Why the Monaco GP pitstop rule didn’t work due to the major problem F1 cannot fix

After last year’s Monaco “procession” – as Red Bull team principal Christian Horner called it – Formula 1 and the FIA felt the need to try ‘something’ for this year’s grand prix.

‘Something’ turned out to be a rule change aimed at adding strategic intrigue to the race. The FIA mandated that each driver must use three sets of tyres, which – barring a red flag – would mean two pitstops. It stirred nervousness among teams beforehand and received mixed reactions after the race.

Consensus in the paddock was that, at the very least, it prevented the disaster of last year, when nothing happened after an early red flag – but most drivers felt the 2025 rule was too artificial.

In terms of adding suspense and strategic tension, the tweak was effective. It gave both teams and fans multiple scenarios at various stages. There were at least some more variables in play that could have changed the outcome of the race. Overtaking remained virtually impossible, but with divergent strategies, a safety car or red flag had potential to shake things up.

It also encouraged teams to think smartly. Red Bull was one team to try an early stop with Yuki Tsunoda, which didn’t work out but was at least worth trying. Racing Bulls and Williams later pulled off team-based tactics more successfully. With both of them scoring a double points finish, it shows that some smart thinking can pay off under this format.

Meanwhile, Mercedes didn’t attempt anything – apart from George Russell’s illegal overtake at the Nouvelle Chicane – despite being outside the points. As a consequence, they went home empty-handed.

In other words, strategic thinking was rewarded by the new format, though having two cars running close together was key to executing it.

Dubious tactics aren’t (mostly) down to the new rule

One could argue that these weren’t the most sportsmanlike tactics in F1. Alex Albon shared that opinion after the race: “I don’t want to be racing like that. Carlos, I’m sure, agrees – and I’m sure Liam as well.”

His team-mate Carlos Sainz doubled down: “For me, we need to find a solution, because ultimately you are manipulating the racing.

“Unfortunately, we were in a situation where the Racing Bulls did it to us. Because they did it to us and we hadn’t done a pitstop, we were simulated to finish P19 and P20. So we had to do it ourselves. I’m not very happy that we got it done to ourselves and I’m also not very happy to do it to others – but this is Monaco, and it was the only way to finish with both cars in the points.

“At the same time, I’m obviously not happy that F1 racing around Monaco has become what it was today.”

That view was widely shared among drivers. Even race winner Lando Norris questioned whether F1 should aim for “manufactured races” like this. Max Verstappen took it even further, likening this year’s Monaco race to Mario Kart, and wondering if throwing bananas might be the next step.

However, these tactics do not necessarily reflect a flaw in the format. They’re a result of overtaking being practically impossible in Monaco, regardless of the number of pitstops. Drivers can go as slow as they want and hold the pack up.

Fernando Alonso did something similar in 2022 with Alpine, deliberately backing up half the field – not to help his team-mate but to preserve his own tyres. The outcome was the same: significantly slower lap times and a huge gap in front of him.

Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 A522

Photo by: Erik Junius

This highlights the fundamental problem of current F1 cars simply being oversized for Monte Carlo’s narrow streets. These tactics just stood out more this year – partly because the pitstop rule was the talk of the town for days in the paddock, and partly because of the savvy way Racing Bulls and Williams played it.

Up front, the rule didn’t change the final result or the picture of the race, so the main conclusion is that the pitstop experiment didn’t solve the core issue.

Are there any other solutions?

If the real problem runs deeper, what solutions could there be besides mandatory pitstops? Having even more of those isn’t the answer, drivers adamantly reckoned. “Maybe next year we can have four pitstops!” Max Verstappen sarcastically suggested. “You can’t race here anyway, so it doesn’t matter what you do. One stop, 10 stops – it’s all the same.

“At the end, I was leading with completely worn tyres, and still nobody could overtake. These days, you probably can’t even pass a Formula 2 car with a Formula 1 car around here.”

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff had another idea: implementing a minimum lap time to prevent drivers from excessively slowing down and playing tactical games. “I think what we can look at is to create some Monaco-specific regulations that there’s only a maximum of back-off that you can have. You can’t hold up a train. You can say you can’t go slower than x seconds from the leaders – that will probably create a little bit more of a closer field.”

But 2025 has already shown that adding more rules – making things even more complicated for viewers – isn’t necessarily the solution. What happens if a driver intentionally goes slower than the mandated time? A five-second penalty? What if a team is willing to take that penalty to help the sister car?

Christian Horner voiced a different idea during his post-race media session – one he also floated last year: exploring whether the Monaco layout can be modified. “The fundamental problem is that you can’t overtake. I think modifying the layout is the only way to really encourage any form of overtaking.

“So, trying to create a bit more of a braking area, either on the exit of the tunnel or Turn 1. If there was any way of creating a longer braking zone somewhere, we should really investigate it. The cars are so big now.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team, Alexander Albon, Williams

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

But changing the layout is easier said than done. Removing the Nouvelle Chicane wouldn’t help, as Tabac corner is too fast to be a big braking zone. Modifying Portier to lengthen the straight might help a little but would be difficult to implement and have implications far beyond F1. The same goes for extending the start-finish straight.

These aspects are all tied to the harbour and city infrastructure, and therefore extremely complicated – even though Horner called for Monaco to “move with the times” and added: “If you look at how Monaco has changed, how much land they’ve reclaimed into the seas in the 72 appearances here, I don’t think you would need to do too much.”

The real issue, as the Red Bull team boss acknowledged, is F1 cars being too large – and there’s no quick fix for that. The 2026 machinery is supposed to be nimbler, according to the FIA, but it’s all relative. The wheelbase will shrink by 20cm and the cars will be 10cm narrower, but even that won’t make overtaking much easier in Monaco. Just look at Formula 2 – even there, they can’t pass one another. “Maybe we should put the drivers in go-karts,” Horner joked.

Accept Monaco as the unique circuit it is?

For the foreseeable future, there are basically only two options left: drop Monaco from the calendar or accept it as it is. With a new deal running until 2031, the latter is the reality – and in a way, that’s fine. There may be little to no spectacle on Sunday, but qualifying is unique. Drivers say nothing compares to a qualifying lap on the very limit around Monaco – and this, in itself, deserves a place on the F1 calendar.

TV viewers may not fully experience this, but witnessing this trackside is unique – especially for those lucky enough to stand immediately behind the barriers. It goes to show just how insane F1 in Monaco really is – how far drivers push the limits of these narrow streets, and how qualifying in the Principality is the ultimate test of their skills. In a way, it’s motorsport at its finest.

Sunday is not, but Monaco’s commercial value, heritage and qualifying excitement are still enough to justify its place on the modern F1 calendar. So let’s just enjoy these unforgettable qualifying sessions.