Monaco Grand Prix set to make F1 HISTORY with new format

Monaco Grand Prix

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Monaco Grand Prix set to make F1 HISTORY with new format

Next week's Monaco Grand Prix is set to be produced by F1 in-house for the very first time, taking rights away from Tele Monte Carlo

Dan McCarthy

Saturday 20 May 2023 08:57

For the first time ever, the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix is to be produced by F1's in-house production team rather than by a local host broadcaster, after a three-year deal was struck.

Since 2011, when the Japanese broadcasters handed over the rights to their grand prix, races had almost exclusively been produced by F1 themselves and then distributed to various networks around the world.

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Monaco has been the exception to the rule, with the "Crown Jewel" of the sport previously produced by Tele Monte Carlo, largely down to lower hosting fees than elsewhere in the world.

Now though, a deal is in place between F1 and the Automobile Club of Monaco to take the rights to the race until at least the 2026 season.

It will not have a knock on effect for viewers in the UK with Sky Sports still set to host the race.

Criticism of previous showings could have been a factor

The change to in-house production has been gradual ever since the 1990s when a local network would be tasked with producing races and there were often complaints about local driver bias. A hypothetical example being ITV would show the British Grand Prix, with an emphasis on British drivers - although the network's coverage was always notably fair.

That format shifted in the 21st century with the sport keen to get uniformity across the board rather than rely on varying levels of expertise from local broadcasters.

2011 marked the final time a host broadcaster was used for a race apart from Monaco with Fuji Television losing out to the more centralised service in Japan.

There has been criticism of the quality in recent years at Monaco and that may have ushered in the change for next week's race.

An on-track battle between Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel was missed

In 2021, fans were unhappy at the fact the director chose to show a replay of Lance Stroll misjudging a corner rather than the ongoing battle between Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly.

Fans should be able to expect new camera angles and better quality footage because of the switch as Red Bull look for a sixth straight win.

Teams are making their way over to the principality from Imola where the race scheduled for this weekend was cancelled due to severe flooding in the local area.