Monaco GP: FIA approve pit stop plans to increase excitement
In an attempt to make the Monaco Grand Prix more exciting, the FIA has approved plans to enforce two mandatory pit stops at the event this year.
Formula 1’s oldest street race has been criticised in recent years for a lack of overtaking and limited tyre strategy options.
Suggestions to change the layout of the historic circuit to improve overtaking have been deemed infeasible in recent years, leading F1 to look at changes to the regulations to improve the show.
F1’s sporting regulations already mandate the use of two different tyre compounds during a race, meaning at least one pit stop must take place unless tyres are changed under a red-flag race suspension (as was the case at last year’s Monaco Grand Prix).
By enforcing two mandatory pit stops, in both the wet and the dry, there is a hope this year’s Monaco Grand Prix will have an additional strategic element.
The idea was first raised during a Formula 1 Commission meeting earlier this month and signed off by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council [WMSC] on Wednesday.
“The WMSC reviewed a proposal regarding the implementation of a mandatory 2-stop strategy (in both wet and dry conditions) for the Monaco GP, with the primary intent of improving the sporting spectacle of this race,” a statement said.
“Following recent discussions in the F1 Commission, a specific requirement for the Monaco GP has been approved mandating the use of at least three sets of tyres in the race, with a minimum of two different tyre compounds to be used if it’s a dry race.”
Asked about the proposal during F1’s launch event in London last week, four-time champion Max Verstappen said overtaking has been difficult at the circuit since wider cars were introduced in 2017.
“It’s just one of these tracks where it’s very hard to pass and of course the bigger we make the cars, the more difficult it is also to race,” Verstappen said.
“I felt like in 2016 there was still a little bit of an opportunity. Now that’s of course gone. If the two pit stops help, I don’t know, but I guess we’ll find out, right?”
Source: espn.com