Every year, the Monaco Grand Prix delivers the same paradox: a breathtaking location, a historic challenge, and a painfully processional race. The 2025 edition was no exception. For all the glitz, tension, and precision, the on-track action again fell flat, qualifying largely locked in the result, and overtaking remained an elusive dream.
It’s led to a growing chorus of fans, drivers, and experts asking: What do we actually want from Monaco? Should it change, evolve, or stay exactly as it is? From subtle layout tweaks to bold reroutes, new energy deployment rules, and even eliminating the race entirely, this year’s post-race conversation may be the most ambitious yet.
Monaco’s Unchanging Reality
Let’s be honest: Monaco is no longer built for modern Formula 1 cars. The streets haven’t meaningfully changed in decades, while the cars have grown dramatically in width, length, and downforce sensitivity. What once rewarded nimble machines and daring passes now punishes any attempt at wheel-to-wheel combat. Monaco has effectively become a time trial, and in many ways, it excels at that. But if we want racing, something has to give.
The Wurz Proposals: Pragmatic, Physical Tweaks
GPDA chairman Alex Wurz has outlined three circuit modifications that aim to improve overtaking while working within Monaco’s tight urban layout:
- Move the Nouvelle Chicane further down the straight.
Extending the tunnel exit and pushing the chicane closer to Tabac would make defending more difficult, increasing the chance of a move into the braking zone. It’s one of the few parts of the track where speed can be carried and a real overtake could materialize. The challenge? Ensuring Tabac remains a lift-off corner, and navigating the physical constraints of the waterfront. - Reprofile Rascasse by shifting the apex outward 2–3 meters.
This opens up the corner for potential divebombs, making defending more difficult. Even if the move doesn’t stick, it increases pressure and creates chain reactions that could lead to mistakes. The only real hurdle here is a fixed car park ramp on the outside that limits how much expansion can actually be done. - Widen the Fairmont Hairpin (Loews) on entry and exit.
Adding over two meters of space allows for tighter defending, and potentially sets up momentum into Portier and through to the chicane. It won’t turn the Hairpin into an overtaking zone, but it might start an overtaking sequence later in the lap.
These are smart, localized fixes. They don’t rely on complete circuit redesigns or city planning miracles. They embrace Monaco’s DNA, while adding just enough chaos to potentially shake things up.
Gary Anderson’s “Exotic Roundabout” Reroute
Former F1 technical director Gary Anderson of The Race has proposed something bolder: re-routing the track before the tunnel altogether.
Instead of turning right at Portier, cars would turn left and follow an existing road down toward the Beach Plaza Hotel, looping around a newly designed “exotic” roundabout and rejoining the original layout before the tunnel. This opens up the chance for a legitimate DRS straight, with actual overtaking potential either at the roundabout or on tunnel entry.
It’s imaginative, and unlike fantasy proposals, it leverages existing roads. However, the obstacles are real:
- Full resurfacing and barrier installation
- Managing high-speed reentry to the tunnel
- Potentially displacing residences, infrastructure, or Monaco’s famously unmovable real estate
But as Anderson says: “In Monaco, nothing is normal.” If any circuit could pull off a semi-permanent architectural rework in the name of prestige, it’s this one.
An Social Masterplan: A Fan’s Love Letter to Reimagining Monaco
One particularly detailed fan proposal we saw laid out a sweeping set of ideas to enhance overtaking, using a mix of road regrading, layout tweaks, and nostalgic nods to Monaco’s past:
- Straighten the climb after Turn 1 by raising or lowering the adjacent road surface, enabling side-by-side runs into Massenet.
- Add a chicane in Casino Square, utilizing space near the fountain added in 2019/2020.
- Reroute the Mirabeau/Fairmont section to go around a roundabout before Portier, creating a longer straight into the “Villeneuve Chicane.”
- Remove the current post-Swimming Pool chicane and rework the layout for a smoother entry into Rascasse.
- Eliminate Anthony Noghes corner and replace it with a fast, sweeping right like the pre-1976 layout, improving speed and DRS effectiveness on the pit straight.
This is an imaginative overhaul, equal parts nostalgia, aggression, and practical thinking. Some parts are viable, others would require Monaco to part with history, infrastructure, or grandstand space. But the vision is clear: if we can’t make Monaco raceable with the cars, then make the circuit raceable for the cars.
The 2026 Solution? Use the Battery, Not the Bulldozer
One of the most intriguing suggestions doesn’t involve circuit changes at all. With the 2026 power unit regulations, 45% of total power will be electric, approximately 450 bhp. A simple rule tweak could unlock massive overtaking potential:
Ban battery deployment for leading cars at Monaco, and allow only following cars to manually activate the full electric boost.
Unlike DRS, which provides minor gains in drag reduction, this kind of override would deliver a hundreds-of-horsepower surge, usable anywhere on track, anytime a car is chasing.
- No need for new track layouts or chicanes
- Massive power differentials that make overtaking a real possibility
- DRS-like effect, but far more potent and flexible
The proposal is clever and low-cost, but not without challenges. Battery cooling, safety, and fairness all need regulation. Still, it’s perhaps the most plug-and-play solution yet.
Russell’s Provocation: What If We Just Stopped Racing?
Amid all these ideas, George Russell dropped a grenade into the debate: maybe Monaco isn’t even meant to be a race anymore.
“You could almost make Monaco just a qualifying event,” he said. “That’s where the excitement is. That’s where the skill shows.”
It’s a radical thought, but hard to argue with. Qualifying is where Monaco shines. Precision matters. Every millimeter counts. Sunday, meanwhile, is often a parade. So why not embrace that?
Some have floated a “Monaco Time Trial” event, awarding points for single-lap pace, or turning the weekend into a knockout qualifying shootout. Sure, it breaks tradition. But Monaco itself is a tradition. Perhaps one race on the calendar should be different.
Conclusion: Keep the Crown, Polish the Jewel
The Monaco Grand Prix is the most iconic venue in motorsport. But iconic doesn’t have to mean untouchable. Whether it’s Wurz’s tweaks, Anderson’s reroute, fan redesigns, or 2026’s electric potential, the point is the same: Monaco doesn’t need to be removed, it needs to be reimagined.
F1 has changed. The cars have changed. The fans have changed. If Monaco wants to remain more than a museum piece with a grid, it must find a way to evolve, without losing the soul that made it legendary.
Because yes, we love the challenge. But we wouldn’t mind seeing a few more overtakes while we’re at it.
And yet, if history is any guide, nothing will actually change. The barriers will stay. The layout will remain sacred. And next year, we’ll all be back here, pitching the same solutions, debating the same problems, and watching the same parade.
See you in Monte Carlo, 2026.