Glitz, glam and blue seas of the Monte Carlo Marina…who’ll take home the jackpot?
I feel like we’ve been talking about Monaco for weeks now and we haven’t even gotten to the juicy part of the weekend yet. Anyone else?
The entertainment value of Monaco has been hotly debated over the last few weeks and months. Many fans don’t care that Monaco typically provides boring races as it’s steeped in history and nostalgia. However, a lot of fans argue that it doesn’t provide value to the sport or the viewer with its lack of on track action and it’s incompatibility with the current cars. For example, there was one 1 (yes one) overtake at last year's Monaco Grand Prix. Personally I think that, although not all races are created equal in terms of drama, all races are interesting in some aspect, but maybe that’s just the newbie in me talking. The commercial spectacle that is the Monte Carlo weekend is unlikely to be pulled from the calendar, it’s synonymous with Formula 1 after all. But, the promoters will have to strategize how they can keep up with the new era of made-for-TV racing.
Don’t let the haters dim your excitement, there’s plenty to watch out for this weekend. First of all, the whispers of the driver market are starting to emerge as we make our way further into the season. There have been rumours about Daniel Ricciardo’s imminent departure from McLaren as the partnership really fails to get off the ground. This fire was stoked by Daniel supposedly misspeaking and saying that talks about his future would commence ‘soon’ when we were under the impression he was contracted until the end of 2023. A massive shunt in FP2 in Monaco will be the opposite of what he was hoping for this weekend. The McLaren’s were actually looking unusually strong, at least best of the rest, before Daniel shunted only two laps into FP2. He’ll really want to turn this weekend around if he wants to prove the naysayers wrong and demonstrate his viability in the sport.
Even more desperate for a good race weekend will be Charles Leclerc. A born and raised Monégasque, this weekend is understandably important to him. If you haven’t heard of the apparent ‘Leclerc curse’, a sort of conspiracy has arisen as Charles has failed to complete a race in Monaco. Not just in Formula 1, but also in the Historic Monaco race a couple weeks ago. If he wants to regain his lead in the championship, he’ll have his fingers and toes crossed for a good result this weekend.
Free Practice results showed a familiar group of Red Bull, Ferrari and now Mercedes at the front of the pack. However, with the new cars under new regulations, drivers will have to adapt. This could quite possibly bring out some red flags or a shuffling of the order.
Don’t worry if the race isn’t going to end up in your all-timers list, you can pass the time watching the mega-rich enjoy the show from their mega yacht with champagne in hand.
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