Monaco is the premier race for Formula 1. Think Daytona 500, Indy 500, Le Mans. That's what this weekend is for the teams and drivers.

The best of Monaco is the pageantry before and after the race. Million dollar yachts backed up in the harbor with supermodels drinking champagne while the Princess of Monaco looks on from the royal box. The podium celebration is gracefully subdued but the swimming pool plunge afterwards is not. The history of the race is important to those who have followed F1 for decades.

The course itself is very difficult to drive. It's a true city course. If you can visit, you can drive pretty much the exact track that the drivers will drive, minus a few chicanes. It has a famous hairpin corner and a tunnel section. Just about every corner is an opportunity to screw up your race or somebody else's. This is why the drivers relish the chance to race here. You don't have to be perfect but you have to hold your ground for every single lap.

It's also why this is about the most boring race on the calendar for TV viewers. Where they qualify is where they finish, unless they wreck. There are virtually no opportunities to pass. In 2019, Lewis Hamilton won on shredded tires (more or less) but Max Verstappen couldn't ever get close enough to actually pass him. That same year Charles LeClerc had a wicked fast Ferrari but he didn't get out of the first qualifying session due to a mistake by the team, leaving him at the back of the grid. He eventually crashed 2 or 3 times trying too hard to pass and destroyed his chassis. So qualifying is the most important event of the whole weekend.

The best part to watch this weekend is everything surrounding the race. The commentators will talk about the history, some recent controversy, and they'll also discuss strategies by the teams. Track position is everything here so once one car comes in to pit the rest will follow. Get accustomed to the word "undercut". The cars have to use two different tire compounds in the race, requiring at least one pit stop, so they have to choose carefully which compounds to use. A bad pit stop will ruin a race here more than anywhere else.

Don't miss the start of the race. This is most exciting 10 seconds in all of motorsport, IMO.

Regarding the Netflix series...I like it. It provides a little more insight into what goes on when the broadcast cameras aren't on. But it's still carefully done to prevent the teams or drivers from looking like complete jerks. They have sponsors to care after, you know? And the teams get the final say on what is aired, to protect company secrets, so it's not like an investigative documentary. I really enjoyed the rest of the story about Grosjean. That alone was worth the Netflix subscription. But showing George Russell at Bahrain would have been Oscar-worthy.

In two weeks the F1 traveling circus will be in Azerbaijan, which is a very exciting race. That's one to set the DVR for.