Enjoy the swimming pool chicane and the hotel hairpin turn this year, because it might be the last time Formula One fans get to see it.
That's the message several close F1 observers have voiced regarding the iconic Monaco Grand Prix, which reportedly could see the 2022 race be the last unless the sport and the city-state can iron out a contract for 2023 and beyond.
"There is no contract for Monaco in Formula One," F1 podcaster Joe Saward said, as transcribed by CarBuzz. "Well, there's a contract this year. (But) it could be the last (for) Monaco."
McLaren CEO Zak Brown also implied F1 would survive without Monaco.
"I'd much rather have Monaco than not," Brown told Reuters. "But just like the sport is bigger than any one driver or team, I think it's bigger than any one grand prix."
Sabre-ratting is a way of life for the F1, whose international footprint means it not only needs to deal with teams, media, and tracks, but also local governments with their own political interests. So these rumors could simply be the teams and new F1 boss Stefano Domenicali laying on some negotiating pressure.
The very possibility that discontinuing the race is on the table, though, is shocking in itself. The Memorial Day tradition is nearly as central to F1's calendar as the Indianapolis 500 is to IndyCar, from a visibility standpoint. It's difficult to imagine an F1 schedule without a visit to Monte Carlo.
The Circuit de Monaco first hosted the grand prix in 1929, and has missed only one race since 1954: the 2020 race, which had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
