Why a long safety car period could turn Monaco upside down

(Motorsport-Total.com) - Pirelli manager Mario Isola knows the secret of an exciting Formula 1 race: "When everything isn't under the control of the engineers, the race improves," he says. That's exactly what they're hoping for at Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, which features a special feature: every driver must make at least two pit stops.

A completely different approach is required for the otherwise straightforward one-stop race, and before the race the wildest theories are unpacked about what strategy the teams might use - but no one knows which of them will work.

"If you're running a safety car, it's obviously better to start with the medium or hard tyres to be more flexible in the first stint. But maybe someone starts with the soft tyres because of track position and to escape the traffic, which is always a problem here," says Isola. "The soft tyres offer the opportunity to do around 15 laps and then switch."

Red Bull, Racing Bulls and Sauber will definitely have to run the C6, which was completely avoided in the race at Imola, at some point, as they only have one set each of hard and medium tires left for the race.

"This means that predicting a strategy for tomorrow is virtually impossible. Because every combination is open, anything is possible. It's really hard to say whether one of these combinations will be faster than the others," says Isola. And in Monaco, everything always turns out differently anyway, since you always have to expect a safety car.

Two early stops for Isola "not an option"

However, the new rule offers drivers at the back of the field the opportunity to achieve something with an extreme strategy. There's been a lot of talk about whether drivers should come into the pits immediately after the first lap to make their first stop. "It's not forbidden," says Isola, but considers it "not an option" – simply because of the safety car threat.

"If you make both stops at the beginning and then a safety car comes out, you're doing yourself a disservice. You lose time for the pit stop and don't get any advantage from the safety car or VSC," he says. "I know the strategy engineers are working on all sorts of strategies. I think it will be interesting to see what they ultimately decide. It's something completely new—for us and for them, too."

This means that the race could be much more interesting than in previous years, where the leader simply slowed down the field completely and crawled around the track at a virtual crawl.

But according to the Italian, there's less incentive for that in 2025. "With the normal one-stop rules, it's all about track position. You slow the field down, adjust the timing of your stops to avoid traffic and maintain position. With this new situation, it's harder to predict," he says.

"If a strategy engineer is able to foresee all these unknown elements, then they're a genius, not an engineer. It's very complex; more things need to be considered," says Isola. "We've spoken to some teams—they haven't had an easy time finding the right strategy. They'll find a solution, but the outcome is significantly more uncertain."

Fear of a long safety car

Last year's race was the easiest one ever for the strategists, as there was no strategy. The red flag after the start allowed all drivers to change their tires for free and avoid pit stops – boredom was inevitable.

The FIA ​​wanted to prevent exactly that with the two mandatory pit stops, and yet there are some scenarios Pirelli is afraid of. One of them is a long safety car deployment like the one recently seen at Imola. "Then everyone would stop twice in that time," Isola says.

"It makes sense: You take advantage of the opportunity when the barriers are being repaired or a car is being recovered. Then you've completed both stops—no more mandatory stops for the rest of the race. But the problem is: 20 cars in this pit lane? I'm not sure there's enough space."

"The risk is that the second car of a team can't enter at the same time, so it stops in the fast lane - and that then blocks others. That's tricky," he says.

Teams will learn in the long term

But let's wait and see how it turns out. For Isola, it's the most uncertain strategy in a long time, even though the number of pit stops is basically fixed. However, he would like to experience the same situation on a normal track where overtaking is possible, as that could provide more variety.

"But one thing is clear: If you rely on two mandatory stops, the strategic variations are lost. On the other hand, it becomes more complex for the engineers." The problem is always different in Formula 1: "In the long run, all teams will learn what the best strategy is," Isola knows. "And then everyone will do it the same way."

Because everyone wants to find the quickest solution for themselves. "It's still open now, but once it becomes established, everyone will do the same thing again."