While the tension of Daniel Ricciardo’s engine problem made for a dramatic Monaco GP, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have blasted the quality of the racing in Monte Carlo.
In what was a largely processional race, with the top six finishing in the order they started, only the recovery of Max Verstappen from the back of the grid really generated much in the way of overtaking.
What was also very different about Sunday’s Grand Prix was the leaders lack of pace as they looked after their cars and tyres with Ricciardo and Vettel often lapping around eight seconds slower than their qualifying times and resulted in the midfield teams actually closing back in on the top five.
“The tyres were not great but we were all driving so slow,” Hamilton explained to Channel 4. “I was thinking while I was driving it was not an attacking race, we were just cruising.”
“I will be shocked if anyone was awake at home while it was on because I would have been asleep on the couch.”
As for Alonso, he was the first retirement of the race in Monaco after gearbox problems struck his McLaren but was far more critical of the lack of racing.
“Extremely boring. I mean, this is probably the most boring race ever,” the Spaniard told reporters
“Without a safety car, without yellow flags, I think the sport needs to think a little bit about the show because this is very disappointing. Probably the most boring race ever in Formula 1.”
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The 36-year-old even thinks F1 bosses should consider compensating those who will have no doubt paid premium amounts to be at the sport’s most prestigious event.
“I think we probably need to give something to the fans at the end of the race just to pay the ticket back a little,” he claimed.
Later the double world champion would also throw shade on Twitter as he settled in to watch the race he chose instead of Monaco in 2017, the Indianapolis 500.
“Ready to watch and enjoy the RACE of the day,” he said.