After the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix featured only four overtakes, drastic measures were taken to create a more exciting race this Formula 1 season. For this weekend, a two pit stop minimum rule was introduced, opening up potential strategy options for teams. But during the race, Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle was still unimpressed, blaming the current regulations for his disappointment.
The former Formula 1 driver admitted his frustration over drivers “playing a game” instead of all-out racing, as they purposefully separated the field to benefit their team-mates.
Speaking during the race, he said the following:
“I don’t like these regulations. I’m not liking it. 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.”
This unprecedented rule change mandated that each car must use at least three sets of tyres and at least two different compounds during the 78-lap race. While it has certainly placed the cat amongst the pigeons, there have been very few overtakes at the time of writing.
“This is not how I like to go racing,” James Vowles said on the Sky Sports F1 broadcast as he admitted this rule won’t be staying, at least in its current form, next year.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing, Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
The lack of overtaking is mostly down to the sheer size of the current generation cars in comparison to the small roads of the Principality. On top of this, the cars are heavier and more aerodynamically optimised. 2026 seeks to fix these issues with slightly smaller cars – the minimum wheelbase reduced by 200mm to 3,400mm and the width reduced by 100mm to 1,900mm – plus a change in aerodynamic principals to reduce dirty air as well as a lower minimum weight.
Ahead of the Grand Prix, Brundle was open to the rule change.
“I like the idea, it’s something new,” he said via Sky Sports F1. “Let’s give it a chance. And I think should it work on Sunday, it might not work next year, for example, because it depends on safety cars, red flags, whether they happen or not, when they happen.
“Bit surprised they haven’t said one of the pit stops must be in the first half of the race, for example, or something like that. So if you’re on the back of the grid, do you just go Lap 1, pit stop, Lap 2, pit stop, and sit and wait for your chances down the road.
“And will we also see right at the end of the Grand Prix where the front runners are hanging on, in case there’s a safety car, and pitting on the penultimate lap, for example, to finally get that out the way.
“But it does, without question, mean that you can’t get out front, go round at Formula 2 pace, hold everybody up until you’re ready to build a gap. Or, even worse, as we saw last year, a red flag on Lap 1, then people didn’t need to pit at all.”
