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Leading Formula 1 drivers gave mixed reviews to the new Monaco Grand Prix rule that forced drivers to use three sets of tyres in the race.
The change was introduced because of growing concerns about the tendency towards uneventful grands prix on the narrow street circuit.
The intention of the rule was to add extra jeopardy. Overtaking is almost impossible in Monaco and in recent years the races have tended to be processional if it does not rain.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton said that, while the rule “didn’t make a big difference necessarily for me”, F1 bosses “need to keep on trying with this one”.
And race winner Lando Norris said the rule had “just given people opportunity by luck – by waiting for a red flag, waiting for a safety car”.
The Briton added: “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.”
Norris’ remarks reflect what did happen in the race. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was running fourth for most of the grand prix, left his final pit stop until the last lap.
This gave him the lead from Norris, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
The idea was to hope there was a red flag in the last part of the race. This would have allowed Verstappen to benefit from a rule that allows drivers to change tyres when a race is stopped.
Had that happened, Verstappen would have taken a restart on fresh tyres and been able to win. As it was, he dropped back to fourth when he made his final mandatory stop at the start of the last lap.
Norris said: “It depends what you want. Do you want to manufacture races? There hasn’t been any more overtaking here. I thought that was what was wanted.”
Verstappen said: “We had nothing to lose.
“You just hope that something happens and you get lucky, but… that didn’t come the whole time.”
Norris added: “Overtaking has never been good in Monaco, ever. 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. 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, and we definitely need to stay away from that and do a better job with cars, with tyres.”
Championship leader Piastri said: “It definitely made it a bit more tense at a few points. 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. I’m sure if we keep this going in the future, eventually a result like that will happen. 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.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: “The race was interesting in terms of how many scenarios needed to be considered.
“The main limitation remains the fact that you cannot overtake. This is quite structural as a limitation. I am not sure exactly how this can be modified, can be changed, just simply by imposing a certain number of pit stops.”
Stella said he was “interested” to see whether the new rules next year, which introduces cars that are 10 centimetres narrower than this year with a new style of engine, make a difference.
“I would hope that this change of the cars will make overtaking possible, even at least when you are three seconds faster, because at the moment if you are three seconds faster, still you cannot overtake,” Stella said.
“But this has very much to do with the size of the car, with the speed of the car and the grip, which means that the braking zones are anyhow very, very short. There’s just not materially the space in braking.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: “We tried something, we tried an experiment with two-stop, didn’t change anything in the outcome.”
Wolff said F1 should consider introducing a rule to prevent teams using one car to back up the field to advantage another driver, as both Racing Bulls and Williams did on Sunday.
But Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said such a rule would be “impossible” to police.
Hamilton added: “It’s a very, very difficult track. You obviously can’t overtake. But still, an amazing spectacle and an amazing location. So many people. I’ve never seen so many people here. It’s insane.
“And to drive it on a single lap, it’s incredible. So, the Friday and Saturday is unbelievable. And the Sunday is kind of the day that you want off, almost.”