The Triple Crown of motorsport is an unofficial moniker denoting the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Monaco Grand Prix. Just one driver in historical past has received all three, as Graham Hill received Indy in 1966, Le Mans in 1972, and 5 instances received the Monaco GP throughout the Nineteen Sixties. When Hill achieved the feat all three races have been unimaginable crown jewels on the earth of racing, however in 2024 solely two of the three nonetheless carry a stage of competitors worthy of inclusion within the trio.
As of final weekend, the three occasions have been accomplished for the 2024 season. This 12 months’s Indy 500 was the most effective within the occasion’s 113 12 months historical past with two last-lap passes for the lead. Final weekend’s Le Mans 24 was one other unimaginable occasion with 9 top-flight automobiles ending on the lead lap for the primary time in historical past, and racing taking place to the wire after a full day of wheel-to-wheel battles. Distinction these occasions with this 12 months’s Monaco Grand Prix the place the highest ten racers completed in precisely the identical place they began the race, with zero on-track passing. That race has been a processional shitshow for so long as I’ve been alive, and it solely appears to be getting worse.
Monaco nonetheless has all the pomp and circumstance of a world-class racing occasion, and the setting couldn’t be extra history-filled and eye-wateringly stunning. Avenue circuits are unimaginable, and infrequently produce some fantastic racing, however it’s time to confess that Monaco is washed, and there isn’t a lot that may be accomplished to revive its greatness shy of shaking the F1 guidelines and laws etch-a-sketch and beginning over.
The present F1 laws specify a automobile that’s too lengthy and broad to make passing a actuality alongside the principality’s tight and winding seaside circuit. There are a number of ways in which the race could possibly be made higher, much less predictable, and doubtlessly extra enjoyable, however the one actual everlasting answer is to make the automobiles smaller, much less depending on aerodynamic downforce, and tougher to drive.
Hopefully the 2026 F1 regulation adjustments will make the race a bit extra pleasant, and I’ll wait till then to cross judgement, however I worry the adjustments received’t be sufficient.
So if Monaco isn’t saved within the close to future, what race may presumably change it on the Triple Crown roster?
Because it stands the Triple Crown reveals a driver’s talent at a number of system in all kinds of codecs. Sports activities automobile endurance racing on French streets is about as completely different from IndyCars on a banked rectangular oval, and each are fairly disparate from F1 automobiles on the tight jeweled metropolis circuit at Monaco. So if we’re changing Monaco with a equally historic race that has a wildly completely different kind of automobile, I believe it could actually solely be one. It’s time for the Bathurst 1000 to imagine Monaco’s place within the Triple Crown of Motorsport.
An added advantage of this may be that two of the legs of the triple crown don’t occur on the identical rattling day, and drivers may conceivably race in all three in the identical 12 months.
