The Monaco Grand Prix is arguably the most iconic race on the calendar, with Saturday’s qualifying session being one of the most watched and highly anticipated events of the year.
The track has divided opinion in recent years however, as the narrow nature of the street circuit makes it extremely difficult to overtake during the Grand Prix, with F1 cars now being larger than ever before.
Max Verstappen has argued that while these types of races are iconic and certainly have a place in F1 history, they may not be a part of F1’s future due to the technological advancements of the sport.
The Dutchman has suggested that the new era of F1 cars simply do not suit street circuits anymore, making them races on the calendar that he now dislikes.
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With there set to be three races in the USA next season, four in the Middle East and many more in all corners of the globe in 2023, there have been fears that iconic European tracks such as Spa or Monaco could soon be replaced.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has delivered positive news to the fans of these tracks however, claiming that European races are irreplaceable, but he has admitted that he does need the backing of the governments to improve the tracks.
“Even if there are other regions in the world that are becoming more attractive, we must not leave one thing: Europe. Everything started there,” Ben Sulayem told Motorsport.com.
“I believe that you can go anywhere, but you cannot remove everything from Europe at the same time.
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“But where do you draw the line? At the end of the day the promotor is building a business and we need to look at what we need to do to keep motorsport alive. But water only flows downstream, not upstream and we need governments to back us up.”
While Ben Sulayem’s comments will be reassuring to fans of these iconic European racetracks, the decision on where F1 races comes down to the Formula One Group, rather than the FIA.
With older tracks become less and less suited to modern F1 cars, all the FIA can do is urge venues to alter their tracks to continue to pass their circuit licence tests, in a bid to extend their contracts with F1.