The Monaco Grand Prix produced one of the most stale Formula 1 races seen by fans for some time.
There was plenty of chaos on the first lap that caused a red flag and absolutely destroyed Sergio Perez’s car.
Posting on social media after the race, Damon Hill suggested three changes he would make to the Monaco Grand Prix to improve the action.
The crash on the first lap between Perez and the two Haas cars was the reason the race was stopped, but Carlos Sainz also suffered a puncture and there was a damaging collision between the two Alpine cars.
It meant that Esteban Ocon incurred the wrath of team principal Bruno Famin and was forced to apologise for making a very poor decision.
Unfortunately, once the racing got underway once again, a lot of the jeopardy that typically exists on the streets of the principality was removed.
Damon Hill suggests three changes to improve the Monaco Grand Prix
When the cars took to the grid once again, nearly every driver had changed their tyres in the pit lane.
This meant that the strategy aspect of the Monaco Grand Prix had been removed, with all four of the front runners switching onto the hard tyres.
Charles Leclerc led from the front and dropped the pace of the race to protect his tyres and prevent Lando Norris from having a gap back to George Russell that would have allowed him to try an alternative strategy.
It made for a very dull experience and aside from Lance Stroll picking up a puncture after hitting the barriers, very little happened in the final 76 laps of the 78-lap race.
Damon Hill was one of many onlookers at the Monaco Grand Prix who believed changes were required for future races.
The race on the streets of Monte Carlo is iconic but its inclusion on the calendar will become increasingly hard to justify if the action doesn’t improve in the future.
The Monaco Grand Prix produces another stale race
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, F1 statistician Sean Kelly said: “Since they’re debating tyre rules on F1TV… I’ve always advocated they should run three compulsory dry Pirelli compounds in the #MonacoGP. It costs nothing.
“Before you say we shouldn’t have rules just for Monaco, there are literally rules just for Monaco in the current regs.”
In response to Kelly’s tweet, Hill said: “It’s a good thought. That and making the cars about a 1m shorter and 100kg lighter. Less power is not a problem if the racing is better.”
Would Damon Hill’s Monaco Grand Prix suggestions work?
The three changes Hill and Kelly have suggested for the Monaco Grand Prix would be interesting.
Using all three tyre compounds would have forced the drivers to pit once during race conditions and although Ferrari and McLaren would have covered each other off, the in-laps and out-laps could have made a difference.
Hill’s other two suggestions are much more fundamental to Formula 1 and something that could be fixed in the 2026 regulation changes.
Even at the previous race at Imola, although the drivers weren’t trying to avoid barriers at every corner, the circuit was simply too short and narrow for frequent overtaking.
There has been some exciting racing this season, but if the cars keep getting bigger, then the traditional circuits designed decades ago won’t be fit for purpose.
Monaco already has special rules – such as not running to the full 300km race distance – and changes such as the ones Hill has suggested need to be made to guarantee the track’s place on the F1 calendar.
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