Will two stops at Monaco 'spice it up a bit more'?

Ferrari practising a pit stop in Monaco

Monaco Grand Prix

Venue: Monte Carlo Dates: 23-25 May Race start: 14:00 BST on Sunday

Coverage: Live commentary of practice and qualifying on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 with race on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app

Max Verstappen says a new rule that forces drivers to make two pit stops during the Monaco Grand Prix will "hopefully spice it up a bit more".

The change has been introduced after a soporific race in 2024 that followed years of growing concerns about the tendency towards uneventful grands prix on the historic streets on the Cote d'Azur.

Monaco is the jewel in Formula 1's crown, an event that encapsulates the heady mix of glamour, danger, beauty and speed that makes the sport so intoxicating.

But the race has tended to become follow-my-leader, with drivers controlling their pace to make sure their tyres reach the ideal time to make a pit stop.

There followed a hectic period of laps where the only position changes could take place, before the race settled back down into a case of, as Verstappen put it: "Drive to the end and just stay focused and not hit the barrier."

The mandatory two-stop is intended to add extra jeopardy - two chances for teams to make mistakes and positions to change, as they tend to do around pit stops as drivers get a chance to use their pace, and the opportunity to play more games.

But will it work?

Verstappen said: "It can go both ways – it can be quite straightforward, or it can go completely crazy because of safety cars coming into play or not making the right calls.

"Maybe with a two-stop, it can create something different – people gambling, guessing when the right time is to box (pit)."

What led to the rule being brought in?

There are those in the F1 paddock who feel that the move is a contrivance, a knee-jerk reaction to a specific set of circumstances that happened to unfold last year.

In 2024, a crash up the hill after the first corner led to a safety car and pretty much all the field pitting at the end of the first lap, and fitting hard tyres to go to the end.

Because the life of the tyres was marginal, pole-sitter and leader Charles Leclerc controlled the pace in his Ferrari, and basically nothing happened for the final 77 laps.

When the rule change was introduced, some pointed out that one only had to look back a year for an exciting race, when a mid-grand prix rain shower introduced major jeopardy, and Aston Martin fumbled a chance to leapfrog Fernando Alonso ahead of Verstappen's Red Bull into the lead.

Verstappen had yet to stop as the rain started, and Alonso came in behind him. Instead of fitting wet-weather tyres to Alonso's car as he pitted with the track half-wet, half-dry, they fitted slicks. But the rain became harder and he had to come back in the following lap for wets, the chance to get Verstappen now lost.

It was also pointed out that, in reality, not much has changed for decades. Overtaking has been pretty much impossible at Monaco for at least 40-50 years.

But, having explored the possibility of modifying the track layout to introduce an overtaking spot and discovered it was not possible, it was felt that it was time for a change.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said: "If you keep doing the same thing over and over and over again, you get the same result. And so I think it's cool that they're trying something different. Whether or not it's the answer, we'll find out this weekend."

The new rule throws up all sorts of interesting possibilities, given the differing durability of the three sets of tyres.

As Mercedes driver George Russell says: "If you start on the hard, that's clearly the best tyre, and there's a red flag at the beginning of the race, when do you then throw on the soft tyre?

"If somebody starts on the soft and there is a red flag or safety car in the first five laps, they have a massive advantage.

"So it isn't clear cut, and because there is such an advantage, if there is a timely safety car for certain people, you will have to put your foot on the gas at some point. Whereas in the past like last year you just saw Charles managing the gap to me so Lando [Norris] and co didn't pit, which was not the most exciting race we've ever seen.

"So I'm excited to see how that pans out."

Possibility for 'madcap gambles'

Any decision on strategy is made tougher by the introduction of a new sixth compound this year, at the softest end of the range, which made its debut in Imola last weekend and is in use again in Monaco this.

In Imola, the so-called C6 (soft) turned out to be slower than the C5 (medium) in qualifying. Will the same thing happen in Monaco? If so, it makes for a tricky decision, as teams have only three sets of mediums for the whole weekend, as opposed to eight sets of softs.

Alonso said: "I would doubt that here the C5 is a better tyre, as the C6 has a little bit more grip.

"Maybe in Imola, with the stress you put on the high-speed corners and things like that, maybe the C6 was a little bit fragile.

"But here there are no high-speed corners, so I think I prefer the sticky C6 tyre than the C5. The problem is that you cannot test those things. You have to commit already in FP1."

There is the possibility for madcap gambles.

One idea being thrown around is for a backmarker to get his two stops out of the way in the first couple of laps, and then just drive to the end, hoping that he can make up places as events unfold, perhaps with the help of some safety cars.

And then there is opportunity for teams to play tactics with their two cars, and use one to open a gap for the other by backing up the field, so the lead driver can pit without losing position.

Williams driver Carlos Sainz said: "There is an element of lottery that Monaco can always offer. This year that element is going to be a bit bigger.

"I think everyone that is not starting on pole is welcoming the two-stop. Only the guy who will be on pole will be cursing a bit the fact that the year that he starts on pole is the year that is a mandatory two-stop and a lot of unknowns could happen.

"But I think the teams will get around it. I think the drivers, it probably will force us potentially to push a bit more.

"I am just a bit worried of teams playing a bit too much with the pace to help the other team-mate. I hope there is not too many gimmicks with that. But you never know."