Will two stops at Monaco ‘spice it up a bit more’?

Monaco Grand Prix

Dates: 23 May 2019 Start time: 14:00 BST on Sunday

A new rule, according to Max Verstappen, will “hopefully spice it up a little more” by making drivers must stop twice during the Monaco Grand Prix.

Following years of growing concern about the tendency to have uneven grands prix on the Cote d’Azur’s historic streets, a soporific race in 2024 was the catalyst for the change.

Monaco is the crown jewel of Formula 1, capturing the heady fusion of glamour, danger, beauty, and speed that makes the sport so enthralling.

However, drivers have a tendency to follow-my-leader and keep their tyres in tact to ensure they leave at the ideal time for a pit stop.

Before the race settled back into a case of, as Verstappen put it, “Drive to the end and just stay focused and not hit the barrier,” there was a frenzied period of laps during which the only position changes could occur.

The requirement of two stops is intended to add more risk for teams to make mistakes and positions to change, as they do frequently around pit stops as drivers get to use their pace and have the chance to play more games.

Will it, however, work?

Verstappen remarked, “It can go either way: it can be fairly straightforward or it can go completely crazy.”

A safety car was involved in a crash up the hill after the first corner in 2024, and almost everyone in the field was pitted at the end of the first lap and fitted with hard tires until the finish.

In his Ferrari, pole-sitter and leader Charles Leclerc controlled the pace for the final 77 laps because the tires’ life was so short.

Some people claimed that a year prior to the rule change was implemented, when a mid-grand prix rain shower caused significant jeopardy, and Aston Martin fumbled a chance to lead behind Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Verstappen was waiting for Alonso to come in behind him as the rain started. Alonso pitted his car against the track while it was still wet and dry, so they instead installed slicks. However, Verstappen was unable to recover from the rain, so he had to return in the following lap for wets.

Additionally, it was noted that, in reality, not much has changed in decades. Monaco has a history of at least 40-50 years where overtaking has been essentially impossible.

However, it was felt that a change was necessary after researching the possibility of changing the track layout to allow for an overtaking spot.

Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, once said, “You get the same result if you keep doing the same thing over and over again.” And since they’re trying something new, I think that’s cool. This weekend, we’ll find out whether or not it’s the answer.

Given the three different tire sets’ different levels of durability, the new rule opens up all kinds of intriguing possibilities.

When do you put on the soft tyre if, as George Russell of Mercedes says, you start on the hard tyre and there is a red flag at the start of the race?

“They have a huge advantage if someone starts on the soft and then has a safety car or red flag in the first five laps.

You will have to put your foot on the gas at some point because it isn’t clear cut and because there is such a benefit, if there is a timely safety car for some people. Unlike in the past, where you saw Charles managing the gap to me, Lando [Norris] and co. didn’t pit, which was not the most exciting race we’ve ever seen, like last year.

The introduction of a new sixth compound this year, which made its debut in Imola last weekend and is currently being used in Monaco this year, makes any strategy decision more difficult.

In Imola, the so-called C6 (soft) surpassed the C5 (medium) in terms of qualifying. Will Monaco experience the same fate? If so, it’s a difficult choice because teams only have three sets of mediums for the entire weekend versus eight sets of softs.

Alonso remarked, “The C5 is a better tyre, given that the C6 has a little bit more grip.

Maybe the C6 was a little fragile in Imola because of the stress you put on the high-speed corners and other things.

“But here there are no high-speed corners, so I believe I prefer the C6’s sticky tire over the C5’s.” You can’t test those things, which is the issue. You must commit to FP1 already.

Madcap gambles are a possibility.

A backmarker might make his two stops out of the way in the first couple of laps, then reverse and drive to the end in the hopes that he can fill in as the events progress, perhaps with the aid of some safety cars.

Then, as a result, teams have the opportunity to use tactic with their two vehicles, using one to create a gap for the other by backing up the field, so the lead driver can pit without sacrificing position.

Carlos Sainz, the Williams driver, added, “Montegro always has a lottery element.” That component will be slightly bigger this year.

Everyone who doesn’t start off pole, in my opinion, is welcoming the two-stop. Only the person who will be on pole will be cursing a little because he must complete a two-stop in order to avoid many unknowns when he starts off pole.

“But I believe the teams can avoid it,” he added. I believe that the drivers could possibly make us push a little more.