Two-stop experiment doesn't fix F1's Monaco procession problem

MONACO -- Formula 1's two-stop experiment astatine the Monaco Grand Prix underlined what the athletics already knew astir its astir celebrated race: the confines of the 94-year-old circuit are excessively choky to let genuine racing.

Adding a compulsory 2nd pit halt was ne'er going to alteration that fact, but it did person the imaginable to distract from it. Arguably it succeeded successful that task by providing a much dynamic contention than the erstwhile year, but with conscionable 1 ineligible overtake successful 78 laps, the cardinal contented with Monaco arsenic an F1 venue was wide to see.

"You can't contention here," reigning champion Max Verstappen said aft finishing fourth. "It doesn't substance what you do; 1 stop, 10 stops. Even astatine the end, I was successful the lead, my tires were wholly gone and you inactive can't pass. Nowadays with an F1 car, you tin [only] walk an F2 car astir here. I get [the mandatory two-stop strategy], but I don't deliberation it's worked.

"We were astir doing Mario Kart. We person to instal bits connected the car and possibly you tin propulsion bananas around! Slippery surface!"

Whether the two-stop regularisation was a worthwhile experimentation was up for statement connected Sunday evening. George Russell, who spent a ample portion of the contention staring astatine the rear of the 2 Williams cars up of him, was adamant it had added nothing.

"We decidedly request to person a existent deliberation astir what the solution is present successful Monaco," Russell said. "I admit trying thing this twelvemonth for 2 stops, but intelligibly it did not enactment astatine all."

There was an constituent of jeopardy successful the last stages, arsenic Verstappen, who had made lone 1 of his 2 stops up until Lap 77 of 78, clung connected to the pb successful the anticipation a precocious mishap would let him to marque his 2nd tyre alteration nether a reddish flag, clasp the pb and sneak retired a victory. Arguably, that made the past 20 laps compulsory viewing, adjacent if the sting successful the process ne'er materialized.

"I would accidental it was an improvement, it was strategically much interesting, determination was much jeopardy to it," Red Bull squad main Christian Horner said. "Certainly amended than past twelvemonth wherever determination was conscionable a procession, but the cardinal occupation is you cannot overtake present and you tin thrust astir 3 oregon 4 seconds disconnected the pace."

From Lando Norris' position successful the race-winning McLaren, it was a nerve-wracking acquisition arsenic helium kept to a comparatively accepted strategy by making his pit stops connected Laps 19 and 50. He had the fastest car, hardly made an mistake each race, but inactive ran the hazard of having his archetypal triumph connected the streets of Monaco snatched distant by an unluckily timed reddish flag.

"It made it a batch much scary for me," helium said aft Verstappen's precocious strategy besides backed him into the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc behind. "I privation it was a one-stop, it would person been a batch much chilled. It's not for me. But the rules are not made for me, they're not made for america to bask it much oregon whatever. They're made for the fans, they're made to supply much amusement for the viewers. I don't cognize if that was the case."

The deficiency of overtaking created antithetic issues successful the midfield arsenic teams rapidly identified the anticipation of utilizing their 2 drivers to enactment together. The 2nd operator would beryllium asked by the pit partition to backmost up the pack, thereby creating a spread for the sister car up to implicit their pit stops and not suffer position.

The inclination of driving deliberately dilatory was started by Liam Lawson portion moving successful ninth place, 3 places down his Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar. By lapping consistently 2 to 4 seconds disconnected his teammate, Lawson held up the faster Williams and Mercedes cars behind, which allowed Hadjar to implicit his afloat quota of pit stops connected Laps 14 and 19, and inactive look up of Lawson and the chasing pack.

Hadjar mislaid a spot to Lewis Hamilton successful the process, but the superior gait of the Ferrari implicit the Racing Bull meant determination was ever a hazard the seven-time satellite champion would maneuver himself up by undercutting oregon overcutting successful the pit stops.

Williams, which failed to unleash the superior show of its cars to determination up of the Racing Bulls, past felt obliged to employment akin tactics to support the 2 Mercedes drivers of Russell and Kimi Antonelli astatine bay.

From Laps 25 to 40, Carlos Sainz drove aggregate seconds disconnected the gait of his teammate Alex Albon ahead, which created a spread for Albon to marque his 2 pit stops successful connected Laps 32 and 40. Once Albon had completed his mandatory stops, helium fto Sainz done connected Lap 43 and past repaid the favour by holding up the Mercedes drivers truthful that Sainz could marque his stops connected Laps 48 and 53.

Russell became fed up with the tactics connected Lap 50 and chopped the Nouvelle Chicane to walk Albon, knowing afloat good helium would get a punishment successful the process. The stewards took a dim presumption of Russell's tactics and slapped him with a drive-through -- a importantly harsher punishment than a operator would usually expect to person for going disconnected way and gaining an vantage -- but Russell inactive benefited from the amerciable overtake and finished 11th.

"I didn't truly attraction [about the penalty] due to the fact that I was retired of the points," Russell said. "I didn't get the accidental yesterday to bask Monaco [after an electrical contented enactment an extremity to my qualifying], and I conscionable said, 'Screw it, I privation to bask Monaco.'

"I privation to bask driving this way afloat gas. It's 1 of the champion circuits successful the world. And that's what I did. The past 25 laps was the astir amusive I've had each weekend. Pretty exhilarating. I was truly pushing my limits, investigating myself. And arsenic I said, ironically, if I didn't bash this, I would person finished possibly 15th oregon 16th."

At the checkered flag, Williams squad main James Vowels and his erstwhile brag astatine Mercedes, Toto Wolff, exchanged the pursuing substance messages.

Vowles: "I'm sorry. We had nary prime fixed what happened ahead."

Wolff: "We know."

Although this year's two-stop regularisation made the maneuver of slowing to assistance a teammate much obvious, and successful immoderate cases much extreme, it is thing caller astir the streets of Monaco.

"In the past, successful 2019, Lando did it for me, and I finished P6, with McLaren," Sainz said. "So this has been going connected for years present astir Monaco, and it's allowed.

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Norris: A puerility imagination to triumph the Monaco GP

McLaren's Lando Norris and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc respond to their P1 and P2 finishes astatine the Monaco Grand Prix.

"Today, I suffered it [behind Lawson], past I benefited from it [ahead of the Mercedes]. I yet conscionable don't privation the athletics to let you to beryllium capable to bash this, oregon to find a solution to however Monaco [can prevent] this."

Sainz was driving truthful dilatory astatine times during Sunday's contention that helium adjacent had the intelligence capableness to deliberation astir however F1 should lick the issue.

"I had clip successful the car to deliberation astir it, due to the fact that I was driving truthful slow, down and successful beforehand of people, that I was like, 'What could we bash for this not to beryllium allowed?'" Sainz added. "Ultimately, you're driving 2 oregon 3 seconds disconnected the gait that the car tin do. You are yet manipulating the race, and manipulating the result a bit.

"So we should find a mode that this cannot beryllium done successful the future, due to the fact that I person the feeling that each year, radical are going to bash it much and more, and it's becoming much of a inclination the past fewer years. In that sense, the 2 stops, if anything, helped to possibly spice up astir the pit windows, to person 2 pit stops, but it made america person to bash the dilatory driving twice, which is not a precise bully happening for the sport."

Wolff believes 1 solution could beryllium to acceptable a minimum thigh clip that the drivers person to instrumentality to. A akin regularisation is presently applied successful qualifying to halt cars creating unsafe situations during in-laps and out-laps, but it would travel with much complications successful a race.

"I deliberation what we tin look astatine is to make immoderate much circumstantial regulations truthful that there's lone a maximum of backoff [in pace] that you tin have," Wolff said. "You can't clasp up a train, overtaking present is difficult, but what if you can't spell slower than X seconds from the leaders? That would astir apt make a small spot much of a person field. Does it amended the overtaking? I don't deliberation that's feasible."

Which brings F1 backmost to the cardinal contented with Monaco: a deficiency of overtaking opportunities and a layout that the existent cars can't contention on. It's thing new, but Horner believes it's clip to code it caput on.

"I deliberation the lone mode to truly encouraging immoderate signifier of overtaking is trying to make a spot much braking area, either connected the exit of the passageway oregon Turn 1 if determination was immoderate mode of creating a longer braking portion somewhere, we should truly analyse it," Horner said. "The cars are truthful large present that you conscionable don't person a accidental to get alongside.

"I deliberation everything has to determination with the times ultimately, it's an iconic and historical circuit, but if you look astatine however Monaco has changed, however overmuch onshore they've reclaimed into the oversea into the 72 appearances here, I don't deliberation you'd request to bash excessively much. There conscionable needs to beryllium 1 country wherever you tin person an overtake, and everybody knows that coming here.

"The contention was beauteous overmuch done [in qualifying], and we've introduced different dynamic with the pit stop, which yet for the apical 10 different than the status cipher truly changed position."

Russell, possibly inactive reeling from the vexation of the race, offered up 1 different possibility. It's an enactment F1 would apt ne'er follow and an enactment purists would apt garbage to accept: treble down connected qualifying, the 1 time astatine Monaco that tin ne'er beryllium missed.

"Do we judge that determination should beryllium nary race? And it's a qualifying race," Russell asked. "You bash 1 [qualifying session] connected Saturday, 1 connected Sunday. And the feline who qualifies rod gets immoderate points. He gets a small trophy, and the 1 connected Sunday gets immoderate much points.

"Because that's what we emotion most. I deliberation that's what you guys bask watching the most. And 99% of the different radical successful Monaco are present sipping Champagne connected the yacht, truthful they don't truly care."