Monaco Grand Prix: What if we did a short-cut?

The double pit-stop strategy clearly backfired at the Monaco Grand Prix. It remained a procession for the frontrunners and caused a more or less intentional bottleneck for those behind.

The Williams team’s strategy allowed them to hold their positions at the 2025 Monaco F1 Grand Prix. The tactic? Let the lead driver go while the other intentionally creates a traffic jam, building up enough of a gap to go through both mandatory stops without losing places. Even more cleverly, the driver creating the traffic could "overtake" his teammate managing the blockage during their pit stop. This dance frustrated Mercedes, particularly driver Russell. In the end, he "lost his cool" and overtook Albon by cutting the chicane after the tunnel exit—which is against the rules. George Russell was ultimately penalised for this. But what if this was actually the solution?

New Rule

In an effort to spice up the race, the FIA decided to impose two pit stops at the 2025 Monaco GP. Today's F1 cars are simply too wide to allow overtaking on this iconic, must-see city circuit. As a result, the race turned out to be very dull, with little impact—apart from Mercedes drivers’ frustration as they were stuck in the never-ending train. But perhaps another rule could work. A trick seen in amateur indoor karting on tight tracks: the short-cut.

What is it?

The short-cut technique? It’s just a little shortcut. For example, Russell’s infamous chicane-cut could be made "legal"—allowed once or twice per driver during the race. The challenge would be to use it at the right moment. It could be banned for the first five laps, for instance. This overtaking section could even be specifically designed, with a route to follow to limit the advantage and to avoid confusion with an unintentional off (which would normally mean a driver must return to their original position). It could force shake-ups in the order while maintaining just one mandatory pit stop. Or, perhaps, nothing needs changing—no mandatory stops, we’d just watch the F1 train go round, hoping for the odd scrape with the barriers or a (futile?) daring move to shake up the running order live.

(MH with Olivier Duquesne – Photo: © picture alliance / kolbert-press | kolbert-press/Christian Kolbert)