Martin Brundle doesn’t expect F1 owners to ‘blink first’ in Monaco Grand Prix stand-off

Debate continues over the future of the historic race destination with Monaco’s contract up this season

The future of the Monaco Grand Prix appears far from certain (Getty Images)

Martin Brundle has suggested that the owners of Formula 1 will not “blink first” as speculation continues over the future of the Monaco Grand Prix.

The race in Monte Carlo has been virtually ever-present since F1’s first season in 1950, but no deal has yet been agreed over a return to the principality in 2023.

The tight street circuit has been criticised by fans and drivers in recent years particularly, with suggestions that it is ill-suited to the sport’s continuing evolution.

Liberty Media completed its takeover of a controlling stake in F1 in early 2017 and has since overseen a popularity boom, with the calendar set to again expand next season, and the prestige and history of an event in Monaco perhaps now less necessary.

While Brundle is hopeful that an agreement can be reached to keep the “unique and crazy” race on the calendar, the former F1 driver feels that the sport’s owners will not be afraid to stand firm having allegedly demanded that the Monte Carlo race be prepared to adapt to the sport’s new era.

Brundle wrote for Sky Sports: “I know a lot of fans find Monaco too frustrating on race day with its lack of overtaking and wheel to wheel action, but in the round of a global world championship taking place on a wide variety of circuits and venues, I do hope that Monaco and F1 can find a way to strike a new deal for 2023 and beyond.

“It’s always a unique and occasionally totally crazy three days there.

“If it’s a stand-off, I don’t think Liberty Media will blink first, and they now have other ‘jewels in the crown’.”

Twenty-two races will be held in the 2022 season, with the number of possible race weekends on the calendar currently capped at 24.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix will be added next year, while races in China and Qatar are also set to return, which may mean F1 is forced to cut one host venue.

Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal and a Monaco resident, is among those that feel a weekend in Monte Carlo must remain, though a “positive approach” is needed to ensure it is maximised.

“I am biased because I live here, I love the city, and what Monaco has to offer is spectacular,” said Wolff. “F1 is important for Monaco, and Monaco is important for F1.

“But it needs a positive approach from both parties. Monaco has to embrace the new realities of what F1 stands for and the impact it has on the world.

“Monaco will always be respected within the F1 community as something that is special, and if we didn’t race in Monaco, that would be a shame from my perspective as a team owner. But no one should take anything for granted.”