The Monaco Grand Prix has often been criticised for processional racing when it comes to Sunday's grand prix, but former Formula 1 TV presenter Will Buxton has explained exactly why the race around Monte Carlo remains the one trophy every single driver on the grid wants to clinch.
The narrow streets in the principality offer very few overtaking opportunities, but despite this, it is one of the most highly anticipated races on the calendar.
"It's a really dull race. But qualifying at Monaco is one of the very best of the year because it's maximum commitment," Buxton explained on the Up To Speed podcast. "Any minuscule error means you're not just going to lose pole, you're going to be in the barrier, a huge repair bill and time for the team.
"And the best come unstuck trying to find that extra half a tenth of a second. If you go over the limit, you take an inch too much of a bite out of a corner, that's your suspension gone. And it's utterly exhilarating. There are very few things as exciting, I think, on the Formula 1 calendar as that one hour of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix.
"The racing itself has never been great in Monaco. And I'm not just talking the 2020s or the 2010s or the 00s or the '90s or the '80s. You can go back decades, decades, and decades. I'm not even sure the racing there was great in the 1920s, if I'm being totally honest. It's never had the greatest racing, but it is held on a pedestal because of what it represents and because of the glamour of the place and what it is.
"And it's the one that the drivers want to win the most because it's the one that requires the greatest commitment, the greatest skill, the greatest finesse, and is the most historic. So, it has all of those things coming to it."
In addition to the exciting qualifying session, Buxton also pointed to the sometimes unpredictable "microclimate" in Monaco, which could lead to a wet race.
He added: "Now, one thing I will say is that if the south of France gives us what the south of France can, and Monaco exists within this very odd and very quickly changeable little microclimate, where you see the clouds just starting to form on the top of the hills, and then suddenly there is this almighty deluge of rain that appears out of nowhere. Then you've got a race."
Photos from Monaco GP - Thursday
53 Formula 1
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday
