New Tire Rules for Monaco.

[lkjohnson1950]

Drivers in the Monaco GP will be required to use 3 different types of tires, making it a 2 stop race and possibly creating a variety of strategies.

https://www.racefans.net/2025/05/22/new-monaco-tyre-rule-could-lead-to-completely-crazy-race-verstappen/

[lkjohnson1950]

More specifics:

The key points of the rule are as follows:

Each driver must use at least three different sets of tyres during the grand prix, instead of the usual two
As usual, drivers must use at least two different tyre compounds, such as soft and medium
Drivers do not have to comply with the requirement to use two different tyre compounds if they use either of the wet weather tyre specifications: the intermediate or the full wet
The penalties for drivers who fail to comply with the rule have been revised. As before, a driver who finishes the race without using the required number of tyre sets will be disqualified. However if the race is suspended and cannot be restarted, a driver who has only used two sets will receive a 30 second time penalty and a driver who has only used one will be penalised a minute

https://www.racefans.net/2025/05/22/how-will-f1s-new-monaco-tyre-rule-work-and-how-might-teams-try-to-exploit-it/?utm_source=RaceFans_Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Daily_Newsletter

[Philbe]

As it turned it, the rule didn't impact the top runners (cept for Max). The top 3 finished as they started, all waiting for the SC or red flag...
Its the gamesmanship from Williams and Red Bull that ruined it for me. Albon driving so erratically that the usually pissy Georgie boy thought he would get away with a 10sec penalty...stewards fooled him. And Logan backing up the mid pack so badly as to put Williams and Merc out of any contention. That should be looked at imo.

[Jericoke]

As it turned it, the rule didn't impact the top runners (cept for Max). The top 3 finished as they started, all waiting for the SC or red flag...
Its the gamesmanship from Williams and Red Bull that ruined it for me. Albon driving so erratically that the usually pissy Georgie boy thought he would get away with a 10sec penalty...stewards fooled him. And Logan backing up the mid pack so badly as to put Williams and Merc out of any contention. That should be looked at imo.

Vowles said during the race he knew the Williams tactics were trash, but Williams had to do what they could to earn points.

I agree that whatever they were hoping for didn't materialize.  If multiple pit stops are mandatory, then maybe a cap on the number of laps per stint?

[John S]

I'm at a loss to see why other teams weren't using the undercut on Williams in particular and other teams. 
They could've pulled one car out of train to try and jump the stallers. Just what was Merc strategy for example? 

I would suggest no one knows not even them. 
Seems to me some teams simply gave up the will to live/race in the GP.

Now was that a strategic decision to trash the 2 pit stop scenario?
If so it worked beautifully, but what is the gain, apart from a sh*t show?????   

[Alianora La Canta]

The correct strategy, for everyone, was to pit on laps 1 and 2 (unless something bizarre happened like the pit lane getting blocked due to a team-mate having a pit mishap).

Why did nobody see it, including Bortoleto who had the perfect opportunity to try due to a forced lap 1 pit stop?

[lkjohnson1950]

But wouldn't that have put you behind the Williams train?

[John S]

But wouldn't that have put you behind the Williams train?

Possibly no Williams train if all those behind pulled off early, take them some considerable time to catch back up.
Also Williams would presumably have thought to pit sooner to try to head off undercuts.
Maybe same result position wise for most but we may not have had silly slow pace spectacle.

[Alianora La Canta]

But wouldn't that have put you behind the Williams train?

1) Not if they all did it.
2) If Williams alone chose not to do it, then it would have have lost a pit stop to back anyone up initially. By the time the field had caught up to the slower car, they've gained a pit stop of time on the back Williams. This would lock Williams #2 into being a pit stop behind the last car in the queue by the time it had taken its two stops.

You may think that this still helps Williams #1. Maybe it could gain 40 seconds in clear air across the first 76 laps, to get victory. This would require it to go nearly half-a-second faster than the lead non-Williams. This certainly wouldn't happen for the first few laps, because the lead non-Williams has 40 seconds of time to make up, and can catch Williams #2 faster than Williams #1 can go (because their car is faster than the Williams). Instead of the encounter being Williams with clear air vs Mercedes with worn tyres from being stuck in a DRS train, it's vs a McLaren or Ferrari with tyres as fresh as Williams #1. Possibly fresher, since the driver had the option of introducing the tyres more slowly if desired. Albon was already having to try every trick in the book to stop Russell; he wouldn't have been able to stop Norris or Leclerc. After that, whoever is past can chase down Williams #1, almost at leisure since the gap wouldn't be big enough for the Williams to complete.

As soon as DRS was broken, the next car in the line would have been able to pass Williams #2 (which would have been even slower due to wearing its tyres as well as doing all that defensive work, versus someone with slightly worn tyres from being in train, so less clear-cut than the first one, but still very much viable). In practice, it is likely that Williams #2 would be pitted as soon as the defence was breached, to increase the probability of benefitting from any Safety Cars later on. All who managed the feat before about lap 50 would finish ahead of Williams #1.