Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has urged F1 and the Monaco Grand Prix to safeguard the event's future by investigating potential changes to the layout. The principality hosts F1's jewel in the crown event with the entire weekend shrouded in history, heritage, glitz and glamour to cement it as one of the most recognisable sporting occasions of the year. But the expansion in the dimensions of cars in recent years has led to a reduction in overtaking opportunities, meaning focus has largely turned to Saturday's qualifying session instead. With the introduction of new destination races, most recently the Las Vegas Grand Prix set for November this year, Monaco's place on the calendar has come under threat. "It's a unique event," Horner told media, including RacingNews365.com . "If anybody came up with this track now and presented it, there's no way we'd race here. "We race here because it's Monaco, because of the history, the legacy, the backdrop, everything, the glamour. "Monaco is a crucially important part of the Grand Prix calendar and a hugely valuable one and it's always exciting to come to this venue. The same points apply to all races, but some just have that extra value attached to them and certainly Monaco has that. "Now, of course, facilities have changed dramatically. I mean, when you look at the pits now to compared to where they were 10 years ago, or certainly 20 years ago, everything has improved. "The only thing that hasn't changed too much, obviously, is the circuit and the cars are so big now that the prospect of an overtake is virtually impossible under normal running conditions. "So I think, not for the immediacy, but I think for the long-term viability of this venue… You know, nothing stands still forever, everything has to keep evolving. It'd be great to look at was it possible to introduce some genuine overtaking opportunities around the circuit or to adapt the circuit over a period of time."
Crown jewel
Only minor changes have been made to the Monaco layout since the first F1 race was held in 1950, with the addition of the Nouvelle Chicane, La Piscine complex and La Rascasse-Anthony Noghés the biggest alterations. Echoing Horner's comments, Williams Team Principal James Vowles has targeted planning for what the race could look like in a decade. "We have to remember this is the 80th Monaco Grand Prix and there’s a reason behind that, which is that it's an exceptional event," said Vowles. "If you just go outside and look around and see the amount of people that are drawn to this event, there's a reason behind it. "It is one of the crown jewels of our season, it's completely different. Christian pointed out the cars are potentially too big now. But it has its place, certainly in the short term, that any of us can see within this room. "It provides a completely different experience to say, Miami - that's a good thing. I'm not sure we want everything to be exactly the same. "The only element is to that point: we just need to think about what this looks like in 10 years time and what the adaptability needs to be to suit it."
Most read
