30/05/2018
NEWS STORY
In the wake of criticism from fans and drivers of Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, F1 technical boss Ross Brawn - who is increasingly looking to have moved into PR also - has leapt to the defence of the event.
As ever, the three drivers that lined up for the post-qualifying press conference were the same three drivers who lined up around 24 hours later for the post-race version, and while Fernando Alonso was in the McLaren motorhome explaining how boring he found the race, Lewis Hamilton used the official press conference to share similar views.
Indeed, the world champion had plenty of suggestions for the new owners of the sport, ranging from changing the track layout, creating safety car periods and maybe even changing race format into a couple of sprints.
Amidst all the negativity, Ross Brawn came to Monaco's rescue, using his official post-race summary to make it clear that the track is unique.
"I've heard and read a number of comments from drivers and F1 people saying the race was boring and it's true that it wasn't action-packed," he wrote, "all the more so as the tyres were the key factor.
"However, it's a bit naïve to expect lots of duels and passing moves in Monaco!," he added.
"That's in contrast to the unique spectacle of Saturday's qualifying, as this is the only place one can get so close to the action as the 20 drivers brush the barriers (sometimes clipping them) at speeds that are just unthinkable for mere mortals: maybe we don't give enough credit to these guys who can lap the 3,337 metre track in around 71 seconds.
"Monaco is such a special race that it should not be judged by the same criteria as the others," he insists. "The atmosphere in the paddock and the town, the glamour that surrounds the event makes it unique.
"Having said that, one of the aims we have set ourselves for the Formula One of the future is to work together with the promoters and all stakeholders to ensure the new circuits provide more overtaking opportunities and that current ones are improved.
"Naturally, the opinion of the drivers is welcome and our door is always open. However, in Monaco you'd need to reclaim land from the sea to do something and that's definitely not up to us!"
Fact is that in none of the pre-race publicity, be it from broadcasters, F1TV or indeed F1 itself, was there any warning that the action would be confined to Saturday. Instead fans were promised the sort of action that they were subsequently called naive to have expected.
Furthermore, in terms of the fact that for 60 of the race's 78 laps, Daniel Ricciardo was 25% down on power. Indeed, to use one of those football analogies these guys are so fond of, try explaining to a casual fan or win over a total novice who wonders why the league leaders were unable to beat a team from lower down the league which was already down to 8 players after 20 minutes.
As for Ross, a man who has forgotten more about racing than the likes of Chase Carey and Sean Bratches will ever learn, how sad to see a man who has achieved so much in F1, often by pushing the envelope to the very limit (and then some), talking up the glamour over the racing.
Finally, assuming Brawn is still in PR mode, having apologised for the issues surrounding the numerous problems that plagued F1 TV's coverage of the Spanish Grand Prix, we were surprised to see no mention of the fact that the streaming service crashed just before the start of the race in Monaco... ironically, the one point of the race when one might (naively) expect some action.