Lando Norris has had a whirlwind eight days, significantly boosting his world championship prospects.
He silenced many critics and paddock doubts with impressive overtakes at Imola and a brilliant pole position in Monaco, secured under intense pressure from rivals like Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen. His subsequent drive to victory on the challenging street circuit was largely impeccable, navigating through considerable chaos.
The Monaco race, marking the end of the season`s first third, leaves Norris just three points ahead of his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri. Piastri himself experienced a somewhat turbulent weekend, damaging his front wing against the barriers at St Devote in practice and later admitting he hit the walls more in this single weekend than in his entire career.
Despite this, the young Australian secured another podium finish. Had it not been for one tricky rainy corner in his home race in Melbourne, he would have collected a trophy at every event this season. This result also extends his impressive streak of scoring points to 34 consecutive weekends.
Charles Leclerc had approached the weekend seemingly convinced his Ferrari lacked performance in slow corners, even advising people `don`t bet on me`. Contrary to his expectation, he topped every practice session but narrowly missed pole position, which, as is frequently the case in Monaco, effectively sealed his fate for second place in the race.
Similar to last year, Max Verstappen`s Red Bull faced challenges with the kerbs and the tight confines of the Principality, relatively speaking. However, he still extracted the maximum performance from the car, as he always does.
Verstappen started fourth, partly due to Lewis Hamilton unintentionally impeding him in qualifying after receiving incorrect information from his engineer. Hamilton himself received a painful three-place grid penalty, dropping him to seventh. This effectively forced Lewis into a team support role during the race, resulting in a frustrating and solitary fifth-place finish.
New Pit Stop Rules and the Race Standoff
For decades, the Monaco Grand Prix has been known for its qualifying result largely determining the race outcome, barring unexpected events like rain, safety cars, or red flags. This characteristic isn`t new; in 1992, Nigel Mansell famously couldn`t find a way past Ayrton Senna even with significantly better tyres after suffering a late puncture.
Having finished fifth in that 1992 race, I remember the challenges clearly. I also recall passing numerous cars in my Brabham in 1989. However, that was only possible due to a significant tyre advantage gained after an unscheduled two-minute pit stop to replace a battery under my seat. I only managed overtakes by abandoning caution and aggressively attacking others to recover to sixth place, somehow surviving the chaos. Unlike today, drivers back then could also be passed if they missed a gearshift, a scenario impossible now.
Therefore, it`s disingenuous to claim that racing difficulties in Monaco are unique to the current generation of wide, digitally controlled cars. While smaller, less complex cars might have offered more overtaking opportunities sixty years ago, race results for many decades were primarily shaped by frequent breakdowns and accidents involving less sophisticated machinery.
Last year`s Monaco race saw a red flag early on due to a significant first-lap crash. This allowed all remaining drivers to change tyres in the pit lane under the stoppage, fulfilling the requirement to use two different tyre compounds without losing track position. They then raced to the finish without further stops, which was feasible because everyone managed their pace carefully. Tellingly, the top 10 finishers were in the exact order they started on the grid.
To address this lack of action, after extensive consultation with teams, the FIA, and F1, a specific regulation for Monaco was introduced this year. It mandated two pit stops, requiring the use of three different sets of dry tyres, and even applied if it rained.
I won`t fault anyone for attempting to improve the spectacle with good intentions. However, I was somewhat surprised that the rule didn`t require one of the mandatory stops to occur by a certain point, like half-distance or earlier. It was obvious from the start that backmarker teams, having little to lose, might complete their stops relatively early. Conversely, front-runners would delay their second stop as long as possible to maximize their strategic window in case of safety cars or red flags.
It was also immediately apparent that teams could strategically use one car to drive slowly and `hold up` others, creating the necessary approximately 21-second gap for their teammate to make a pit stop without losing significant track position.
This tactic largely played out, although the degree to which teams like Racing Bulls and Williams slowed down one of their cars was quite striking. However, you can`t blame them; their strong qualifying performances allowed both teams to get both cars into the points.
Early in the race, after Lando Norris recovered from a first-corner brake lock-up scare, I realized that our commentary was dominated by discussions about how slowly certain drivers were lapping and the ongoing debate about pit stop strategy.
The Pit Stop Experiment`s Flaws
While it`s common practice for the race leader in Monaco to control the pace and bunch up the field to prevent rivals from gaining a pit stop advantage, before eventually speeding up to create their own window… this year, we saw specific cars deliberately lapping several seconds off the pace, creating frustrated queues behind them. This strategy, while perhaps effective for those employing it, wasn`t aesthetically pleasing or impressive to watch and is certainly not what Formula 1 should represent.
Mercedes employed a peculiar strategy with their cars, which were stuck in the latter half of the field following a qualifying crash for Kimi Antonelli and a mechanical problem for George Russell. During the race, they seemed remarkably hesitant about pit stops, with Russell finally pitting on laps 64 and 70, and Antonelli on laps 71 and 73, in a 78-lap race. They were particularly hampered by the inconsistent pace of the Williams cars. On lap 64, Russell`s patience ran out, and he cut through the seafront chicane, declaring vehemently on the radio that he`d rather take a penalty than remain stuck behind the slow Williams.
Unfortunately for Russell, he was given a drive-through penalty, which typically costs around 20 seconds. The FIA explained their decision:
Foreseeing potential situations like this at the Monaco Grand Prix, all teams were notified before the race by the Race Director (acting on the Stewards` request) that deliberately leaving the track at Turn 10 to overtake a car or a group of slow cars would be carefully reviewed by the stewards. The communication also explicitly stated that the standard 10-second penalty might not be sufficient for such a deliberate infringement, and a harsher penalty could be applied. Consequently, we determined that Car 63`s deliberate breach warranted a drive-through penalty, which was duly imposed.
Despite receiving this penalty, he still finished 11th, narrowly missing out on points.
Assessing the Two-Stop Rule Impact
Looking at the final results after all the pre-race anticipation and debate surrounding the mandatory two-stop rule, effectively very little changed in terms of the front running order. Lewis Hamilton, starting lower due to his grid penalty, overtook Isack Hadjar`s well-driven Racing Bull during the pit stop sequence. Fernando Alonso`s Aston Martin unfortunately suffered a car failure and retired. These outcomes would likely have occurred regardless of the two-stop rule.
Beyond the top finishers, other notable performances mentioned include Racing Bulls` Hadjar and Lawson, Williams` Alex Albon, and Esteban Ocon for Haas, who finished seventh without strategic help from a teammate.
Ultimately, the mandatory two-stop experiment did not achieve its goal of significantly improving the race spectacle. We must simply manage expectations for race day, perhaps look for minor ways to facilitate overtaking if possible, and accept that while Monaco qualifying remains one of the most thrilling hours in motorsport, the race is inherently limited by the track layout. Not racing there is simply not a realistic option.
The fundamental issue is dictated by the track`s layout; there`s simply no space to add long straights or wider zones conducive to overtaking. Even on broader circuits, the optimal grip usually means only one effective racing line. My son, Alex, suggested a rather amusing, albeit semi-serious, solution: allow each driver one `joker` move per race where they can cut the chicane, like George Russell did, and keep the gained position. This, he argued, would also discourage excessively slow driving.
However, it`s crucial to remember that any change in Formula 1 is bound to have unintended consequences; that`s just the nature of the sport.
Meanwhile, at the front, McLaren, Ferrari, and the leading Red Bull navigated the strategic chaos largely undisturbed, running their own races. Lewis Hamilton, in fifth place, was the last car not lapped by Norris, finishing 51 seconds adrift.
McLaren experienced a tense moment when Norris caught up to Max Verstappen, who was leading at that point, attempting to stretch his 50-lap-old tyres hoping for a late red flag before eventually pitting on lap 77 for his second stop.
Throughout this phase, Charles Leclerc`s Ferrari was right on Norris`s gearbox. But Lando held his composure, and on the final lap, with Verstappen no longer a factor ahead, he set the fastest lap of the race, emphasizing his renewed confidence.
Next up is the Spanish Grand Prix, which presents a completely different challenge for teams, cars, and drivers.
