F1 / Monaco: track adjustments, but not outside – Zoom

Over the last few years, the appropriation of the Monaco Grand Prix has been increasingly accompanied by media pressures towards an event called upon to adapt to current Formula 1 standards. race whose overtaking is increasingly counted on the fingers of one hand. This is accompanied by another aspect equally dear, if not more, to the organizers, namely that of the show outside the track and the attraction for the public, also in the wake of what has recently been seen with the expansion of the Circus in America.

Outside the track, walking through the streets of the Principality the perception is that the Monegasque appointment continues to be fundamental in the Formula 1 economy. The “glamor” of the Monaco Grand Prix offers a central showcase for the activities of houses and sponsors engaged in the Circus, a visibility that is not only an end in itself, but which nourishes the economy of the paddock and which allows to finance the competitive activities of stables and supplier companies. The relaxation of the restrictive measures thus allowed for example on Thursday evening Pirelli to receive journalists and other representatives of the environment on board a yacht moored a few meters away from the Tobacconist. On Friday it will be Red Bull’s turn to host the insiders, in an event scheduled in the floating hospitality surrounded by the other boats of the Montecarlo bay. It makes us think how in Monaco, where teams tend to downsize their motorhomes due to the narrow spaces of the paddock, Red Bull has reinvented itself, expanding even more than at the other World Cup events. The home of the Austrian company has been specially moved between the waters of the port, so that the motorhome can also accommodate two single-seaters in the Red Bull and Alpha Tauri liveries at the entrance, along with a terrace with DJ sets and sofas. There is no doubt that Monte Carlo will never see the ocean crowds of over 300,000 people seen for example in Spain, Australia and the United States, but the dedication of the various parts of the Circus in organizing worldly events in the Monegasque environment demonstrates how much the Monaco Grand Prix can still boast a considerable return of image for its protagonists.

Definitely more complex speech as regards the show on the track. The action in Monte Carlo has traditionally been very meager, but the evolution of the cars over the last few years has progressively worsened the situation. The widening of the single-seater carriageway with the 2017 regulations has limited the already reduced spaces in which to overtake, while the weighting and stiffening of the 2022 cars seems destined to complicate even more driveability on the streets of the Principality. On the one hand, there is therefore a Formula 1 that continues to go in a direction that contrasts with the needs of the Monegasque track, but on the other hand the same track could evolve in the near future to adapt to modern cars. In addition to the possible alternative layouts obtainable from the already existing roads, in Montecarlo the works to recover land from the sea continue for the construction of new residential districts, potentially capable of hosting new sections of the track. It could be a simple coincidence also considering the audience of guests present in the Principality, but the architect of the Circus Hermann Tilke is also present in the paddock of Monaco this weekend, whose visit may not be only for pleasure.

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