FIA ditch controversial F1 rule change after just one season

Photo: © IMAGO

FIA

FIA ditch controversial F1 rule change after just one season

Things will be back to normal at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2026

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Sunday 1 March 2026 09:56

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The FIA have released their updated F1 regulations for 2026, showing a willingness to walk back decisions which may have been misguided.

As such, the Monaco Grand Prix will no longer be a mandatory two-stop affair, after teams exploited the rule – introduced in 2025 – for their own tactical advantage.

With overtaking notoriously difficult around the streets of the principality, the pit stop rule was intended to spice things up and create more tactical options. That technically happened, but the tactical option in question involved teams using one of their cars to back up the pack and create a pit stop window for the car ahead.

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It's unclear if the FIA have any further tricks up their collective sleeve for the race this summer, although they will be hoping that the slightly smaller 2026 breed of F1 car might find it marginally easier to slip past in some corners. That, admittedly, seems optimistic.

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Drivers and pundits against Monaco F1 rule

Drivers were notably unimpressed with the result of the FIA's innovation last year, with Carlos Sainz saying: "I'm just a bit disappointed with the whole race and the whole weekend. It shows the two-stop change is nothing around Monaco and people are still going to do what we did today."

His team-mate Alex Albon called the spectacle 'ugly' on team radio, later saying: "Apologies to everyone who watched that because that wasn't very good. We didn't want to do it and we didn't plan to do it."

Sky's Martin Brundle was also scathing about the rule change, saying: "It didn't work, did it? The focus was on pitting and not on racing. I don't want to see drivers all the way through the field playing a game. This is about excellence, about the highest point of motorsport and I don't like to see so many drivers going slowly."

FIA's Monaco GP rule change in full

In a revised version of the FIA’s F1 sporting regulations, the below changes were made:

“~~For all races except the race in Monaco,~~ Unless they have used intermediate or wet-weather tyres during the Race, each driver must use at least two (2) different specifications of dry-weather tyres during the Race, at least one (1) of which must be a mandatory dry-weather Race tyre specification (Article B6.1.2).

“For the race in Monaco, each driver must use at least three (3) sets of tyres of any specification described in Article B6.1.1a during the race and, unless they have used intermediate or wet-weather tyres during the race, each driver must use at least two (2) different specifications of dry- weather tyres during the race, at least one (1) of which must be a mandatory dry-weather Race tyre specification (Article B6.1.2).

“Unless the Race is suspended and cannot be re-started, failure to comply with these requirements will result in the disqualification of the relevant driver from the race results. ~~For all races except the race in Monaco,~~ if the race is suspended and cannot be re-started, thirty (30) seconds will be added to the elapsed time of any driver who did not, when required to do so, use at least two (2) specifications of dry-weather tyre during the race.

“For the race in Monaco, if the race is suspended and cannot be re-started, thirty (30) seconds will be added to the elapsed time of any driver who did not, when required to do so, use at least two (2) specifications of dry-weather tyre during the race, or who did not use at least three (3) sets of tyres of any specification during the race. Furthermore, an additional thirty (30) seconds will be added to the elapsed time of any driver who used only one (1) set of tyres of any specification during the race."

F1 FIA Monaco Grand Prix