Daniel Ricciardo, the nicest driver in Formula 1, the impossibly late-braker en personne,finally won the Monaco Grand Prix. Bravo!
But a good description of this year's race was given by the outspoken Fernando Alonso: "Without a safety car, without yellow flags, the sport needs to think a little bit about the show because this is very disappointing. Probably the most boring race ever in Formula 1. We need to give something to the fans at the end of the race just to pay the ticket back a little".
Well, the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix was memorable because of the final laps when the nose of Nigel Mansell's Williams-Renault was furiously close to the gearbox of Ayrton Senna's McLaren-Honda. Mansell tried and tried again to pass, but Senna spectacularly defended till the checkered flag. Now compare to this year's race, where Daniel Ricciardo admitted that his engine was 25% down on power (!), yet neither Vettel nor Hamilton attempted to pass him... I know, Monaco is notoriously bad for overtaking, but still...

The Spanish Grand Prix did not show Formula 1 in a very flattering light. A processional race, with next to no overtaking. And of course, anonymous drivers now buried inside a carbon cage bearing the paradoxical name of "halo". Hello? Sure, the cars are fast, very fast, but it's about time the powers that be realise what really matters, what the fans want. They want to see overtaking, uncertainty, and they want to actually see the drivers at work, behind the wheel. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton cruised to an easy victory, without ever having been challenged. Monaco GP is now on the horizon, and will surely not bring about more overtaking, but more on track action for sure.

While Monaco was busy commenting on the inevitable Ferrari shenanigans following Kimi Raikkonen’s unscheduled pole position and Sebastian Vettel’s scheduled victory, the real stuff was taking place in Indianapolis, where men are men, walls are walls, racing is racing, and Takuma Sato scored an epic victory. Fernando Alonso was the link between these two worlds of course, and after getting a mega dose of real racing, oval style, and being in a position to actually race for victory, it’s going to be tough for the Spanish ace to return to the world of Formula 1 and have to start last on the grid because of another engine change, and a 45-place penalty on the starting grid...