FIA and F1 discuss mandatory two-stop races for 2026

Pirelli motorsport director Mario Isola has confirmed that talks have taken place about the potential to create more mandatory two-stop races in F1.

The 2025 Monaco Grand Prix was converted into a mandatory two-stop race for this year to try and drive more excitement in the race, and more strategy headaches for teams.

While it did provide more pit lane action in the race, it didn't necessarily improve the spectacle at a track where it's often said the race result is decided on Saturday via qualifying.

Despite this, it's been confirmed that the 2026 Monaco GP will also be a mandatory two-stop race and now, according to Isola, there could be more of those races to come.

He's suggested that the FIA and F1 owner Liberty Media have been open to the idea of making more races two-stop events, and that discussions have been taking place.

It comes after some drivers, including Max Verstappen, have been critical of certain tyre choices made by Pirelli, with the new C6 tyre brought in for 2025 often proving to not be the tyre of choice in either qualifying or races.

"Yes, we spoke about this several times," Isola told Motorsport.com about potential future mandatory two-stop races. "I remember that last time we had some simulations from the teams.

"We had a chat with the other stakeholders, with the FIA, F1, and the teams, and said, okay, if we select these three compounds for event A, B, C, D, E, what is the predicted strategy for you? We asked the teams to make those simulations and come back to us - not making this public, but only providing the information to us.

"What we realised is that the majority of the teams were converging on the same strategy, because you have a soft that is able to run five laps, a medium that is good for 20 laps, and a hard that can go longer. They were basically replicating the same strategy. So, when you put more constraints, the risk is that everyone is going in the same direction."

Would mandatory two-stop races improve entertainment?

Motorsport have also reported that discussions on these potential changes will take place at the next meeting of the F1 commission too.

As Isola said, the forcing of a two-stop strategy would lead to less variation in strategy, with teams more likely to copy each other and take the 'safe' option, while letting their pace on track do the talking.

Races in which some teams try different things often provide the most intrigue, particularly in the middle stage of the race when there might not be too many on-track overtaking manoeuvres happening.

Isola used an example of Charles Leclerc's stunning victory at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, when he and Ferrari opted for a bold one-stop strategy at their home race.

"The best races are the ones in which the two-stop has an advantage, but someone brave can still try a different strategy," Isola added. "We had a good example of that in Monza last year, when Charles [Leclerc] was able to win on one stop and others were on two stops.

"It was like that in Spa with George as well, but unfortunately, this doesn't happen every time."

F1 HEADLINES: Max Verstappen retaliates over FIA controversy as Red Bull slammed for ‘overprotecting’ driver

Related