As the field shifted to slicks in a wet-to-dry race, Hamilton was trapped behind Alonso in battle for seventh place, and the Briton remained in Alonso’s gearbox until the race was called before 64 laps when the clock ran out.
To Hamilton’s great frustration, Alonso spun so slowly that McLaren’s Lando Norris was able to get away from the pair in more than 30 seconds, giving him a free pit stop window to go in for new tires. and attack the fastest lap.
Alonso explained that he had to slow down to make sure his average tires lasted until the end of the race, saying that Hamilton’s problems were not his problem.
The incident was reminiscent of Arrows’ Enrique Bernoldi, who held David Coulthard for 35 laps after the McLaren driver was forced to start from behind in the 2001 race.
According to Wolff, Hamilton’s inability to find a way to get through despite being up to five seconds per lap faster has shown once again that F1 needs to study modifying the historic street circuit.
“You can see that another lesson is that track position is everything in Monaco,” Wolff said. “Five seconds is like an F2 car, but yes, I think we have to look.
“This is a show here, such a great place and it’s always amazing to be here, but maybe we should look at the design, where we can basically go five seconds slower and you still can’t move forward.”
Design change can be a “thoughtful thought”
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
The layout of the narrow, winding streets of Monaco, as well as other organizational and commercial aspects of the grand prix, has remained virtually intact for decades, with its position on the calendar under increasing pressure from Liberty Media’s drive to expand. to new markets and places. which can explode better.
Wolff hopes an agreement can be reached to renew Monaco’s F1 contract, but acknowledged that a change in design could be “an illusion”, acknowledging that there is almost no room to create opportunities for advancement in the principality. without taking drastic measures.
“I think there’s a trade debate to hold, but both sides will clearly find a compromise because we need Monaco and Monaco needs Formula 1,” Wolff said.
“With the layout of the track, maybe it’s an illusion. I don’t know where else we can drive than on these roads, and the tunnel is already fast, but I don’t know what can be done.
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“It simply came to our notice then [after] the tunnel and make it a long straight. And then Tobacco, I don’t know … Tobacco would be too fast. May be [add] a bit of braking there, but here’s the track designer talking who has no idea … “