Carlos Sainz accuses Racing Bulls of manipulating the F1 2025 Monaco GP by driving slowly to secure points on Sunday, May 25 in the wake of the FIA’s two-stop rule, something he also admits Williams did too.
In a bid to mix up the processionary races at the Circuit de Monaco, the Federation required all teams to make two pit stops to try and create some life across 78 laps in terms of strategy and overtaking chances.
And whilst it was an interesting experiment, it also saw teams deploy their drivers tactically to make sure they could keep their cars in the points whilst the sister car built up a window to pit.
One such team was Racing Bulls, who Sainz accuses of manipulating the F1 2025 Monaco GP to ensure Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson could finish sixth and seventh respectively.
“It wasn’t something we thought we had to do,” Sainz told Spanish media after the race. “But it was something we feared the RB could do to us, and they did.
“The two pit stops haven’t change anything and the race is still super boring, people manipulate the races like we and the rest did, with rhythms.
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“Really upset with this race and the sport in general, we haven’t raced today, we have done whatever we wanted today.”
Williams tactic works for Sainz at F1 2025 Monaco GP as he accuses RB
It’s worth noting that Williams also deployed the same tactic to prevent Mercedes from overtaking them too, as Sainz played the team game for Alexander Albon, who returned the favour.
In fact, Albon drove so far off the pace that the Spaniard managed to undercut him but they swapped the cars around late on into the race as they brought home ninth and 10th on Sunday.
Although frustrated, the tactic worked for the team as they picked up three more points to offset the six collected by Esteban Ocon in the Haas, their rival in the constructors’ championship who now trail by 28 points.
Meanwhile in the drivers’, the 30-year-old Sainz has dropped behind Hadjar whilst Albon has lost ground to Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari (fifth), but gained on Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes.
The Thai-Brit is now just six points behind the Italian’s Silver Arrows package, whilst the gap to the 40-year-old seven-time Formula 1 world champion in sixth stands at 21 points.
