26/05/2025
NEWS STORY
Drivers are left overwhelmingly unimpressed by the rule introduced to spice up the Monaco Grand Prix.
Never conducive to great racing, things took a turn for the worse in 2024 when, following an early incident, a number of drivers pitted and were able to go the remainder of the race without pitting again, meaning the event was more processional than ever.
Consequently, a rule was introduced this year whereby drivers had to use three sets of tyres, effectively meaning that they had to pit twice. However, this only proved to be a challenge for the strategists who soon came up with ideas to best suit their drivers, usually at the expense of rivals and the viewing public.
Asked about the mandatory two stops, race-winner Lando Norris was in no doubt.
"Hated it," he replied. Asked why, he said: "Because it made it a lot more scary for me.
"I wish it was a one-stop," he continued, "it would have been a lot more chilled. It's not for me.
"I know the rules are not made for me," he admitted. "They're not made for us to enjoy it more or whatever. They're made for the fans. They're made to provide more entertainment for the viewers. I don't know if that was the case.
"Overtaking has never been good in Monaco, ever," he continued. "So, I don't know why people have such a high expectation. But I also think Formula 1 should not turn into just a show to entertain people. It's a sport. It's who can race the best, who can qualify the best.
"Everything was about yesterday," he said, referring to qualifying. "That's the way it's been since whatever the first year... 50, 60 years ago. So, the last thing I want is manufactured racing, we definitely need to stay away from that and do a better job with the cars, with the tyres."
"It definitely made it a bit more tense at a few points," added teammate Oscar Piastri. "You had to push more at certain points to kind of recover the safety car windows to other cars around you, or put yourself outside of someone else's safety car window.
"So there were some strategic elements involved. But ultimately, at the front, I don't think it changed a whole lot.
"It would have been quite a different story if there was a red flag with five laps to go and Max would have won," he admitted. "I'm sure if we keep this going in the future, eventually a result like that will happen.
"But is that what we want to see? I don't know. But at the front, I don't think it changed a huge amount this weekend."
Feeling that the rule had "just given people opportunity by luck, by waiting for a red flag, waiting for a safety car", as proven by Max Verstappen, who hung on before pitting at the start of the very last lap, Norris said: "You're not getting a more deserved winner in the end of things, which I don't entirely agree with. I think it should be the person who drives the best race and deserves to win."
"Up front, it didn't do anything," said Verstappen. "We had nothing to lose. You just hope that something happens and you get lucky, but, that didn't come the whole time."
Admitting that the rule "didn't make a big difference", for him personally, Lewis Hamilton warned that F1 bosses "need to keep on trying with this one".
Check out our Sunday gallery from Monaco here.