Has Monaco had its day?

In a world where overtaking, action and spectacle is the order of the day from the fans, Formula One has delivered yet again, bringing in excitement and unpredictability to a sport once famed for one driver domination and processional races. Now as the circus comes around to the streets of Monte Carlo, one of the tighter circuits with a reputation for featuring little overtaking, I'm going to potentially bite a bullet and question whether Monaco is a suitable circuit for 2011 Formula One. 

No, I'm not coming at this with a view that I don't like the venue. Personally I think it's a spectacular circuit with incredible views of the harbour and the scenery around the Principality that provides a gorgeous backdrop to the action. It truly separates the ordinary drivers from the great. Who can forget Robert Kubica's sensational qualifying lap in 2010? And there's never usually a Grand Prix without incident. Rosberg's high-speed crash in 2008 instantly springs to mind for me. But with less emphasis being on urgently charging past and risking accident in favour of strategy in 2011, will we even see the first safety car in Monaco this season? 

So just how much of an effect will the new rules have on the Monaco Grand Prix? With KERS, it doesn't look likely that the system will generate anything too exciting, with each driver's device cancelling each other out and so the main talk prior to the race weekend has been whether DRS can be deemed safe to use around the streets where downforce is a big requirement if the drivers want to stay out of the barriers. Many drivers have been quick to downplay the impact of DRS during the Grand Prix, warning that the DRS zone down the start/finish straight will not be long enough and the braking zone into the newly-relaid Saint Devote will not able to fit two abreast. DRS has also been limited this weekend with the banning of the device in the Monaco tunnel.

And on that note, just how safe is the Monaco track? Many other blogs and websites have raised the point that the banning of the use of DRS in the Monaco tunnel is a virtual acceptance that the corner is not safe - at the very least. Who knows if the cars could or could not use DRS through the tunnel? World Champion Vettel has been an ace with the device in qualifying, using it in places where I would not have imagined an average car to use it - for example, the flatout right hander of turn 5 in Melbourne and the final corner at Catalunya last weekend. But all it takes is one accident sometimes and the FIA are fully aware of this. So why is Formula One still visiting Monaco if there are doubts over the safety of even one corner?

There is no doubt Monaco has some of the most picturesque scenery on the calendar

However, the World's Greatest Show still needs to put on a show this weekend, and it seems that the excitement factor in the Monaco Grand Prix will rest on the degrading shoulders of the Pirelli tyres. Expect a fascinating race where the red-banded super soft tyres will make it's F1 debut, which Pirelli have estimated will last approximately 10 laps. We're surely in for some exciting strategic choices this coming weekend, as teams look for ways to avoid being tangled up in traffic and backmarkers early on. One element of the excitement has been through the overtaking as well as the strategy, and I fear Monaco is not going to exceed expectations in this category. Of course, if the rules can spice up a race at Catalunya then it surely can cook up a storm in Monaco and I'm sure anything can happen, and it usually does.

But if the race doesn't deliver, what next? I'm not saying it will, and even then, the venue is incredibly popular amongst fans, teams and drivers alike so it's most likely to stay on the calendar, especially after negotiating a longer stay in Formula One for the foreseeable future. It's going to be a tight squeeze to fit in the United States and Russian Grand Prix in the next few years however and some countries are going to face the inevitable drop, Bernie can't keep them all if he wants to maintain a 20 race maximum season. If the rules have fulfilled the need for an exciting race at a track such as Catalunya then it would be expected to work at every other circuit left on the calendar in 2011. Honestly I can't ever see Monaco being dropped off of the calendar for a long time but it's going to be a great shame to lose other circuits such as Melbourne and Istanbul, should they face the axe. Do you think that, just because of it's blue-riband status, Monaco should stay? I don't think it's been exciting enough compared to other Grand Prix, but I could easily be proven wrong come Sunday afternoon.