‘F*** me, this is really boring’ – Should F1 introduce multiple pit stops in Monaco?
Max Verstappen runs ahead of Lewis Hamilton in Monaco
After one lap of excitement in Monaco, the rest of Sunday’s 78-lap Grand Prix was so boring Max Verstappen wanted his “pillow” and Timo Glock was “glad” he wasn’t commentating.
Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix began with a bang, literally, as Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez collided on the opening lap with the Red Bull destroyed as it smashed into one barrier after another.
Max Verstappen was bored in Monaco, very, very bored
Thankfully everyone walked away without serious injury although one trackside photographer was taken to the Medical Centre for checks before being released.
That, though, is where the drama began and also where it ended.
Restarting the race on lap 3, but with everyone of the drivers given a free pit stop to swap compounds, even pit stop strategy didn’t play a role in Sunday’s outcome.
Verstappen, starting P6, restarting P6, running P6, and finishing P6, was bored.
“F*** me, this is really boring,” he told his team over the radio. “Should have brought my pillow.”
He reiterated his boredom to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase after the race before telling the media: “It was quite boring out there.
“We are driving literally half-throttle on the straights, in a higher gear than you would normally do, four seconds off the pace. That’s not really racing.”
The Dutchman believes Formula 1 needs to make changes to make the race “more exciting.”
“Overall the weekend is really cool but it’s the Sunday race that is a little bit boring,” he continued. “The scenery is still great but if we could find a way to race better that would be my preferred solution. And if they asked for my opinion I would try to see what is possible.”
His fellow World Champion Lewis Hamilton agreed that it was a “non-eventful” race.
“Everyone drove so slowly,” said the Mercedes driver. “It didn’t matter what tyre you were on. We were driving seconds off the pace. I don’t know what it was like watching but I am sure people were falling asleep.
“I can only imagine. We have to find ways of spicing it up a bit more, maybe three mandatory stops?”
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But it wasn’t just those on the track who were bored.
Former F1 driver turned pundit Ralf Schumacher supported Hamilton’s call for more mandatory pit stops, telling Sky Deutschland: “It’s a question of whether we should make another mandatory pit stop.
“The issue is with the tyre. It needs to be that the tyre breaks at some point and overtaking becomes possible. The teams have now managed to drive slowly because you can’t overtake here.
“I think it’s dangerous for Formula 1. We don’t want to see it and it’s also difficult to comment on and convey. The result counts for the teams, but I would like to see racing.”
His fellow pundit Timo Glock, who wasn’t on commentary duty in Monte Carlo, was grateful for that small mercy.
“I’m glad I didn’t have to commentate,” he said. “Ralf and Sascha had a tough time.
“If I think back and someone had asked me to drive four seconds slower, there would have been a big risk that I would have had an accident.
“It’s not in my nature. We don’t want to see it. We want to see action and fighting at the limit and not a slow train. I almost dozed off, it was difficult at times.”
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