Concerns issued over F1 'gimmicks' after FIA Monaco Grand Prix changes

Williams F1 star Carlos Sainz has expressed his concern over the FIA’s changes at the Monaco Grand Prix, labelling them as a ‘gimmick’.

The 2025 Monaco GP will effectively be a mandatory two-stop race after the World Motor Sport Council voted that all 20 drivers will have to stop at least twice in an attempt to bolster the racing spectacle for this year’s event.

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However, Sainz has questioned the unknown offered by the new strategy and has warned of the potential that the race could be ‘gimmicky’.

“There’s an element of lottery that Monaco can always offer, I think this year that element is going to be a bit bigger given the two-stop rather than the one-stop,” he told the media including GPFans.

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

“I’m just a bit worried of teams playing a bit too much with the pace to help the other team-mate, I hope there’s not too many gimmicks with that but it’s F1 so you never know.”

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Despite Sainz’s obvious concern, the unknown will be exactly what F1 and their fans will be hoping for in Monaco, with the race coming under fire for it's processional character over the years.

In 2024, the order of the top 10 did not change from the order they qualified in, with most drivers making their one-and-only mandatory pit stop during red flag conditions on lap one.

Speaking in the FIA’s press conference on Thursday in Monaco, Alex Albon also agreed with his team-mate’s sentiment and said: “I think the biggest thing is – obviously, we're doing this to shake it up.

"And the worry is that it doesn't shake it up and it just creates a lap-one situation where everyone starts to come into the pits and just tries to take some of the space and use lap two, three, four, five – whatever it may be – to push.”

“The biggest thing if you speak to the team, and I think every strategist, is that we don’t really know how it’s going to play out. Especially in the midfield, it’s team-mates and how they help each other.

“A good example would be Jeddah last year with Haas, when Kevin [Magnussen] made a race where he basically parked the bus and allowed Nico [Hulkenberg] to have a free stop.

“When you do work that around a track like here with two stops, that's definitely possible. You don't want a race like that. That’s not to say I think it’s a bad idea to do a two-stop. I think we need to try something – but it may not really change the style of the race.”

READ MORE: Major Monaco Grand Prix change confirmed after official F1 meeting

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