Monaco Madness: new mandatory two-stop strategy makes for strange Grand Prix

Image credit: FORMULA 1. Drivers were ordered to serve two pit-stops for the first time in Monaco Grand Prix history.

The Monaco Grand Prix has been a staple of the Formula 1 calendar since the championship’s inception 75 years ago. This fabled race was first held in 1929. However nearly a century later, this great motorsport spectacle seems to have stagnated. 

The decline in spectator-satisfaction for this Grand Prix was encapsulated last year, where the top 10 finished in the exact position as they started. F1’s current crop of cars are the largest the sport has ever seen - which has promoted talk that the cars have outgrown Monaco, but not the sport. That is because space to overtake at is scarcely available now, if at all possible.

The soon-approaching 2026 regulations, aiming to make the cars smaller, offers opportunities for the race in the principality to still flourish. Being the intermediate year, the FIA has attempted to revitalise on-track action by unusually making a minimum of two pit stops mandatory for 2025.

Much talk about how to competently avoid the extra stop obstacle pursued. A well-discussed strategy was performed by teams whose drivers started close together, such as Williams (Alex Albon P10, Carlos Sainz P11) and Racing Bulls (Isack Hadjar P5, Liam Lawson P9).

During the race, drivers took it in turns to hold up the stream of cars behind, allowing their teammate to gain a substantial gap ahead to complete their pit stops without losing positions whilst ensuring points amidst the ongoing tight midfield battle, which exasperated the trailing drivers with the congestion.

Notably, the Mercedes pair were significantly hindered by Williams after a sub-standard qualifying set them back on the grid. Albon’s deliberate heavy braking to defend nearly resulted in a crash at the Nouvelle chicane with George Russell, who illegally overtook the Thai driver by cutting the chicane.

Russell purposefully didn’t concede the position and consequently earned a drive-through penalty after getting frustrated with the antics of the Oxfordshire-based team. 

A similar incident occurred a few laps later when teammate Kimi Antonelli also had to take avoiding action from a usual Monaco excursion. This time though, Antonelli dropped back behind Albon, thus relinquishing a double-points scoring race to Williams.

Williams team principal James Vowles, a proud leader with high morals, has openly stated afterwards that he doesn’t enjoy that style of racing, but was a necessity given the new overriding rules.  

Racing Bulls did similar and achieved a double-points finish – rewarding rookie Hadjar with a career-best sixth and Lawson with his first points of the campaign.

Alternatively, Max Verstappen served his second pit stop on the final lap, not without obstructing eventual race winner Lando Norris with home hero Charles Leclerc prior. Twice World Champion Fernando Alonso was also irritated by his team’s strategy, which saw him forfeit points positions before retiring.     

Ultimately, the FIA’s manipulation of a two-stop race failed to rejuvenate the Monaco magic as there was only one on-track overtake in 78 laps. However, the next generation of cars offers a hopeful, but not assured, future for the crown jewel of F1 races.