Gaming the system, but result is the same 

After last year’s Monaco Grand Prix was red-flagged on the opening lap following a three-car accident between Sergio Perez and the two Haas cars up the hill out of Ste Devote, everyone got their regulation tyre change without making a pit stop. Which around a circuit on which overtaking is so near-impossible, it made the race something of a non-event, the top-10 result being identical to the top 10 grid positions.

It was this which triggered F1 and the FIA to act together into trying the stipulated two-stop experiment for 2025. It at least suggested the possibility of a more mixed-up outcome, maybe even a shock result, as there would be a greater period of jeopardy for the leaders of a safety car or red flag appearing at a result-altering moment.

In the event, neither of those interruptions featured in this year’s race, rather nullifying the sought-after randomising element. But what the two-stop did do was introduce an element of team manipulation into the race strategy.

In what was a fairly crude process, taking advantage of the lack of overtaking possibilities, the second placed team driver could drive deliberately a long way off the pace, backing up the field behind and thereby creating the space for the lead driver to make a pitstop without position loss. The lead car could then swap positions with the second car and return the favour – holding off the pack to allow the second car a gap to drop into. The positions could then be swapped once more.

But it required the two team cars to be reasonably close together. If they were too far apart – as at Red Bull and Ferrari – it couldn’t work. McLaren could have used it with Norris and Piastri and had it done so might have leapfrogged Pastri past Leclerc’s Ferrari for second. But it would have involved some risk.

The tactic was actually deployed in the race first by the Racing Bulls and subsequently by Williams and Mercedes. Racing Bull’s Hadjar ran the early laps in fifth place, four places ahead of team-mate Lawson who began backing the field up almost immediately, driving between 3-5s slower than Hadjar and creating a huge nose-to-tail queue behind him. By lap 14 Hadjar was 20s in front of Lawson’s pack and made for the pits for his first tyre change, rejoining still just ahead and now on the short-duration soft tyres. This lost him position only to two of the cars between Hadjar and Lawson: Alonso’s soon-to-retire Aston and Hamilton’s Ferrari. With Lawson continuing to drive a long way off the pace, Hadjar built up the gap all over again and in the space of five laps had created a gap of 20s once more! This allowed him to make his second stop without further loss of position, now on a set of hard tyres to go to the end.

Hadjar had now completed both his compulsory stops before anyone other than race leader Norris had even completed their first. Lawson stayed out for a further 11 laps – which was especially frustrating for the two Williams and two Mercedes’ lined up right behind him. Esteban Ocon had escaped Lawson’s net by qualifying and running ahead of him and he would finish seventh, right behind Hadjar. But for those who’d qualified behind Lawson it was stalemate. So long and closely-bunched was the queue that anyone pitting from it would have suffered a disastrous loss of positions, through catching the tail of the pack very quickly and being delayed for a second time. So they were trapped there until Lawson pitted.

Once Lawson did so, Williams emulated the Racing Bulls strategy, with Sainz holding off the pack as Albon escaped to make two stops nine laps apart. That done, Albon then returned the favour, driving around 5s off the pace to create the space to allow Sainz his two stops (which were just four laps apart). That done, Sainz then waved Albon past for ninth place.

After that, the gaming wave moved onto Mercedes (now two laps down), where Antonelli provided the service for Russell. But time ran out before Russell could return the favour, dropping Antonelli to last.

But up front, apart from Hamilton getting back ahead of Hadjar (which was only ahead because of Hamilton’s grid penalty) and Alonso retiring, the top 11 finishing positions were the same as the grid…