Lewis Hamilton - Monaco “needs to change” to stay alive

Monaco Grand Prix

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Hamilton - Monaco “needs to change” to stay alive

F1 champion calls for improvements to racing in flagship venue

Ian Parkes & Will Gray

Thursday 20 May 2021 08:00

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Lewis Hamilton has called on F1 organisers to make changes to the Monaco Grand Prix to generate more exciting racing with modern-day cars.

Hamilton believes the current machinery has long outgrown the street track and that moves must be made to prevent monotonous racing now there is “almost zero opportunity” for drivers to overtake.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s 78th Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton said: “In my opinion, it needs to change. We’ve had the same format for years.

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“It is the best venue. It is the most beautiful place that we get to race at, but you already know that it’s never exciting for the fans. It’s a one-stop race with these hard, long stints that we get to do.

“On the list of difficult places to overtake, it is off the scale, highly unlikely you’re ever going to get an opportunity to do so. I don’t think fans enjoy that.

“I don’t know what the solution is, but I’m hoping when we are looking forward to future generations, it can be a more exciting race for people.”

Statistics show how difficult it is to overtake, with the driver on pole position winning 12 of the last 20 races, with only 10 victories coming from a driver starting any lower than third since the start of the F1 championship in 1950.

“There are two elements," added Hamilton. "There’s the practice, just driving on the track, going through the tunnel, up into Casino, the whole experience of the weekend is mesmerising. And that never changes.

“The feeling of winning here is never any less. Every year is unique and special if you are lucky enough to get the opportunity. But as a racer, there are a lot of tracks we go to where we see racing.

“It’s been an exciting start to a season where you are seeing people overtaking and you see the whole field closed up. You’re going to just see a train, naturally, on Sunday.

“The fans already know that’s what’s going to happen this weekend, however, it’s still exciting to watch somehow.”