The past week has been significant for Lando Norris and his championship prospects. He silenced many skeptics within the F1 paddock with impressive overtakes at Imola and a spectacular pole position in Monaco, achieved under intense pressure from top contenders like Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen. His subsequent drive to victory on the challenging street circuit was largely flawless despite numerous chaotic moments and hurdles.
With this race marking the end of the first third of the season, only three points separate Norris from his McLaren teammate, Piastri. Piastri had a somewhat challenging weekend by his standards, including an incident where he damaged his front wing on the barriers and later commented on hitting the walls more in this single weekend than in his entire career combined.
Despite these difficulties, the young Australian secured yet another podium finish. This means that, except for one corner in rainy Melbourne, he would have been on the podium at every race this season, extending his remarkable streak of scoring points to 34 consecutive weekends.
Charles Leclerc came into the Monaco weekend anticipating poor performance in slow corners and even advised against betting on him. Contrary to his expectation, he topped every practice session but narrowly missed pole position, which ultimately limited him to a second-place finish in the race, a common outcome at Monaco where starting position is paramount.
Max Verstappen`s Red Bull, as was the case last year, struggled over the kerbs and within the tight confines of the Principality compared to its usual dominance, but he still pushed the car to its limits as always.
Hamilton started fourth but dropped to seventh due to a grid penalty for unintentionally impeding Verstappen during qualifying after receiving incorrect information from his engineer. This relegated Lewis to a support role in the race, resulting in a frustrating and solitary fifth-place finish.
Surprise Regarding Pit Stop Rules
For decades, the Monaco Grand Prix result has predominantly been determined by the Saturday qualifying order, unless rain, untimely safety cars, or red flags intervene. This characteristic is well-known. As far back as 1992, Nigel Mansell famously couldn`t overtake Ayrton Senna despite having significantly better tires after suffering a late puncture.
Finishing fifth in that 1992 race myself, I vividly recall the difficulties. I also remember passing many cars in my Brabham in 1989, but only because I had a huge tire advantage after a two-minute pit stop for a battery change under my seat. I then attacked relentlessly to get back to sixth, somehow surviving numerous skirmishes. However, in that era, you could also gain positions when others missed a gearshift, which is not possible with today`s technology.
Therefore, issues with racing and overtaking in Monaco are not unique to the current generation of wider, digitally controlled cars. While perhaps 60 years ago the more slender cars might have allowed for more overtaking, race results even then were heavily influenced by poor reliability and crashes among less sophisticated machinery.
Slow Pace Doesn`t Represent F1
Last year in Monaco, a first-lap accident caused a red flag. This allowed all remaining drivers to change tires in the pits, fulfilling the requirement to use two different compounds without losing track position. They then drove slowly enough to complete the race without needing another stop, resulting in the top 10 finishing in the exact order they started.
In an effort to improve the spectacle, and following extensive consultation with teams, the FIA, and F1, a specific rule for Monaco was introduced mandating two pit stops and the use of three different sets of dry tires, even if it rained.
While I commend the genuine attempt to enhance the show, I was somewhat surprised that it wasn`t mandated for one of the stops to occur by, say, half distance or earlier. It was clear from the start that some teams towards the back, having little to lose, might cycle through their stops early, while those at the front would delay their second stop to maximize opportunities presented by potential safety cars or red flags.
It also immediately became apparent that teams could sacrifice one car, having it drive slowly to create the necessary 21-second gap for their other car to make a pit stop safely. This strategy was largely implemented, although the extent to which teams like Racing Bulls and Williams were willing to slow down one car was quite concerning. However, they achieved their goal, getting both cars into the points after solid qualifying performances.
Early in the race commentary, after Lando Norris recovered from a first-corner lock-up scare, our primary focus shifted to how slowly some drivers were lapping and the endless discussion about pit stops.
Normally, the race leader in Monaco might deliberately slow the pack in the early laps to prevent rivals from gaining a pit stop window, only to speed up later to create their own opportunity. Instead, we witnessed specific cars driving up to four seconds off the pace, creating frustrated queues behind them. This wasn`t visually appealing or impressive, though it was effective for some teams. It`s certainly not representative of what F1 stands for.
Mercedes employed a peculiar strategy with their two cars, which were stranded in the second half of the field after a qualifying crash for Kimi Antonelli and a mechanical issue for George Russell. During the race, they seemed hesitant about making any pit stops until very late, with Russell pitting on laps 64 and 70, and Antonelli on laps 71 and 73 (of 78). They were particularly hampered by the fluctuating pace of the Williams cars. On lap 64, Russell`s patience ran out, and he cut straight through the seafront chicane to overtake, clearly stating over the radio he`d rather take a penalty than stay stuck behind the Williams roadblock.
Unfortunately for him, he was given a drive-through penalty, costing around 20 seconds. The FIA explained:
`Anticipating that situations such as this might happen at this Monaco Grand Prix, all the teams were informed before the race by the Race Director (at the Stewards request) that the stewards would look carefully at a deliberate leaving of the track at Turn 10 to overtake a car or a train of slow cars. That communication also made it clear that the guideline penalty of 10 seconds may be insufficient for this deliberate infringement and that the penalty applied may be a greater penalty than 10 seconds. We therefore considered that Car 63`s deliberate infringement warranted a drive through penalty and we so imposed.`
Despite the penalty, Russell still managed to finish 11th, just outside the points.
The Experiment Failed
Looking at the final results, despite all the pre-race discussion about the two-stop rule, very little changed. Lewis Hamilton, penalized on the grid, passed Isack Hadjar (who drove impressively in the Racing Bull) during the pit stop phase. Sadly, Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin retired due to a car issue. Both of these events likely would have occurred regardless of the new rule.
Alongside Racing Bulls` Hadjar and Liam Lawson finishing sixth and eighth, and Williams` Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz taking ninth and tenth, Esteban Ocon also delivered an impressive, albeit understated, performance, finishing seventh in his Haas without any assistance from a teammate slowing others down.
The two-stop experiment didn`t achieve its goal. We simply must manage expectations for the Monaco race day, try to slightly facilitate overtaking if possible, recognize that Monaco qualifying remains a uniquely special hour in F1 and sports, or accept that not racing there isn`t a viable option.
The fundamental issue is the track layout, which simply doesn`t offer space to create the long straights or wide zones needed for significant overtaking. Even on wider tracks, the optimal racing line often becomes heavily rubbered in. My son Alex offered an interesting, albeit facetious, suggestion: each driver gets one “joker card” allowing them to cut through the chicane`s runoff area, like Russell did, and maintain their position, which would also discourage excessively slow driving.
However, be under no illusion: any change implemented in Formula 1 is likely to have unintended consequences; it`s the nature of the sport.
Meanwhile, at the front, McLaren, Ferrari, and one Red Bull calmly navigated the chaos, running their own races. Lewis Hamilton in fifth was the last car not lapped, finishing 51 seconds behind Norris.
McLaren experienced a tense period when Norris closed on Verstappen, who was trying to extend the life of his 50-lap-old tires in a desperate hope for a red flag, before finally pitting on lap 77. During this time, Leclerc`s Ferrari was right behind Norris, but he held his composure. On the final lap, with Verstappen no longer in his way after pitting, Norris unleashed the fastest lap of the race, underlining his regained confidence.
The focus now shifts to the Spanish GP this coming weekend, which presents a completely different challenge for teams, cars, and drivers.
Gilbert Pendleton 
Wesley Dunham