If you're a keen follower of Formula One, then you'll know that the Monaco GP is one of the most famous races on the calendar—even though it's ironically one of the less exciting races.
The principality's narrow, winding streets weren't designed for racing super-fast, open-wheel cars, and, as a result, overtaking is incredibly difficult. Unless it rains, there's little opportunity for tension or excitement.
In an attempt to counter this, F1's governing body decided to introduce a new rule for this season's race: two mandatory pit stops. The thought process was that this added wrinkle would introduce new strategies and tactics, but unfortunately, the gamble largely failed.
After the race had been won by McLaren's Lando Norris, the reigning champion Max Verstappen was asked by Sky TV (thanks, Planet F1) for his verdict on the attempt to inject some much-needed excitement into the Monaco race.
"Yeah, but you can’t race here anyway. So it doesn’t matter what you do, one-stop, 10 stops. I mean, even at the end, right? I was in the lead, but my tyres are completely gone, and you still can’t pass. I think nowadays, with an F1 car, you can just pass a Formula 2 car around here! I mean, I get it, but I don’t think it has worked."
The Red Bull driver then sarcastically suggested that perhaps the Formula One Association could potentially look to a famous Nintendo racing franchise for inspiration:
"Honestly, we were almost doing Mario Kart. Then we have to install bits on the car, maybe, you know, you can throw bananas around. I don’t know. Slippery surface [laughs]."
Monaco has a special link with video games, having inspired three different Sega arcade titles: 1979's Monaco GP, 1989's Super Monaco GP and 1992's Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II.