, doesn’t it @eurobrun.

      I think him losing position more or less was just the effect of an undercut not working well – especially when going to the hards, because it took a bit of time to get temperatures up on the tyres so the overcut proved to be a better way to go.

  6. It felt very long for those of us who managed to stay awake on Sunday too. Terrible place for a race, completely unfit for the task.

    1. Counting the cars that overtook or at least overcut the bus kept me awake

    2. @paulguitar Which is why it is sooo GOOOOD!

    3. TV director didnt help either. What was that! Did they let the intern do Monaco?

  7. “Success Has Many Friends, Failure is an Orphan”

  8. It’s not a good look on F1 when it’s most decorated figure riles against it’s supposed ‘crown jewel’.

    I’m not necessarily agreeing with Lewis here. He’s won Monaco three times, twice through luck and once through sheer defensive mastery. I’m relatively sure I remember him being happy on the podium all three times. He’s also a man with self-admitted atrocious memory, so I’m not surprised he’s forgotten how he felt when he won the races.

    But Lewis is missing a big point here, in that the 2021 Monaco GP needed to happen. It was the first race of the season that was coming back after the covid year, a sign or beacon that the F1 world, in Europe at least, is going back to normal.

    1. I meant its, not it’s.

      1. It’s an important correction @wsrgo, Kudos for your attention to detail :) Completely agree of course.

    2. Lewis is not missing anything @wsrgo, he’s saying what needed to be said. It’s a stupid place to race F1 cars and it only happens for the empty reason of social status. Lewis might even be the only person who can make a dent in the utterly shallow, self-admiring nonsense of F1 going there.

      1. @zann At least it has racing heritage going for it, which is more than can be said for Sochi and Abu Dhabi. F1 going there isn’t self absorbed, just greedy.

        1. Bernie understood the importance of status to building F1 @wsrgo, fair enough. Also F1 cars used to be slower, less aero, narrower and more agile. So yes Monaco has heritage, but it doesn’t have racing any more. And yes F1 is driven by money, but part of that is it needs viewers, who in the main tune in for racing don’t we, more than to view a plump, bald man who is the son of someone and various tax exiles and their moored yachts.

    3. Self admitted atrocious memory?
      I would rather called an evasive comment for him to comfortably make use of his ‘selective memory.’

      Just a thought.

  9. Monaco is all about Saturday which again was immensely entertaining. Unfortunately after the race no one seems to remember this, Hamilton included (or maybe he just doesn’t want to remember it). It’s still a fantastic weekend for me at least, and the efforts of turning a country into a racetrack has always fascinated me. Bah humbug Lewis.

  10. If we’re experimenting with race formats then it seems to me that Monaco would be the perfect place to try something different. It’s been clear for quite some time that the Monaco track doesn’t allow for proper racing with modern F1 cars, and I’m fairly certain next year’s cars will have the same problem here. I’d be in favour of testing some kind of time trial format for the race. Then we could maybe have the drivers pushing flat out on a Sunday rather than driving seconds off the pace without the risk of being overtaken. You can tell most drivers aren’t near the limit for the majority of the race because there were virtually no driver errors on Sunday. The only one of note I can recall being the famously memed Stroll incident when they cut away from the only side by side action of the race, although it is possible there were some the director missed.

  11. I don’t necessarily agree with Hamilton about the Monaco GP usually beeing a borefest which is in desperate needs for alterations.
    But he has one point: The racing this year was worse than ever. Of course overtaking has always been difficult/impossible but at least the cars could follow each other. This year they were all cruising at about a 2 second gap to each other. So we did not only have zero overtaking, we didn’t even have cars chasing each other.

  12. It will happen eventually and it has been on the table for a while now. This is still first time I have a feeling that you can read between the lines that his retirement is coming closer.

    His race was bad there is no way around it and he should be angry about that but if you’re saying something like that out loud it makes you wonder. I was expecting him to say that he wants to be back on top in Baku but no.

    Or this is taken out of context and he didn’t mean it but still it might be closer than you think.

    1. @qeki As with most of these quotes, it was probably given in answer to a question we don’t know. And then it could have been truncated to focus on the interesting bit. Everyone expects a losing driver to “learn from this weekend and come back stronger at the next race”, so that part isn’t really news. Although it could be slightly misleading to leave it out (if it was there in the first place!)

  13. Hamilton is a clown, he should stop his F1 career now to give place for better and young talents.

  14. Mercedes are boring but I don’t hear sir Lewis moaning about them…

  15. I’ll bet right now that if Bottas had managed to get in front of Max at the start, Max would’ve pushed and attacked and pushed until he found a way past him.

    The fact of the matter is that it is possible to overtake, really really difficult but possible.

    Even with the current aero, there was an immense battle in 2016 after RBR stuffed up with Ricciardo, there was a huge battle in 2019 where Max very nearly pulled off an overtake on Hamilton.

    My thoughts are more along the lines of drivers are so conscious of getting “some” points vs zero they just don’t try to pass and just settle for whatever position they’re in because it’s only 1 race out of 23. If it was 1 race out of (say) 16, there’d be a much higher premium on finishing position which might actually get a few of them to consider attacking harder.

    1. “Max would’ve pushed and attacked and pushed until he found a way past him.”

      Oh, like 2019, when he tried to pass Hamilton and crashed into him?

    2. I like the idea of that scenario @dbradock. However, I seriously doubt that Max would succeed in passing that way.

      Far more likely is that he would just have pushed Bottas, then would have dropped back a bit to about 2-3 seconds behind and once Bottas came in for the pitstop (let’s assume it does not go as bad as it did for Bottas there) would then do the overcut, pit 2-6 laps later than Bottas and regain the lead much like how Vettel and Perez gained places.

  16. Was the ‘Whining Vettel’ now been replaced by ‘Whining Hamilton’?

    1. He is fast becoming a really unpleasant person, throwing his team under the bus, the same team that enabled him to get all his records by providing him with an unbeatable car.

      1. This I dont understand. He owes so much to this team. So much, really.. people out there regard him as the goat as a result of that teams performance…. You would think he kisses the ground they walk on

      2. He’s been very unpleasant for a long time imo, Remember back to London live an F1 show event, Every driver was there showing of in their cars except Hamilton he was sulking because Nico had the lead in the championship. I certainley dont regard him as the goat hes just lucky to be driving the most dominat F1 car in history with a very weak team mate.

      3. He has not done that at all. They had a bad weekend, and they are all grown-ups. If they all pretended all was well with their performance then they’re not be the kind of people who have amassed the incredible record they have.

        He praises his team more than any driver I have heard past or present, it’s something that is especially obvious if you pay attention.

        But it seems where Hamilton is concerned, reaction to anything at all that is not sycophantic to the team creates hysteria. It’s really very odd.

        1. Hysteria? Really? Posters haven’t done that at all.

          1. Nonsense then… No other driver attracts this vitriol, it’s ridiculous. ‘Really unpleasant person’, ‘throwing his team under the bus’, despite years worth of him having been incredibly complimentary and appreciative of his team, and giving every indication of being actually a really pleasant person.

          2. That’s fair. I just found ‘hysteria’ to be equivalent vitriol. But LH does have a bit of a reputation. See 2016 when he seemed not all that complimentary and appreciative.

            Really pleasant person? Of that I have no doubt, but we just have to be mindful of when we are talking about, and how close to the race weekend and the heat of the battle it is, vs away from the track and a race weekend. All drivers have their game face and their personal face. If they weren’t all (for the most part) fantastic individuals they wouldn’t have attracted the backing they have from the getgo.

          3. You’re right,@robbie, ‘hysteria’ was overdoing it a bit…:)

            I personally never mind a bit of frustration being shown by drivers. I thought, for example, Max’s reaction to being denied his last Q3 lap was understandable and very amusing/entertaining! These people are winners, they show frustration from time to time.

      4. throwing his team under the bus
        The same bus he was driving?

    2. Mmm, now I think about it, vettel’s suck streak ended!

      It’s a joke in the sense that there was an article on motorsport I think where vettel hadn’t reached q3 for a lot of races, I don’t remember exactly, and they said: he extends such streak to a tot of 10-15 races or whatever, and someone commented that he misread “such” for “suck”, which I honestly can understand after recent times.

      Such a race obviously stopped that streak!

      1. As in vettel performed well all the way, but I’m guessing he ended his no q3 streak earlier this year, I remember a good quali from him.

  17. I love the Monaco Gp, Always have & always will because while overtaking is extremely difficult that isn’t why I watch it so that element doesn’t bother me. Monaco is all about the spectacle of watching drivers drive these cars around the narrow streets inches away from the barriers where a tiny mistake could end their race & where concentration is vital to avoid any mistakes.

    I wouldn’t change the weekend or race format for it because I feel that would lose part of that. Yes some sort of time trial format would maintain the spectacle element, But it would lose the aspect of having to maintain concentration & not making a mistake for 90+ minutes. If it were a time trial rather than a race we’d have never got iconic moments like Senna crashing out of the lead in ’88, The closing stages of the race in ’82, The thrilling battle between Senna & Mansell in ’92, Panis winning in ’96, Schumacher’s epic drive in ’97 & many more.

    I actually think that the biggest problem with Monaco in more recent times isn’t necessarily the lack of overtaking (As that’s nothing new) but more how much of the challenge has been taken away over the past 20 years with the removal of the barrier at Sainte Devote & the 2nd part of the swimming pool as well as The opening up of Tabac, The first part of the swimming pool & Rascasse. And of course how drivers aren’t pushing anywhere near the limit now due to how much they need to manage the tyres.

    Tyres not allowing driver to push harder means they aren’t pushing as hard so the chance of mistakes is reduced & the removal of barriers & opening up of some corners has given more margin for error.

    1. Spot on @stefmeister – that’s what makes Monaco great. Like you I have loved this race ever since I saw it many many years ago and it’s still my favourite one of the year.
      A true test of driver and machine and you’re also correct about there being a bit less “push” these days because of tyre/fuel management

      1. Jonathan Parkin
        27th May 2021, 12:24

        I agree too @stefmeister. In addition to what you’ve said the adverse camber is gone from certain corners too, and they did an extensive resurfacing job this year too.

        We do need to bring the challenge back so let’s bring back the Grover statue at Ste Devote, remove the kerbs at Mirabeau, entry to the tunnel and exit of the tunnel, if the circuit needs patching because of holes just patch the holes and leave all the painted lines in place

    2. @stefmeister I also think taking away the barriers took away some of the challenge and spectacle.

  18. petebaldwin (@)
    27th May 2021, 11:25

    The bit that seems a bit odd to me is at the end where he says “But even when you’re leading the race and you’re far ahead, it’s also boring.”

    Hamilton has spent the last 5 years “far ahead” and I don’t know of many drivers who say they’d rather drive around the majority of other F1 tracks instead of Monaco. Most say they love the challenge of Monaco… Sure, you can’t really overtake so I appreciate being stuck behind other cars is frustrating but it just seems like he doesn’t like driving the track.

    1. @petebaldwin Somebody (Prost?) said that driving a F1 car around Monaco is like riding a bicycle around your living room – it’s a challenge, but it’s not much fun. Especially when you’re not cruising around at the front!

      1. @jimg Good quote!

      2. It was Nelson Piquet.

      3. petebaldwin (@)
        28th May 2021, 14:22

        Sure but then other quotes are:

        Ricciardo: “Monaco is my favourite race of the year because it creates the most adrenaline and excitement.”
        Hulk: “”Nothing compares to Monaco, there is no place like it. It’s the highlight of the year and the race I most look forward to.”
        Sainz: “When you nail your qualifying lap at this track, there isn’t any feeling like it, it’s amazing.”
        Alonso: “Monaco is also a really special place to go racing, and it’s easy to see why it’s such a famous venue for a grand prix”
        Perez: “”I love everything about Monaco. It’s my favourite track and it’s one of the biggest races of the year.”

        I could find more but you get the idea… Most drivers seem to love driving at Monaco but Hamilton clearly just doesn’t like it. Otherwise, surely having the challenge of driving a difficult track whilst out in front would be more enjoyable than cruising around in 1st at somewhere like Barcelona or Abu Dhabi…

        1. Ofcourse he likes it. He loved it when he won there. He is just panicing over nothing. So Monaco doesnt suit the rocket. Plenty of tracks to come where he can coast all the way to the finish line. He’ll be back leading the WDC in max 2 races. His 7th place is therefor not harmful at all, his remarks are (team spirit). Not so clever from a veteran.

  19. It’s a visual spectacle and an oddity in the calendar but I find that wearing a bit thin as the years go by. I just hope the changes next year will improve the entertainment.
    That race was the first time I ever found my eyes closing, heading towards sleep, not a good sign in a sport I adore.
    Well said Lewis for daring to say this against the establishment and all the cossetted vested interests around this event.

  20. Take the wings off then. Aero has killed the sporting aspect.
    #elephantintheroom

    1. Hear hear. Whats with this aero fascination? We want drag, not aero. Well, I guess technically drag is also aero or at least an aero effect, but you het my point.. those ridiculous wings

      1. So you two have missed that they are effectively ‘taking the wings off’ starting next year by making them far less effective and replacing aero downforce with ground effects?

        1. No, just not very confident in what it actually will become. And cutting the floor for this year doesnt give much confidence they actually understand where we need to go.

  21. Time and time again, since thursday.

  22. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    27th May 2021, 12:39

    He’s not wrong in the sense it is a boring race no matter who wins it. But I can’t remember him complaining about it whenever he wins it – in fact I’m certain I’ve heard him talk the race up in the past, so this does just come across as major salt.

  23. And LH said only a handful of days ago he wasn’t going to get into a war of words because it’s childish. That didn’t last long, as he tries his best to minimize Max’s achievement on Sunday. Still I rise…my entitlement.

    Oh without doubt past winners at Monaco have been more challenged than Max was, and have gotten lucky from mistakes of others too, but the point is LH couldn’t help himself after all, and stay out of the ‘childish’ word games.

  24. I missed the race live (dad’s taxi duty) so was sitting down to watch it when a mate said he was about to watch on Channel 4, so I put that on instead of the recording.

    Around one of the advert breaks I am sure they played a piece by Lewis saying how he enjoys racing at the place he lives and wished they could be there more, or words to that effect…

    Funny how post race it is a different view?

    And I’m a Hamilton fan, behind the wheel he rarely drops into coasting along mode and really does try to wring the neck of the car he’s given to get the most out of it, so I have no axe to grind, just reporting what I heard

  25. HoosierDaddy
    27th May 2021, 12:56

    I think its unconscionable that Mercedes forced Lewis to participate against his will. Sign my petition for Mercedes to let him stay home in the future.

  26. Monaco is for the investors, the rich and famous. The race is more a tradition.

    1. And it’s part of the calendar, and worth as many points as any other race, and is one that all F1 drivers aspire to win, and is part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

      1. Pro and Cons analysis:

        “One that all F1 drivers aspire to win” – Not really exclusive to Monaco. Most drivers would probably prefer to win at Spa, than at Monaco.
        “Triple Crown of Motorsport” – This is just something some driver or dude made up at some point and the media made meme’d it into a collectable statty thing.
        “and worth as many points as any other race” – moot point because its the same everywhere.
        “part of the calendar” – I guess that’s the discussion right? If it should or shouldn’t. Simply existing doesn’t nessesarily mean it is the best candidate.

        If I add a few:
        Overtaking – The only way to overtake is to crash into the car in front of you and hope you take less damage than them (not really good for racing!).
        Friday’s – They dont run practice on Friday’s. That lowers the value for the fans, as it breaks the flow and breaks good f1 habits. As a result, we fight more with our wives. Its unacceptably irresponsible to put us in such a position.
        The prince and all that richness – In a day and age where almost half of the entire population cannot afford basics, like food, its a bit of a laugh how they use an entire weekend to show off their wealth, guilt free. At least donate what you’re not going to use, so that people dont die every single day. It is also boring to see.
        Not enough death – As they dont care about people dying every day due to hunger, they still have the audacity to add safety measures, instead of removing them. We need to see more death, to distract us from all the death that’s happening in real life, all around us. Come-on… remove the fences. Remove the chicane. Create opportunity.

        1. Robert quite the over the top comment. Sounds like F1 is not for you.

          1. When life is a joke, you may as well have a laugh.

          2. Lol fair enough.

  27. To put it simply, there are a lot more tracks around the globe that could easily replace Monaco. The only reason we have Monaco is because it is the home of the F1 fraternity. A lot of money and influence keeps the track on the calendar, enough of it so to ensure that the voice of the fans, is inconsequential.

    Just my 2c.

    1. The voice of the fan has always been inconsequential. This sport is a millionaires playground and will always take place even without broadcasting or audience. Through the years commercialisation came and for those millionaires it brought along a side game of making even more revenue. But thats all it is to them. A circus around an activity they were always going to do this weekend anyway. Thats why a works team like Mercedes or Renault really doesnt fit the picture (except for Ferrari-like, since they never built cars for the general public). There has never been any real interest to involve the general public. It was fun that national broadcasters reported on their weekend activity. Ecclestone changed all that but hated the public voice. He only wanted to involve them to bleed (money from) them, not to hear them. Liberty to make their move now.

  28. He’s right that the race is boring, we all know that. But I find the rest of the weekend absolutely brilliant. I was glued to the TV during practices and quali. And since I wasn’t really expecting anything from the race, there was nothing to be disappointed about. This weekend also seemed to bring a few storylines, which helps with the perception as well. Plus, it’s the race that all drivers want to win, to me that has value. Let’s hope that next year’s cars help a bit with the overtaking in general. I just really wish they went back to smaller cars.

    1. I tend to agree @j-l Usually, if forced to choose, I’d happily watch the race over quali, but Monaco is the opposite. One lap pushing is exciting given the Leclerc-like possibility of messing up. But a rain-free race almost never is. I stand by my assertion that Monaco is not a race track (as far as F1 is concerned) if overtaking is a virtual impossibility. Can you imagine a sprint race, on foot I mean, where runners can’t run past each other? It’s nonsensical!

      1. Maybe Monaco should swap the points system around:
        1 point for race winner;
        25 for fastest lap, 18 for 2nd fastest, etc.

        1. Start on hard on a nearly empty tank, switch to new softs in lap 1, set as many consecutive qualifying laps as tires allow, repeat with as many sets of new softs you have, then retire the car and bank all points but 1.

          /PalmsFlesh

          Start the love!

        2. Ahah, that would mix things up so much, drivers taking some gap to try for fastest lap!

        3. That actually makes a lot more sense…

        4. Sounds like a Lewis fan on damage control mission.

  29. F1 Fans: Monaco is boring.

    Also F1Fans: Lewis Hamilton is an entitled whiner for saying Monaco is boring.

    1. I think it is more:

      F1 Fans: Monaco is boring.

      Also F1Fans: Lewis Hamilton is an entitled whiner loving Monaco when he wins and labelling it boring when he doesnt

  30. It would be interesting to re-visit the esteemed Mr. Hamilton’s comments after his Monaco victories…IMO, he has been too used to having the fastest car and no credible competition. Now it’s sour grapes time.

    My advice: be a champion, be gracious, be generous, be good-hearted, be a great ambassador for F1. You have been too used to being a supercilious winner – try being a gracious and classy loser.

    1. Well Ill have to check on his other wins, but I think on the last one he spent 60 laps calling his team a bunch of $£%&! So an off remark in a plethora of us, we win and lose together, I owe the team everything, we will come back better, we all have to improve, that he also came out with post race this time was pretty small beer.

  31. Seems like Louie’s taking a nice, long drag of copium here.
    The pure schadenfreude of seeing Mercedes completely bin it…we haven’t seen joy like that since Spain 2016.

    Let’s be real: Hamilton would not be whining like this had he won. And then the race would’ve been boring. A boring race with no Mercedes on the podium– this includes Bottas!– is miles better than a boring HAM-VER-BOT or HAM-BOT-VER.

  32. Monaco is a chore we as expectators have to endure year after year. An old tradition that doesn’t make any sense anymore.
    We all know it’s going to be a terrible race, but we watch it anyway because something special may happen but never does.

    Rich people on balconies and yatchs using the race as background noise for their activities were probably having a ball there, though.

  33. Cristiano Ferreira
    27th May 2021, 17:51

    Sir Hypocrite at its best

    You know what’s boring too? Farming WDCs unchallenged, while being carried by Mercedes, the same team you threw under the bus last week.

    1. This! I am a Lewis fan, I truly am. Of the racer that is. But he makes it so hard to like him. I just cant get my head around why he is not more gracious and true about the role this team plays in his achieved status. The same goes for a lot of his fans btw. I am so glad the new bunch of drivers seem to be far more authentic and open. Like watching interviews with Olympic athletes, describing the effort, the emotion, the disappointment that sometimes happen.

  34. I’m curious about the driver’s opinion of the race. Many of them, in the past, have supported keeping the race for it’s “historic” value, while at the same time admitting to the lack of action due to the type of the course. Have any drivers made any suggestions as to how to keep but improve the race?

  35. Lewhine Hamilton still at it

  36. In an interview made in 2017, Hamilton said it was his favourite track to drive.

    1. Drive, perhaps.
      ‘Race’ at for 2 hours – nope.

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        28th May 2021, 14:36

        Well no – he said when he’s out front at Monaco, it’s boring. Does that mean he’s found the last 5 years boring?

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