Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton has suggested that officials at the Automobile Club de Monaco should evaluate whether tweaks to the circuit layout could aid the quality of racing.
Last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix came in for criticism from some quarters for its processional nature, with the leading six grid positions converted in race trim, and most position changes coming through pit stop strategy.
Monaco has historically been a processional affair, though the situation was accentuated in 2017 through the introduction of wider and faster cars, meaning a larger gap – and time delta – was required in order to attempt a move.
This year’s running was also tyre-limited, with fears over the degradation of the Hypersoft – and Ultrasoft – compound prompting drivers to back off, setting lap times several seconds off the pace, in order to ensure a one-stop strategy was possible.
Monaco’s circuit layout has remained fundamentally unchanged since the introduction of the Piscine section in 1973, with only minor alterations to some corners.
Despite the logistical and practical limitations, Hamilton has suggested that the track layout could be tweaked – or F1 could investigate Monaco-specific regulations.
“I said to Prince Albert the other day maybe it’s time to make it longer,” said Hamilton on Monaco, the shortest circuit on the current calendar.
“We are doing 1:11s around here, there’s more roads. Do we change this great track and make it even better?
“Maybe it’s got to be a different format, something here. You shouldn’t be able to do a one-stop because that’s less exciting for fans.
“There’s got to be more [things] mixed up but I don’t know what it is.
“Jeez if you look at NASCAR they put in a bunch of Safety Cars in for no reason at all to bunch the pack up. Like there’s a tear off on the track which they don’t even have tear offs!
“There’s like a hundred yellow flags, I mean Safety Cars. in the race but it brings them altogether.
“[Monaco] is just the greatest track. Maybe we need two races here, who knows. There’s all this build up.
“It was the longest 78 laps ever, oh God. It was long. I had 46 laps… [the team] were like you’ve just got 46 laps to do on this tyre and I am like no, how many did I do already, I swear I did another 30 laps already."
