First held in 1929, the famous street race has made efforts to modernise via the construction of a new pit facility while for 2023, it has notably relinquished control of its oft-maligned TV broadcast production and handed over sponsorship and advertising after past conflicts with F1’s own partners.
However, the circuit layout has largely remained unchanged. This has left the emphasis to shift to qualifying since overtaking is at a premium, particularly with the growth in F1 car size since 2017.
With Monaco now facing stiffer competition to remain on a packed F1 calendar against new and potentially lucrative deals for Liberty Media with Las Vegas, Miami and Qatar, there are increased calls from the paddock for the principality circuit to change to boost overtaking to future-proof itself.
Red Bull boss Horner reckoned a Monaco race would never be considered seriously should it be proposed for modern-day F1 but that its historic value meant it should remain on the schedule even if overtaking is “virtually impossible”.
He said: “It's a unique event. If anybody came up with this track now and presented it, there's no way we'd race here.
“We race here because it's Monaco, because of the history, the legacy, the backdrop, everything, the glamour.
“Monaco is a crucially important part of the grand prix calendar and a hugely valuable one. It's always exciting to come to this venue.
“The same points apply to all races, but some just have that extra value attached to them and certainly Monaco has that.
Source: Autosport