By Vindt • 28 May, 2018 •

In a Twitter poll held by Richard "Spanners Ready" from the Missed Apex Podcast, 55% of respondents deemed last Sunday's race to have been 'boring', with the remaining 45% hailing it as 'great'. The binary nature of the options on offer obviously made opinions appear far more divided than they probably are, but the overall sentiment is more than likely accurately portrayed. The race was dull, like the vast majority of Grands Prix held in the absurdly tight Monte Carlo circuit.



There are a number of reasons why the GP wasn't as exciting as it could have been: Daniel Ricciardo's stricken Red Bull RB14 was left carrying a useless piece of machinery masquerading as an ERS-K for half of the race distance, a full 160 bhp down on what is already far from the strongest power unit on the grid. Still, he was able to hold onto P1 without ever truly being challenged by Sebastian Vettel's chasing Ferrari. The race ended up being the habitual 1-stopper, despite the equally commonplace grumbling about tyres from Lewis Hamilton. For a last-to-9th run, Max Verstappen's run was quite methodical and devoid of any antics usually found in Grand Theft Auto. A full course caution did appear eventually, but far too late for anyone to make an interesting strategic gamble. Leclerc's brakes simply failed too late in the day for that. Conclusion: 4/10. Boooring.



Of course, as always, there's a counterpoint to all this. Ricciardo's issues were of the variety that tend to cause a retirement, so the spectre of a soul-crushing DNF for driver and fans alike looked very much on the cards. On top of that, Vettel was within a second for much of the afternoon. Hamilton's complaints about tyre woes were not exactly unexpected considering Mercedes' struggles earlier in the weekend, but the prospect of a 2-stopper was exciting. Some midfield packs were running nose-to-tail for a long time indeed, and although Verstappen kept his nose clean, some close calls made for good viewing. Monaco may be poor for on-track overtakes, but the constant risk of crashing out cannot be disregarded. Conclusion: 8/10. Great! Especially for the usual snoozefest round here.



These are both fair stances to take by my estimation, but are also about as fulfilling as an FP3 qualifying simulation lap by a certain Dutchman. Sorry, had to throw that one in there. Again, like that certain Dutchman. Okay, I'll stop. Like that certain Du...



Regardless, these bitesize race reviews fail to draw attention to the exact thing that makes Formula 1 as great as it is: the wider scope. The larger context. The 'grand narrative' of an entire season or decade - specifically, this one GP as one small chapter of it. Ricciardo finally got the Monaco win he so richly deserved after the debacle in 2016. Vettel drove calmly and risk-free like a true WDC competitor. Hamilton's doubts, probably his biggest weakness, cropped up once more despite not costing him - this time. Verstappen had squandered his chances for a return to form on Saturday, but did an admirable job given his earlier mistake. The midfield has consistently been in flux, continuing the trend from 2017, exemplified by Haas' best-of-the-rest dominance in Spain followed by a poor showing in Monte Carlo. The future of F1 looks bright, with Ocon, Gasly and Leclerc all impressing - one even did so whilst crashing, oddly enough.



As characters in a story, we're pretty lucky to have these 20. They all have their own quirks and abilities that appear time and time again. This one race was a boredom borne of brilliance, too, as these lot just don't really hit the barriers all that often. Except for that certain Dutchman, of course.



There are more conclusions to draw from the early stages of the 2018 season, but the great thing is that we don't really know which ones yet. We won't be sure of how to look at Sunday's Monaco GP for months, or even years. Not in its entirety, anyway. You can dismiss it as dull, of course, and it probably was for a lot of the time. That doesn't mean it wasn't a worthy chapter in the greater story of 2018. The larger narrative of the fastest cars in the world trying to navigate through a tiny patch of closed-off streets on the French Rivièra. That is what ultimately makes F1 as compelling as it is. Sure, I was checking my phone a lot, but this was just a 1h 40m session among many, many more.



Most of 2010's races were dull. I wish they hadn't been. It sure as hell would make defending that season so much easier. Thing is though: it was memorable. It had it all. That tale of 19 GPs had no championship leader ever win a race until the end, 3 cars in contention for victory, a return of a 7-times WDC, stellar drivers, crashes at the front, euphoria and catastrophe. I can go on. Point is: dissect every individual race, or grade them and average out the scores, and you miss the brilliance of the sport.



So one can argue all day long about whether this one race was 'boring' or 'great', if we should even visit this strange place unsuitable for modern Grand Prix cars. You can point to the glitz and glamour and say it's an event worth keeping thanks to its irreplaceable 'magic'. In the end, we'll see. We'll see if we ever stop racing in Monaco. We'll see how this one GP fits into the story of the season. We'll see what happens next. I, for one, was once again happy to see it unfold.