As celebrations erupted for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari, the Formula 1 community unanimously agreed that Sunday's Monaco GP was uniquely "boring."
The race was marked by an early crash on the first lap, prompting a red flag which allowed drivers to switch to fresh tyres, leading to a monotonous parade around the circuit for the entire race distance.
"I should have brought my pillow," Max Verstappen humorously remarked over the radio.
Celebrating the win, Ferrari's head Frederic Vasseur had to admit that Leclerc "could have driven three to four seconds faster" per lap.
The combination of large, heavy cars on Monaco's narrow, twisting streets resulted in no changes in the positions of the top 10 from start to finish.
"It has never been worse than that," Dutch commentator Olav Mol critiqued on Ziggo Sport.
Oscar Piastri, who took second place, expressed, "It was the slowest race I've ever driven. Formula 2 must have been faster than us."
Mercedes' head Toto Wolff also found the race peculiarly uneventful. "I got myself a yoghurt and an espresso," he noted. "I've never done that in 12 years."
Christian Horner of Red Bull also critiqued the pacing, saying, "It's no longer a race when you slow down three or four seconds because the other car has no chance to pass you."
In a conversation with Viaplay after the race, Verstappen spoke with George Russell, stating, "My God, that was awful. How boring was that?" Russell responded, "They really need to change something for the Sundays here. Maybe compulsory pitstops." Verstappen then humorously suggested, "Or a compulsory nap."
"The hardest thing about the race was that after 20 laps I really had to go to the bathroom," Verstappen added.
F1 veteran Fernando Alonso pointed to a recent rule change as problematic, allowing drivers to change tyres during a red flag. "The only point of interest in racing in Monaco is the pitstops," Alonso remarked. "So we lost that. And if the rules compromise the race so much on certain circuits, maybe we need to re-open the debate about that."
"The current cars are also the worst for Monaco - bigger, heavier," Alonso continued. "The F2 cars still have an overtaking option. And our tyres are too hard for Monaco."
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher also expressed concern: "What we saw today is dangerous for Formula 1," he explained to Sky Deutschland. "No one wants to see it and it's also difficult to commentate on. We need to see racing."
