Why it doesn't matter if the Monaco GP is 'boring'

There were only two passes for position during the Monaco Grand Prix after the opening lap - both were by Charles Leclerc and one of them was the failed attempt to overtake Nico Hulkenberg that ultimately led to the Ferrari driver's retirement.

Cue the usual complaints that Monaco should not be on the world championship calendar that are almost as old as the hills the city state clings to.

But nonetheless it is a race that should never be left behind by GP racing, it's too important for that. And its sporting value sits apart from the supposed glitz and glamour, the ostentatious displays of wealth around the Monaco harbour, the myriad celebrities and the old world faded grandiosity of the place.

Instead it's about something far more pure: driving.

Last Sunday even proved that Monaco can be a race too. So what if there was precious little overtaking, the slow-burn tension of Max Verstappen's chase of Lewis Hamilton made for a gripping show that will live long in the memory. Even in this era of pace-management thanks to the tyre and engine regulations, the utter supremacy of track position at Monaco still doesn't prevent Sunday being a tense race even if a genuine thriller is impossible.

And even if Sunday's race was considered flat, as it often will be, Monaco is still worth its place.

Does it matter if the race is defined by qualifying, with a little bit of the start thrown in for good measure? What Monaco offers is a unique test of those behind the wheel, one of no margin for error, that showcases the brilliance of these drivers and the poise of the cars.

It is an absurd, audacious anachronism of a grand prix circuit. Those who call for it to be condemned to the past should be careful what they wish for, because every year it is the scene of the most astonishing display of driver skill and the supernatural capabilities of the modern Formula 1 car.

What every single driver does, even the so-called 'bad' ones (none on the current grid come close to deserving that epithet), is mind-blowing.

Heading to Swimming Pool to watch the first practice session from the outside of the track at the exit of the fast left/right flick forces you to recalibrate your brain to absorb what a grand prix car can do in seemingly impossibly tight confines. As for those who must head out and hurl their cars between the barriers at impossible speeds, even for them it must take a lap or two to tune into it.

When things go wrong at Monaco, there's precious little time or space to sort it out.

Why, when so many gripe and groan about the lack of 'classic' tracks, do we take so little time to appreciate one that hasn't fallen by the wayside?

Pierre Gasly flashes past in the Red Bull, but doesn't get the nose into the corner. He hits the mid-corner kerb on the right-hand side, unsettling the rear, which steps out as he exits the turn. He's heading for the barrier, surely? But a lightning fast reaction, a full 180 degrees of opposite lock, and the rear snaps back into line from an extreme angle and he's on his way.

From a couple of metres away, the moment plays out in the blink of an eye. It is unfathomable that he avoided tagging the wall, and a look at the replay after the session confirms just how big a moment this was. Yet on the majority of tracks that are not Monaco, it would have been far less spectacular.

While the Monaco track has changed over the years, it would still be familiar to the 16 drivers who participated in the first grand prix here back in 1929. Why, when so many gripe and groan about the lack of 'classic' tracks, do we take so little time to appreciate one that hasn't fallen by the wayside?

It hasn't been immune to the march of progress and there are areas of the track where it is slightly more forgiving than it once was.

"It's not the same Monaco as I drove the first time," said the current driver whose Monaco GP history stretches back the furthest - Kimi Raikkonen.

"It was much more tricky when there was Armco inside Turn 1 [Ste Devote], the Swimming Pool was a lot tighter, the last part was a lot tighter. It is a more traditional racetrack [now], but it has changed a lot since the first time I was here.

"In the past, you could make more of a difference. But good cars still go fast here. Bad cars, it doesn't matter who drives it, aren't going to go suddenly fastest. The car still plays a massive role."

But even with the modifications made over the last two decades, in an era of expansive run-off areas Monaco remains precipitous.

Raikkonen's first visit was back in 2001 for Sauber, when he set some stunning times in the wet conditions despite the failure of a wheel-speed sensor forcing the team to turn off traction control.

He's right that the challenge has been eased a little, but it still remains the most challenging circuit on the calendar simply to drive.

The problems of Monaco are also not unique to it. While the overtaking limitation is inherent to the circuit, the fact the cars spend so little time at or even near the limit is down to the regulations.

Thanks to Gasly's stunning save on Thursday morning, the only F1 driver we saw have a proper crash last weekend was Sebastian Vettel in final practice. These moments are a reminder of how Monaco can bite, and if drivers had to push harder more often then we would see more of these kinds of mistakes. That, in turn, would make for more memorable races.

This isn't an argument for more Monaco-style circuits. It should continue to stand alone as a true one-off, a weekend of madness

The closest Monaco has come to a race for the ages in the past 10 years was probably 2011, when Vettel's Red Bull led Fernando Alonso's Ferrari and Jenson Button's McLaren with all three on different tyre strategies. Vettel was on the oldest rubber, Alonso in the middle and Button the freshest - meaning there was real hope that there would be a genuine fight in the closing stages.

Unfortunately, Vitaly Petrov crashed, the red flags flew and they were all allowed to change tyres before the resumption. Frustrating.

What Monaco now lacks that it once offered is the truly chaotic race, such as the events of 1982, when a plethora of drivers could have won after Alain Prost crashed, before Riccardo Patrese came through to triumph despite seemingly having spun away victory on the approach to the Loews Hairpin. Or '96, when Olivier Panis took a shock win for Ligier. These sorts of races are less likely nowadays.

If the 2021 regulations deliver on expectations - and that's a big 'if' given the politics influencing the final form of the rules - then perhaps we will see the chances of a mad Monaco race boosted.

But whether that happens or not, it's an essential driving challenge that should never be removed from F1 racing.

Drivers must be tested in a wide range of conditions and losing this unique track in favour of one that is no longer an outlier would not enrich F1 - quite the contrary. Populating the calendar with identikit, made-for-overtaking circuits would rob GP racing of the variety it has always thrived on.

This isn't an argument for more Monaco-style circuits. It should continue to stand alone as a true one-off, a weekend of madness.

After all, imagine the reaction were a new race to be announced with that track layout proposed? It's an impossibility of a circuit, which still exists only because it is effectively grandfathered by its unique status.

Yes, it has many faults and in many ways it is utterly unsuitable for a modern grand prix car. In fact, there are even examples of drivers half-a-century ago expressing that opinion!

Losing the off-track stuff - the money, the yachts and the stars - would not be a problem, but the drivers must continue to test themselves on this tortuous track every year. It is what makes Monaco an unmissable one-off that F1 would be the poorer without.

Long may it remain so.