Martin Brundle has given his verdict and expressed his disapproval of the new mandatory pit stop regulations introduced at the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix, accusing them of turning Formula 1’s most prestigious race into a calculated “game” rather than a true test of speed and skill.
In response to mounting criticism over processional Monaco races — last year’s edition featured just four overtakes — Formula 1 and the FIA introduced a one-off rule mandating that each driver must complete at least two pit stops and use three different sets of tyres. The change aimed to force more varied strategies and potentially open up racing opportunities on a circuit notorious for its lack of overtaking.
However, during the race in Monaco, Brundle gave his verdict and made it clear that the regulation had not lived up to its intent.
“I don’t like these regulations. I’m not liking it. I don’t want to see drivers all the way through the field playing a game,” Brundle said during live coverage on Sky Sports F1. “This is about excellence, about the highest point of motorsport and I don’t like to see so many drivers going slowly.”
Strategy over speed: Did the rule backfire?
Brundle’s comments reflect a broader concern that Monaco’s new strategy-based format may have replaced one problem with another. While the two-stop rule was meant to increase on-track action, it instead led to drivers managing pace deliberately to support teammates or avoid being undercut — creating a race defined more by tactics than by racing itself.
“This is not how I like to go racing,” said Williams team principal James Vowles, echoing Brundle’s frustrations on the same broadcast. “This rule won’t be staying, at least in its current form, next year.”
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Brundle had been cautiously optimistic about the idea ahead of the race: “I like the idea, it’s something new. Let’s give it a chance.” But he also predicted the rule’s effectiveness would be heavily dependent on variables like safety cars and red flags, which have long influenced Monaco’s race outcomes.
“Bit surprised they haven’t said one of the pit stops must be in the first half of the race, for example, or something like that,” Brundle said earlier in the weekend. “If you’re on the back of the grid, do you just go Lap 1, pit stop, Lap 2, pit stop, and sit and wait for your chances down the road?”
That kind of loophole exploitation, Brundle warned, could distort the nature of the race even further. Teams might even delay their final stop to the last laps, hoping for a late safety car to gain a time advantage.
“But it does, without question, mean that you can’t get out front, go round at Formula 2 pace, hold everybody up until you’re ready to build a gap,” Brundle said. “Or, even worse, as we saw last year, a red flag on Lap 1, then people didn’t need to pit at all.”
Bigger F1 changes coming for 2026
Beyond Monaco, Formula 1 is already preparing more fundamental changes to improve racing — especially on narrow street circuits. The 2026 regulations will introduce cars with shorter wheelbases, reduced width, lower minimum weight, and revised aerodynamic concepts aimed at reducing dirty air and improving following distance.
Monaco’s tight layout, combined with the current generation of heavy, aerodynamically sensitive cars, remains a major obstacle to overtaking. While the two-stop rule tried to create action through strategy, Sunday’s race suggests it wasn’t the solution many hoped for.
Brundle’s assessment may reflect the sentiment of many in the paddock — that the focus should return to enabling better on-track battles, not forcing them through artificial means.
