"Will we soon be throwing bananas?": Formula 1 stars annoyed by "miserable" Monaco race

The Formula 1 race in Monaco is one of the most important of the season, but rarely one of the most spectacular. If nothing extraordinary happens at the start, the race action often quickly becomes a reality. A new rule is supposed to change that, but it doesn't.

The new Monaco rule hasn't fundamentally changed racing in the principality – and if Max Verstappen has his way, Formula 1 should steer clear of such artificial interventions in the future. "Then we're almost at Mario Kart," the world champion said on Sky Sports after his fourth place at Sunday's Grand Prix: "Maybe we'll add new parts to the cars or throw bananas?"

The race's regulations had introduced a new requirement: each driver had to change tires at least twice, which was intended to increase the uncertainty of the race. Since overtaking is almost impossible on the narrow street circuit, Sundays in Monaco are often extremely monotonous. "Of course, I understand why they tried that, but I don't think it worked," said Verstappen. "You can't perform racing maneuvers here, and then it doesn't matter whether we make one stop or ten."

Verstappen and his team had certainly taken considerable risks in the race. The world champion had still not made his second mandatory pit stop until the penultimate lap – hoping for a red flag, which would then have given him the win. In the end, however, he too had to pit, ultimately finishing the race in fourth place. "There's nothing you can do about it," he concluded. "It wasn't really that busy, very boring. I'm glad it's over." When asked what had made life most difficult for him in the race, the Dutchman replied succinctly: "Sitting in the car. Too long."

"Made the race scarier"

Winner Lando Norris admitted that the two-stop rule caused him uncertainty, "making the race much more frightening for me. With one stop, everything would have been more relaxed." Nevertheless, the McLaren driver also questions the value of this tension. "People wait for a race interruption or a safety car to stop, so it's all about luck. In that case, you might even get a different winner, but that wouldn't be a deserved winner. I want the best driver to win."

Nico Hülkenberg also expressed serious doubts that the rule paid off. The veteran driver told Sky after the race that it certainly didn't create a "spectacle." At best, it introduced new tactical maneuvers. Teams like the Racing Bulls and Williams now resorted to delaying strategies at times to give one driver time for a tire change. "It was a pretty miserable and boring race because two or three times drivers did the dirty work for their teammates and essentially blocked a pit stop window. And there's just nothing you can do when everyone's on the DRS train."

Due to the many tactical maneuvers, the afternoon "didn't have much to do with racing," Hülkenberg said. The hoped-for improvement with the two-stop rule didn't materialize. However, Toto Wolff also felt that it was "even worse than with the one stop," adding that the race was "lukewarm." The Mercedes Motorsport Director, however, had no reason to be optimistic either; George Russell and Kimi Antonelli finished 11th and 18th, respectively, after a botched qualifying and a dismal race.

"A bit more action compared to last year"

At least in the run-up to the race, everything had been different due to the new regulation. Everyone was racking their brains over what the consequences of the two tire changes would be. A lot of very early stops? The potentially long wait for a safety car period? It all made sense – depending on what happened in the race, what the competition was doing, and where their own car was in the field. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had at least seen "a bit more action compared to last year" in the end, and the rule was worth a try.

Some drivers from the rear of the field pitted for the first time on the very first lap, while others had already completed their two mandatory stops in the first third and began to chase after the rest of the field. Things were quite confusing during this phase, but the front-runners countered the confusion with a conventional plan and were successful: One by one, the top drivers each made their first stops, with little change at the front.