Monaco GP: Oscar Piastri wary of two-stop rule causing complications
MONACO — Championship leader Oscar Piastri is wary that Monaco’s new two-pit stop rule could work against the driver starting from pole position on Sunday.
After last year’s Monaco Grand Prix descended into a procession, Formula 1 has introduced a new rule for the famous street circuit in a bid to improve the spectacle.
Whereas every driver must make a single pit stop in a normal grand prix, a Monaco-specific rule has been added to the sporting regulations that requires drivers to use three sets of tyres in the race and therefore make two pit stops.
The rule change has led to various theories of how teams will approach Sunday’s race, from suggestions some drivers will get a pit stop out the way on the opening lap to others delaying their last stop as late as possible in the hope of a red flag or safety car.
Piastri, who has taken three pole positions and won four races for McLaren this season, said he was still trying to get his head around the permutations.
“My head’s still kind of untwisting itself from some of the meetings we’ve had today,” he said. “I think it’s very complicated now with the two stops. “Also, just using three sets of tyres, because if there’s red flags like we saw last year, it’s not quite as simple as what it was.
“A complicated one. A very complicated one. I think there’s a lot of caveats involved.
“I think there is going to be a lot of gambling on safety cars, red flags, especially if you’re not a high points-paying position. There’s going to be a lot of risks taken, because ultimately if it goes wrong, you’re not losing anything,” he added.
Piastri believes pole position is still the best place to start the race, but expects it to come with more headaches than it did at previous Monaco Grands Prix.
“I would still rather be on pole than anywhere else, but I think here it’s a bit different. It’s not like a normal [Monaco] race, where we saw last year, if you want to drive 10 seconds a lap slower, you can. So it’s quite different to a normal race, but it does make things very difficult, because you have the most to lose [starting at the front].
“That’s kind of the biggest thing. Everyone else behind you can take a few more risks. There’s different team strategies that you can deploy, but it’s very, very complicated.”
McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who is currently 12 points behind Piastri in the standings, agreed there were more opportunities for drivers further down the grid, but said he would not spend any time thinking about it until after qualifying.
“I mean, it’s an opportunity,” Norris said. “I think that’s the biggest thing, that there is opportunity for everyone. I think there can be more luck involved for anyone, so you know, it’s easier to have probably a surprise winner this weekend. Which is good and bad.
“You know, if you’re up the front, then that’s not something you want. But if you’re a bit further back, then it’s a perfect opportunity for you. So yeah, opportunity is probably the best way to put it.
“I’ll just to let whatever happen, happen. Like I said, I’m not thinking of the race at all.
“I don’t need to. I’ve got to practice tomorrow and then qualifying. For me that’s my only thoughts, my only things I need to focus on.”
When it was put to Norris that his teammate was planning to spend time thinking about it before qualifying, he added: “Well, I mean, you have to wait and see where you qualify first. So he can think what he wants, but you have to rethink it all depending on where he starts.
“So for me, it’s just a needless worry. Of course, we just went through things and we know what we would want to try and plan for in a perfect race.
“But you don’t know if the gaps are going to open up, if they’re going to close, is it going to be a tight race, are people going to tyre save, are they not? So it’s just something I don’t need to think about. So he does his thing and I do mine.”
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Source: espn.com