Grand Prix Drivers' Association chairman Alex Wurz has outlined three feasible ways that Monaco's Formula 1 circuit can be improved to help overtaking.
Following another weekend of frustration over the lack of passing opportunities on the Monte Carlo street circuit - accentuated by the controversial team manipulation the situation triggered - there has been renewed talk about the need for potential tweaks to the layout.
And while the physical limitation of the harbourside venue and buildings makes it difficult to see where a major overhaul could happen, former F1 racer Wurz has outlined three tweaks that could be easily achieved to deliver an improvement.
Wurz's ideas carry some weight because he has huge experience of what is needed for successful race circuits through his track design company Wurz Design.
He is working on the new Qiddiya circuit in Saudi Arabia as well as designing a potential F1 venue in Rwanda.
In a video he posted on Instagram of a presentation of potential Monaco track changes, Wurz outlined three areas that could be modified that would help maintain the character of the circuit but open up better racing and more importantly increase chances for overtaking.
The first area is a revamp of the Nouvelle Chicane after the tunnel.
Wurz's proposal, which has been discussed with fellow F1 drivers, is to extend the tunnel exit and move the chicane further down towards Tabac.
"I am very convinced, from my own experience watching the races and talking to my fellow drivers, that moving the chicane later, which physically with the constraints any city has, should be possible," he said.
"It means the defending for this corner - which is quite easy to do, with the kink and the bumps - will become more difficult."
One of the considerations that would need to be taken into account when working out where the chicane was placed would be ensuring that the following Tabac corner was far enough away from the chicane exit that drivers still had to lift off for it.
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A simpler change Wurz suggests is to reprofile the Rascasse corner so the apex is moved two or three metres further out.
This can be complemented with a widening of the track, although this has to bear in mind a car park ramp that features on the outside of the turn and cannot be moved.
Talking about how this improvement could change things, Wurz said: "When this apex comes further out, the entry line will definitely change.
"You will open the corner much more for a divebomb, and that means any driver ahead will either have to defend or accept he leaves the door open.
"If you're defending, you will come out much slower, so you're creating a train behind you, and the pressure on all of the drivers will simply increase.
"I think this is a small trick, quite easy to realise, but should at least engage in more fighting, more intense pressure, and perhaps overtaking."
The final opportunity that Wurz thinks exists to improve Monaco is to widen the entry to the Fairmont (formerly Loews) Hairpin.
Wurz believes that there is an opportunity to expand the track by just more than two metres here at both the entry and exit.
"It means drivers coming down have an easier opportunity to do a divebomb," he said. "It means the lead driver will have to defend more, so he will be slower.
"But the hairpin is very tight, so we need to also enlarge the track on the exit, lose the kerb, and have asphalt all the way to this physical wall, so we have the turning radius."
Wurz believes the value of this change is as much in creating overtaking chances for the following corners as at the hairpin itself, because defensive lines there will compromise lines and momentum towards the tunnel.
"The real ideal racing line will not change from what it is…it will just lead into a little bit more defending…and therefore this corner will actually initiate the overtaking into the new chicane," said Wurz.
"And all that together should be an improvement for the overtaking and raceability in the streets of Monaco."
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