Revealed: Teams oppose Monaco GP two-stop return after controversial introduction

Controversial pit stop rules introduced for this year’s Monaco Grand Prix are unlikely to return for F1 2026.

An investigation by PlanetF1.com has revealed insufficient support for a reprise of rules that this year forced drivers to change tyres twice during the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix.

Lack of support for Monaco F1 two-stop experiment reprise

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Regulations published by the FIA for the F1 2026 season reveal there are no Monaco-specific pit stop rules currently in place.

While some aspects of the rules remain under discussion, the sporting element of next year’s rulebook (known as Section B as the regulations get a significant overhaul) has been available since last November. That includes details surrounding mandatory pit stops.

“Unless they have used intermediate or wet-weather tyres during the Race, each driver must use at least two different specifications of dry-weather tyres during the Race, at least one of which must be a mandatory dry-weather Race tyre specification,” the F1 2026 regulations pertaining to tyre usage during a race outline.

Crucially, there is no caveat for Monaco, as was introduced in February this year.

According to multiple sources spoken to by PlanetF1.com, there is insufficient support to see the rule return.

The two-stop rules were implemented as a means of livening up the racing around a venue that has historically delivered less-than-thrilling encounters.

It was hoped two mandatory stops would add an element of unpredictability to the affair when the Monaco-specific change was announced in February.

“The WMSC reviewed a proposal regarding the implementation of a mandatory 2-stop strategy (in both wet and dry conditions) for the Monaco GP, with the primary intent of improving the sporting spectacle of this race,” a statement from the FIA announced in February.

“Following recent discussions in the F1 Commission, a specific requirement for the Monaco GP has been approved mandating the use of at least three sets of tyres in the race, with a minimum of two different tyre compounds to be used if it’s a dry race.”

The change had initially been tabled at a meeting of the F1 Commission, where it was voted through ahead of being referred to the FIA World Motor Sport Council to be formalised into the regulations.

To make it that far, the proposal required a supermajority from the F1 Commission as the change was tabled after April 30 of the preceding year.

The F1 Commission is made up of the 10 teams, each of whom have a single vote, the FIA (10 votes), and Formula One Management (also 10 votes).

Ordinary, a proposal must reach a 25-vote threshold to pass unless that comes after April 30 of the preceding year, in which case 28 votes – a supermajority – are needed.

While the two-stop concept had that clear support earlier this year, evidenced by the F1 Commission voting it through ahead of the season starting, that has wavered in the wake of Sunday’s race.

Indeed, an investigation carried out by PlanetF1.com has revealed that not only would the proposal not receive the 28 votes necessary for a supermajority, but there is doubt as to whether the concept has the support to even be tabled.

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That change in attitude comes after Racing Bulls and Williams both exploited the F1 2025 regulations to ringfence their chances of scoring points by deliberately slowing one or both of their cars at different points during the Monaco Grand Prix.

That helped create a sufficient gap that Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, Alex Albon, and Carlos Sainz were able to pit twice while remaining within the points.

The Monaco go-slow has created a stir since Sunday’s event with critics bemoaning the fact teams instructed drivers to deliberately lap well under the pace they were capable of.

With on-track overtaking essentially impossible, the likes of Lawson, Albon, and Sainz all slowed by multiple seconds a lap, safe in the knowledge they couldn’t be passed.

Trains of cars then queued up behind the Racing Bulls and Williams drivers as, ahead, their teammates scampered clear.

Realising what was transpiring, Mercedes driver George Russell bit the bullet and willingly incurred a penalty to free himself from behind Albon, cutting through the Nouvelle chicane to clear the Williams for which he was handed a drive-through penalty.

Russell’s move highlighted the failing of the regulations, which Sainz describing the practice in which he was complicit as “manipulation,” though legal under the way the rules were written.

Reaction to Sunday’s race was immediate, with Sky F1 commentator Martin Brundle stating his dislike for the rules even during the race itself.

Indeed, such has been the appetite to avoid a repeat that a myriad of other solutions have been suggested in the days since, with some vastly more credible than others.

While Max Verstappen joked that F1 should embrace ‘Mario Kart’ style racing, Grand Prix Drivers’ Association Alex Wurz presented a number of concepts that make adjustments to the famed circuit in an effort to improve the on-track spectacle.

That included moving the Nouvelle Chicane towards Tabac, changing the location of the apex at La Rascasse, and reprofiling the Fairmont Hairpin.

There does, however, remain a pocket of support for the two-stop concept with Formula One Management understood to be keen on the concept.

While ground swell appears against a repeat of last weekend’s experiment, a willingness from teams to work with the commercial rights holder means it can’t be ruled out entirely, even if at this point a mandatory two-stop race seems dead in the water.

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