Lewis Hamilton was victim to a rather dull 2024 Monaco GP which saw him start and finish in seventh place. The seven-time World Champion, who is a three-time winner in the Principality, calls for changes to this particular weekend just like his former title rival Max Verstappen.
Hamilton feels that the FIA should introduce three mandatory pit stops to the Monaco GP. In that case, strategy calls made by teams could affect their grid position, something that was neutralized in this year’s race because of the red flag on lap one.
how would you change Monaco? pic.twitter.com/wJgvubSOLf
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) May 27, 2024
Since teams are allowed to change their tires under those conditions, and it is counted as a part of their mandatory stop, the top 10 drivers didn’t pit again. This led to 78 laps of stagnant racing, where the top 10 drivers didn’t make or lose any position.
“We’ve got to find ways to spice it up,” said Hamilton, after the race.
Hamilton’s comments come after Verstappen’s mid-race complaint on the team radio. He could not make any progress behind the other Mercedes of George Russell in P5. The Dutchman felt so bored that he spoke to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase about bringing a “pillow” to the Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen’s call for a better Monaco GP
After the race, Verstappen quipped that he wanted to go for a “run” because of the lack of exercise he got in Monaco. George Russell, who was present with him during this interview agreed. The Dutchman agrees that Monaco is a great viewing spectacle, but for drivers, it is extremely difficult.
“Overall the weekend is really cool but it’s the Sunday race that is a little bit boring,” he said as quoted by The Independent. “The scenery is still great but if we could find a way to race better that would be my preferred solution.”
Unfortunately not the most thrilling race or result. Up and onwards to Canada!#KeepPushing #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/UmNaNz721R
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) May 26, 2024
The only excitement in the 2024 Monaco GP came on lap one, when Carlos Sainz suffered a tire puncture and Sergio Perez crashed out of the race along with two Haas cars. Esteban Ocon’s bold (but failed) move on his teammate Pierre Gasly also caught the attention.
These incidents, however, led to a restart about half an hour later. And when that happened, the remaining 16 drivers were ultra-cautious, and drove a “slow” race to the finish line, as Lewis Hamilton revealed.
