Monaco — Formula One champion Max Verstappen ladled out a serving of sarcasm on Sunday when he declared Monaco’s mandatory two-stop experiment a flop.
The decision to force drivers to use three sets of tyres was taken in a bid to liven up a race famed for being processional and lacking overtaking.
Spectators who saw any passing were probably hallucinating, with the top four finishing in their starting positions and the main tension provided by the hope of a safety car that never appeared.
“Very exciting. I was on the edge of my seat every lap. It was fantastic,” Verstappen, who finished fourth, told reporters without expecting anyone to take his words seriously. “Maybe next year four stops. I could have done four stops today and finished [fourth].”
Red Bull’s four-time world champion went further in a Sky Sports interview.
“You can’t race here. It doesn’t matter what you do. One stop, 10 stops,” he said. “Nowadays with an F1 car, you can pass an F2 car around here. I get it but I don’t think it’s worked.
“We were almost doing Mario Kart. Then we have to install bits on the car and maybe you can throw bananas around [to create a] slippery surface.”
Other drivers echoed the Dutch driver’s sentiments.
“The two-stop clearly did not work at all,” said Mercedes’ George Russell.
McLaren’s race winner Lando Norris gave a two-word answer when asked for his thoughts: “Hated it.”
Overtaking had always been difficult in Monaco and he did not understand why people expected anything different.
“Formula One should not turn into only a show to entertain people. It’s a sport. It’s who can race the best, who can qualify the best,” he said.
“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. Then you might start to see more racing, but not by introducing so many pit stops.”
Those in the lower points-paying positions agreed.
“I don’t know about the front but in the midfield it backfired. I’m happy for everyone to try things. We tried it, for me it didn’t work,” said Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who finished 10th after he and teammate Alex Albon manipulated their pace to secure an advantage.
“It is not the way I like to race or how I dream about racing around Monaco.”
Supporters of the change could point to a greater uncertainty through the race, with added jeopardy and the ever-present risk of a safety car, and different strategies playing out.
“Even if this was a zero-stop race, it’s a mega venue,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff of a street circuit dripping with history and that harks back to the sport’s earliest days.
Reuters
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