A decade ago, Formula E arrived in Monaco, and much like the Principality itself there was more style than substance as it arrived.
The all-electric new kid on the block had wisely got friendly with Prince Albert of Monaco. He had been an environmental advocate long since before Alejandro Agag had, and so Formula E got the use of at least some of the world's most prized real estate.
The problem was it was only half measures. A tight right-hander bypassed the rise to Massenet and instead we had a blast down Avenue John F Kennedy to the harbourside chicane.
As tracks go this was a dud. Monaco without Casino Square or the tunnel was like St Tropez without Brigitte Bardot.
Can anyone recall much about the trio of shortened track Monaco E-Prixs in 2015, 2017 and 2019? It's very unlikely. Sebastien Buemi won the first two and Jean-Eric Vergne the last.
By 2021 Formula E was finally using the proper version, albeit with a weird subtle change to the chicane, but at least now it could say it was really was racing on the Monaco Grand Prix track.
That 2021 race was a classic as Antonio Felix da Costa triumphed in a brilliant battle full of overtaking and tactical excellence. It came two weeks after Formula E's Valencia energy-crisis debacle, when almost every car ran out of useable energy in a farcical finish, and it couldn't come soon enough to redeem Formula E.
So, the old false tropes of Formula E not being able to race on the full Monaco track for fear of unflattering Formula 1 pace comparisons were over and no one in their right minds was comparing the FE cars to F1. Now, in fact, they were counting the overtakes compared to F1 and that category was a rout for the electrics over the internal combustion engines.
Since then, Formula E has thrived in Monaco with very good races and occasionally a great one such as the last two years when Nick Cassidy and Mitch Evans have unleashed tactical masterclasses to spread a sheen of Kiwi brilliance over the place which they now call their home.
For 2025, Formula E takes another significant step in its Monaco relationship, with the event becoming a double-header for the first time. This has been met sceptically by some, who see it as a dilution of FE's main event of the season.
Should the expansion of the event be viewed as a boost for Formula E? Or should it remain sacrosanct for there to be just one winner of the event? After all, there's only one overall Indianapolis 500 winner, only one car is the outright Le Mans 24 Hours victor, and of course F1's Monaco GP only crowns its top dog.
Formula E does not have a Le Mans or an Indy, though. The closest it comes is definitely Monaco. So why meddle with a masterpiece? Or should the philosophy of milking it for all its worth prevail?
"I'm a little bit sad that it's a double header, because we still need the winner of Monaco every year," reckons Porsche driver da Costa.
"There should be one winner of Monaco, but on the driving side we get to race that track twice, so that's going to be very cool."
That little bit of low-level concern from da Costa is valid because often less can be more. But on the other side of the coin on a weekend that will feature a sprint race in Miami for F1, the Miami GP itself and IndyCar from Barber Motorsports Park, maybe Formula E actually needs to be making headlines on both days.
But the teams themselves are generally not fans of double-headers. There is a feeling that they do not bring much to the party and actually muddy the key messages.
"I'm not a fan of double-headers, whether they're at Monaco or anywhere else," opines Andretti's commercial manager Jim Wright.
"Over the years, the teams have voiced their concerns to the promoter about double-headers as we just don't see the value commercially.
"But we understand it from a promoter's point of view, in particular Monaco. But I think it dilutes what is one of the major events in the championship, and therefore I'm not supportive of it.
"Let's see how it goes. We've got the differentiation with the Pit Boost race [on Saturday], so we'll see."
On the flip side, Nissan's Norman Nato is generally positive about racing around the Principality twice, and well he might be.
His personal record there is excellent, having taken pole and won there in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series - beating not only current Formula E team-mate Oliver Rowland but also Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz - and he was second there in F2 in 2016.
In Formula E he has also shown his mettle in Monaco and should have got a podium in 2023 having qualified third.
"I don't think it's a bad thing in the way that it's [two races] in Monaco as we are lucky to be driving in Monaco," Nato tells The Race.
"We can't complain about driving more in Monaco. But I can understand the point that it can be a bit confusing to do two races there, if you win and there's a winner on Saturday and a winner on Sunday, it can be a bit confusing. But on the other side it's just a privilege to be able to drive more in Monaco."
From a team's standpoint there are few complaints, particularly as a few of the teams right now are in a fight for survival, including McLaren, which last week announced that it was looking at replacing the NEOM and McLaren entities within its structure for 2026.
"I certainly don't think it diminishes it in any way, shape or form," McLaren team principal Ian James tells The Race regarding the Monaco doubling.
"I think that a lot of other championships that race there would be only too pleased to have the kind of exciting racing that we have in Formula E on the Monaco circuit. It just works so well for Formula E."
He's right: Monaco is a natural home for Formula E. It has a great relationship with Prince Albert and the Automobile Club de Monaco, it can generate a real race, and perhaps crucially it can help attract interested parties for investment in commercially damaged (Maserati MSG) and recently abandoned (McLaren) teams.
But what it might really need to do more as well is to get closer to F2 speeds in 2027 when Gen4 will visit for the first time. That is when Formula E at Monaco may truly come of age and really start to cultivate its own sparkly jewel in the crown for years to come.
