So there goes the Monaco Grand Prix. We have had a much better race this year, with a reasonable amount of overtaking and action.
But that is not the full story. Both qualifying and the race were red flagged in order for drivers (Sergio Pérez and Vitaly Petrov) to be taken to hospital. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that is the first red flag in a dry race since Luciano Burti's horror smash at Spa in 2001.
Petrov's incident occurred because too many cars on three different laps all happened to concertina into the same straight, just as overtaking and lapping was occurring. It would be confusing anywhere, but the proximity of the wall can hardly have helped the Russian.
Pérez incident was far more worrying. He hit the wall in the run-off area of the Nouvelle Chicane. That wall was narrowly missed by Nico Rosberg in P3 too! Pérez hit the wall side-on, but this is purely down to chance. Would his injuries be much more severe if he'd gone in head on? Surely they would. There have been narrow misses down there before.
Is Monaco just too small, and too dangerous for Formula One to continue to justify its use or does someone have to be injured more severely for the question to be asked. With the incidents which occurred this weekend, at the least the exit of the tunnel must be reconsidered. I hope a wake up call has been heard in the Corridors of Power.
But that is not the full story. Both qualifying and the race were red flagged in order for drivers (Sergio Pérez and Vitaly Petrov) to be taken to hospital. I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that is the first red flag in a dry race since Luciano Burti's horror smash at Spa in 2001.
Petrov's incident occurred because too many cars on three different laps all happened to concertina into the same straight, just as overtaking and lapping was occurring. It would be confusing anywhere, but the proximity of the wall can hardly have helped the Russian.
Pérez incident was far more worrying. He hit the wall in the run-off area of the Nouvelle Chicane. That wall was narrowly missed by Nico Rosberg in P3 too! Pérez hit the wall side-on, but this is purely down to chance. Would his injuries be much more severe if he'd gone in head on? Surely they would. There have been narrow misses down there before.
Is Monaco just too small, and too dangerous for Formula One to continue to justify its use or does someone have to be injured more severely for the question to be asked. With the incidents which occurred this weekend, at the least the exit of the tunnel must be reconsidered. I hope a wake up call has been heard in the Corridors of Power.