RACING LINES
Damien Smith
Modern F1 cars are simply too long and too wide for Monaco
Formula 1 outgrew Monaco years ago – but news that the most famous grand
prix of them all is secure until at least
2031 is something us traditionalists will defiantly cheer anyway. Only once since 1955 has Monaco dropped off the F1 schedule, and even then the late-starting, Covid-affected 2020 patchwork season doesn’t really count.
F1 without the Monaco GP would be like an English football season without the FA Cup final: some of its old lustre has gone, yet to lose it would rip a cherished portion of soul – what little of it is left – from the sport.
Some question why F1 perseveres with an anachronism, especially when today’s hybrid cars are so damned big. Atrip this year to the Monaco Historique GP, which ran a couple of weeks before the main event, was a reminder that F1 cars used to fit the principality’s familiar tight confines, even up to the 1980s, when Nelson Piquet made his oft-quoted quip about riding a bicycle around your living room. Overtaking was always hard, but it’s now nearly impossible for heavyweight F1 – although the smaller, electric Formula E cars manage much better.