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Lando Norris warned Formula 1 not to undermine the competition after criticism of its new mandatory tyre change rule for the Monaco Grand Prix.
F1 introduced a special rule for this race only forcing drivers to use three different tyre sets during the race instead of the usual two.
However the race saw several drivers deliberately running a slow pace in order to help their team mates make pit stops without losing places. Red Bull postponed Max Verstappen’s pit stop until the penultimate lap in order to keep him in the lead, hoping a late red flag would allow him to make his final tyre change without a pit stop and win the race.
Several drivers criticised the extreme degree of pace management seen in the race. George Russell even deliberately overtook Alexander Albon, knowing he would take a penalty, to avoid losing time behind the Williams driver.
Norris led the early stages of the race but spent much of the second half behind Verstappen. After claiming the victory, Norris said the rule hadn’t succeeded and brought the risk of creating artificial racing.
“Do you want to manufacture races? There hasn’t been any more overtaking here. I thought that was what was wanted.
“Now you just give people opportunity by luck – by waiting for a red flag, waiting for a Safety Car. You’re not getting a more deserved winner in the end of things, which I don’t entirely agree with. I think it should be the person who drives the best race and deserves to win.”
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Instead of creating custom rules for specific races, Norris believes F1 should focus on other ways of creating more competitive races.
“Of course, I’m probably slightly biased in my opinion, but I think it needs to be improved in different ways,” he said. “Overtaking has never been good in Monaco, ever, so I don’t know why people have such a high expectation.
“But I also think Formula 1 should not turn into just a show to entertain people. It’s a sport. It’s who can race the best, who can qualify the best. Like Charles [Leclerc] said, everything was about yesterday.
“That’s the way it’s been since the first year – 50, 60 years ago. So, the last thing I want is manufactured racing, and I think we definitely need to stay away from that and do a better job with cars, with tyres. Then you might start to see more racing, but not by just introducing so many pit stops.”
Leclerc said the new regulation only introduced “a lot of randomness” to the event. “You can either get lucky or very unlucky, and it’s a bit out of your hands. It’s always been a little bit the case in Monaco, probably even more so now with two stops.”
F1 has not indicated whether it intends to continue with the rule, which several other drivers criticised after the race. However Oscar Piastri, who finished third, said F1 will inevitably see a race decided by luck if it keeps the rule.
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“It definitely made it a bit more tense at a few points,” said Piastri. “You had to push more at certain points to recover the Safety Car windows to other cars around you or put yourself outside of someone else’s safety car window. So there were some strategic elements involved.
“But ultimately, at the front, I don’t think it changed a whole lot. It would have been quite a different story if there was a red flag with five laps to go and Max would have won.
“I’m sure if we keep this going in the future, eventually a result like that will happen. Is that what we want to see? I don’t know. But at the front, I don’t think it changed a huge amount this weekend.”
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