Why Formula 1 drivers were “slower than Formula 2” at times in Monaco

25 comments on “Why Formula 1 drivers were “slower than Formula 2” at times in Monaco”

1. 

   Andre
   27th May 2024, 13:26

   “Leader Charles Leclerc moderated his pace to ensure Russell never fell so far behind Lando Norris that the fourth-placed McLaren driver was able to pit.”

   No, that was the job of Carlos who performed perfectly. He controlled the time interval with precision until they were sure Noris could not gain ~20sec back after pit stop (Average 2sec faster car with new tires needs at least 10 laps to get back to attacking position). Charles just looked after his tires to be sure he lasted the race in the best possible shape as he was under the cover of 2nd Ferrari and Oscar was fallowing him cloesly.
2. 

   Matthijs (@matthijs)
   27th May 2024, 14:21

   This was utterly ridiculous, again. I know Monaco is unique and all and I am not saying it should be scrapped, but perhaps a new format is required with 2 or even 3 sprint races in a weekend. This is not a race.
   1. 

      notagrumpyfan
      27th May 2024, 16:17

      but perhaps a new format is required with 2 or even 3 sprint races in a weekend.

      I’m not sure how a set of sprint races is going to make this more exciting. And even excluding Red Flag tyre swaps from the tyre compound requirements can only do so much.

      Maybe they can split Av d’Ostende into two lanes, where a driver has to pick a lane after Sainte Devote and outdrag the car in the other lane.

      Otherwise just make it a time trial like in rally or cycling.
   2. 

      Keithedin
      27th May 2024, 16:39

      @matthijs I don’t think sprint races would really help. Then we’d just have 2-3 more processions to the chequered flag. The cars just can’t race around this circuit. They’re too big, too reliant on aero, and the stop/start nature of the track doesn’t even lend itself to good racing in lower categories. It’s been the same for decades, though now worse than ever. To me, mandating extra stops or anything like that is just a sticking plaster that doesn’t address the real issue. I’d prefer some kind of time trial format where we can see the drivers pushing flat out (or at least, minimising their time to the flag), that doesn’t rely on having to overtake other cars on track, because that just doesn’t work here.
   3. 

      Jere (@jerejj)
      27th May 2024, 16:41

      @matthijs One race with the minimum lap amount for 100 km, effectively a sprint, but with mandatory pit stop would be enough.
      Drivers would at least push more with less stress on components & tyres.
      Alternatively, the entire event could be a Time Attack/Time Trial-style one without any race-like session.
   4. 

      NinjaBadger (@ninjabadger)
      27th May 2024, 19:09

      I do wonder how a Rallycross format would work for Monaco.

      4 or 5 cars in each heat group.
      Each heat being 5 or 6 laps, with the joker being a mandatory tyre change (all soft compound, but limited number for the weekend).

      All the drivers are racing for the fastest race time against the other heats, so you can’t just rely on track position.

      Heats on Friday and Saturday.
      Semis and final on Sunday.
   5. 

      Mayrton
      27th May 2024, 19:40

      I agree this was a new low for Formula 1.
3. 

   tielemst
   27th May 2024, 14:41

   I would replace the word ‘strange’ with ‘totally unacceptable’. There are a enough tracks that are bad for overtaking, but at least the guy in front of you has to race to actually stay in front. This was an insult to everything connected to the sport of racing. Classic track and tradition is all well and good, but if the amount of racing is that close to Spa 2021 it should be scrapped until the cars or the track allows for it.
   1. 

      Mayrton
      27th May 2024, 19:40

      +1
4. 

   SteveP
   27th May 2024, 15:10

   Congratulations to Stroll for being the only driver to finish in a lower position than he started and have no one but himself involved in the cause.
   I’d only half noted that at the time, I may have transferred my interest focus to a bit of paint drying.

   Not that the event was terminally boring, no, no, I’m sure I’ve spent time in train station waiting rooms that were equally uninteresting, and I survived those.

   Awards to Magnussen for being daft enough to trust that Perez would leave him enough space to avoid a crash, and a special award to Perez for being doubly daft to expect that Magnussen would back off.

   Commiserations for Hulkenberg, the totally innocent victim.
5. 

   Edvaldo
   27th May 2024, 16:23

   4 drivers leading 4 different packs of cars, all of them driving way too slow, for 2 hours.

   Monaco is a chore for everyone involved. Something that has to happen because of traditions and little else.
6. 

   Robert
   27th May 2024, 18:23

   Five or ten years ago, I would have said that Monaco have had its time and no longer have a place in F1. In fact, I remember actually saying so, at least in conversations amongst friends. But somehow I have come to lean more towards keeping it. It’s usually a boring race, yes. But I now like it on principal for being a completely different challenge.
   Especially with as many races on the calendar as there are now, too many of them just feel like the exact same challenge all over again, just with a different anthem played before the start. The outliers, like Monaco, spice things up. I want more of them. Ideally, there should be much more of a compromise in car design from track to track so that different teams’ strengths and weaknesses mattered more. So to throw away Monaco, even if it’s a boring race, would make the championship as a whole even more monotonous. Today, I would find that even worse.
   1. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore1)
      27th May 2024, 23:02

      Yes, I think there MUST be races where it’s pretty hard to overtake and the car in front has a chance to defend in this era of easy DRS passes, so tracks like zandvoort, hungary or singapore are definitely needed, monaco is a bit on the other extreme though, it’s become harder and harder to overtake in the last few years, to the point we know verstappen is most likely the best driver atm, we know he has a strong car, and we could accurately predict he wouldn’t gain places from 6th on the grid, and he also didn’t manage to overtake russell with a bad mercedes with a massive tyre advantage.
   2. 

      Esploratore (@esploratore1)
      27th May 2024, 23:03

      Also what about overtaking the guy on pole position when you start second? That used to be a thing back in 1999, now not any more, starts are always safe for the lead driver nowadays.
7. 

   Burt Hunter
   27th May 2024, 19:31

   This is nothing new really, as there has always been little to no passing at Monaco regardless of the width of the cars. We just have to hope for rain to offer a slight chance for passing.
8. 

   Jim from US (@jimfromus)
   27th May 2024, 20:07

   The only way to save this race is to double the number of laps (or whatever distance is at the very edge of the fuel range).
   1. 

      SteveP
      28th May 2024, 18:33

      The only way to save this race is to double the number of laps (or whatever distance is at the very edge of the fuel range).

      Sounds like a perfect way to have the drivers running round the track like hatchback drivers watching the fuel economy meter.
      Probably the only way to guarantee the event is more of a yawn fest than this weekend was.
9. 

   Gerrit
   27th May 2024, 22:34

   Monaco 2024 looked ever so bad versus the 108th Indianapolis 500. That is the real problem for F1 at Monaco.

   No excitement, no racing, focus on “celebrities” instead of the cars, bored commentators running out of things to say, poor camera direction and video feeds, ponderous cars on narrow streets, etc.

   F1 at Monaco is over hyped and certainly under delivers.

   Just as well we had real racing the same weekend. And if you pick the right stream, no adverts.
   1. 

      Tristan
      27th May 2024, 23:22

      It’s always been that way though, at least in my experience.

      Monaco is a celebration of the hyper-wealthy, Indy is a celebration of America.

      Pick your poison I guess.
   2. 

      SteveP
      28th May 2024, 18:36

      F1 at Monaco is over hyped and certainly under delivers

      If you’ve been there, then you know: Monaco is overhyped and under delivers. It doesn’t need F1 to achieve that.
10. 

    hunocsi (@hunocsi)
    27th May 2024, 23:04

    Have to wonder why didn’t McLaren risk pitting Norris after lap 53 when Russell lost 3 seconds and the gap grew to around 20 seconds. It probably wasn’t a safe enough gap, but with no need to save the tyres, an overtake could have been on the cards. It’s also interesting what happened in the final 10 laps, why did Piastri back down so much, and why did Russell close up even compared to Leclerc? Have to presume all parties were just hoping for a lucky Safety Car, but it seems like everyone was playing it way too safe just to bring the car home to the detriment of entertainment.
    1. 

       Robert
       28th May 2024, 12:12

       Have to wonder why didn’t McLaren risk pitting Norris after lap 53 when Russell lost 3 seconds and the gap grew to around 20 seconds. It probably wasn’t a safe enough gap, but with no need to save the tyres, an overtake could have been on the cards.

       Track position is everything in Monaco, proved by the lack of overtakes even when there was a difference in tire performance. Had they pitted Norris the risk of loosing out to Russel was too big with only a 20 second gap. If Mercedes knew Norris would enter the pits they would tell Russel to push as hard as he could, rather than keep his managing pace, so McLaren would need probably 2-3 seconds more to be safe, at least. And it would still be gambling that nothing goes wrong with the stop. Staying out guaranteed 4th, which is still good points.

       It’s also interesting what happened in the final 10 laps, why did Piastri back down so much, and why did Russell close up even compared to Leclerc?

       In the final stages, I think Leclerc started to push a little bit more, perhaps to keep his tires in the window and to try and build a safetey margin if he could, while Piastri probably started to struggle on his tires having been in the wake behind the Ferrari for much of the race (his tire management has not been his strongest side either).
       Russel meanwhile saw a threat from Verstappen on fresh tires gaining several seconds per lap on him. So when he couldn’t stop himself (because again, the gap was too small) he started pushing to delay being caught up.

       What surprised me at the time was that Mercedes missed the opportunity to stop Russel right around when Hamilton and Verstappen did. I guess they didn’t want to chance that Verstappen would stay out (even though RedBulls pit crew prepared a stop) if Russel came in ahead, thus loosing track position. As it was, Russel stayed out while Verstappen stopped and immediately cut the gap down to 18 seconds before Russel had made it around to the pit entry.
       Had Russel made the stop, I guarantee Norris would have too. And that would have spiced things up at the front.
11. 

    DB-C90 (@dbradock)
    28th May 2024, 0:03

    I know everyone likes to pile on the track as being difficult to pass on, but some responsibility for this has to go to the teams.
    Everyone now is so risk averse – they just simply won’t let their drivers have a proper crack at the driver in front.

    Go back a couple of decades (or so) when reliability was way worse, and teams/drivers would have a good red hot crack at passing to win because just maintaining position was just as risky. Far better to bow out of a race as leader or the one that was pushing through the field with a mechanical problem than be seen as a driver that wouldn’t take a risk. It was always maximum points or bust, particularly when there was only a top 6, and in most driver’s minds it really was a case of just the top 3 positions, not “lets focus on keeping that single point”.

    These days it’s all so clinical – “please don’t risk the car, just bring it home” so no one even attempts a hard pass. It[‘s not just the track to blame. Its more than that.
12. 

    Mr. Fantastico (@latorres86)
    28th May 2024, 19:24

    This weekend is the first time turn off the TV during an F1 race in my 14 years of watching the sport. Completely unacceptable.
13. 

    Michael
    29th May 2024, 0:55

    Tsunoda’s attempt to get fastest lap on the last lap deserves some attention. The fastest lap by any of the drivers who didn’t change tyres under green flag conditions.

    Another thing is I don’t understand Mercedes’ tactics. They should have used Russell to back up Verstappen to prevent him getting a free pitstop over Hamilton. They also should have pit Hamilton later to maximise the tyre delta.

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