Latest news with #Verstappen
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Indian Express
Amid Lando Norris's Monaco Grand Prix win, Formula One teams call for track changes
While McLaren driver Lando Norris won the Monaco Grand Prix after starting at the front from the start amid the mandatory two pit stop rule by the FIA at the race track, there have been calls by Formula One teams to consider layout changes for the 1929 built race track. The track, which has been hosting Formula One races since 1950, has almost no spots where drivers can overtake and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has urged FIA to 'move with the times ultimately'. 'The fundamental problem is you cannot overtake here. The cars are so big now that you just don't have a chance to get alongside. It's circuit specific, we've known that, it's been on the calendar for 72 years. Everything has to move with the times ultimately. It's an iconic and historic circuit but if you look at how Monaco has changed, how much land they've reclaimed into the sea, I don't think you'd need to do too much. There just needs to be one area where you can have an overtake and everybody knows that coming here the race was pretty much done on Saturday,' Horner told The Guardian. FIA had come up with a new rule requiring drivers to use three sets of tyres apart from the mandatory two pit-stop rule at the Monaco race track. Norris, who is now placed at the second spot in the Championship title race behind team-mate Oscar Piastri by three points, won the race ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Piastri with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen finishing fourth. With the mandatory two pit-stop rule, Verstappen, who was in the lead after the 76th lap in the 78 lap race did not take his second pit-stop until the last lap. It meant the Red Bull team was considering a possibility of a crash and a red flag, a loophole to be exploited in case such an incident happened on the last lap, with Verstappen starting from the lead and taking advantage of the fresh tyres. It did not happen and Verstappen fell back to fourth spot with Norris winning the race. Only two overtaking passes were made in the 78 lap race. 'There's not 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. It depends what you want. Do you want to manufacture races? There hasn't been any more overtaking here. I thought that was what was wanted,' said Norris post the race. Verstappen admitted that the team was hoping to get lucky. 'We had nothing to lose. You just hope that something happens and you get lucky, but… that didn't come the whole time.' Verstappen said post the race. Last year, FIA had signed a six-year extension with Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM), the race's organisers. McLaren rival Mercedes's team principal Toto Wolff too agreed with Horner's views. 'What we can look at is to create some more specific regulations that there's a maximum of back-off you can have. Does it improve the overtaking? I don't think that's feasible. We need to talk also with maybe ACM here. Is there anything we can change on the layout, if you could in a city limited by mountains and the sea.' Wolff told the media post the race.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Hindu
F1: Why not 10 stops? Max Verstappen says Monaco Grand Prix experiment failed
Formula One champion Max Verstappen ladled out a serving of sarcasm on Sunday as he declared Monaco's mandatory two-stop experiment a flop. The decision to force drivers to use three sets of tyres was taken in a bid to liven up a race famed for being processional and lacking overtaking. Spectators who saw any passing were probably hallucinating, with the top four finishing in their starting positions and the main tension provided by the hope of a safety car that never appeared. 'Very exciting. I was on the edge of my seat every lap. It was fantastic,' Verstappen, who finished fourth, told reporters without expecting anyone to take his words seriously. 'Maybe next year four stops. I could have done four stops today and still finished P4.' Speaking to Sky Sports television, Red Bull's four-times world champion went even further. 'You can't race here. It doesn't matter what you do. One stop, 10 stops,' he said. ALSO READ | F1 Monaco GP 2025: Norris wins from pole 'Nowadays with an F1 car, you can just pass an F2 car around here. I get it but I don't think it's worked. We were almost doing Mario Kart. Then we have to install bits on the car and maybe you can throw bananas around. Slippery surface.' Other drivers echoed the Dutch driver's sentiments. 'The two-stop clearly did not work at all,' said Mercedes' George Russell. McLaren's race winner Lando Norris gave a two-word answer when asked for his thoughts: 'Hated it.' That said, he said overtaking had always been difficult in Monaco and did not understand why people expected anything different. 'I also think Formula One 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,' he said. '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.' Those in the lower points-paying positions saw it the same. 'I don't know about the front but in the midfield it backfired. I'm happy for everyone to try things. We tried it, for me it didn't work,' said Williams' Carlos Sainz, who finished 10th after he and teammate Alex Albon manipulated their pace to secure an advantage. 'It is not the way I like to race or how I dream about racing around Monaco.' Supporters of the change could point to a greater uncertainty through the race, with added jeopardy and the ever-present risk of a safety car, and different strategies playing out. 'Even if this was a zero-stop race... it's still a mega venue,' said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff of a street circuit dripping with history and that harks back to the sport's earliest days.
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Why not 10 stops? Verstappen slams failed Monaco experiment
Formula One champion Max Verstappen ladled out a serving of sarcasm on Sunday when he declared Monaco's mandatory two-stop experiment a flop. The decision to force drivers to use three sets of tyres was taken in a bid to liven up a race famed for being processional and lacking overtaking. Spectators who saw any passing were probably hallucinating, with the top four finishing in their starting positions and the main tension provided by the hope of a safety car that never appeared. "Very exciting. I was on the edge of my seat every lap. It was fantastic," Verstappen, who finished fourth, told reporters without expecting anyone to take his words seriously. "Maybe next year four stops. I could have done four stops today and finished P4." Speaking to Sky Sports television, Red Bull's four-times world champion went further. "You can't race here. It doesn't matter what you do. One stop, 10 stops," he said. "Nowadays with an F1 car, you can pass an F2 car around here. I get it but I don't think it's worked. We were almost doing Mario Kart. Then we have to install bits on the car and maybe you can throw bananas around. Slippery surface." Other drivers echoed the Dutch driver's sentiments. "The two-stop clearly did not work at all," said Mercedes' George Russell. McLaren's race winner Lando Norris gave a two-word answer when asked for his thoughts: "Hated it." That said, he said overtaking had always been difficult in Monaco and did not understand why people expected anything different. "I also think Formula One should not turn into only a show to entertain people. It's a sport. It's who can race the best, who can qualify the best," he said. "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 introducing so many pit stops." Those in the lower points-paying positions saw it in the same way. "I don't know about the front but in the midfield it backfired. I'm happy for everyone to try things. We tried it, for me it didn't work," said Williams' Carlos Sainz, who finished 10th after he and teammate Alex Albon manipulated their pace to secure an advantage. "It is not the way I like to race or how I dream about racing around Monaco." Supporters of the change could point to a greater uncertainty through the race, with added jeopardy and the ever-present risk of a safety car, and different strategies playing out. "Even if this was a zero-stop race, it's a mega venue," said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff of a street circuit dripping with history and that harks back to the sport's earliest days.
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- Automotive
- TimesLIVE
Verstappen a ‘pipe dream' until Aston build a better car, says Newey
Aston Martin's chances of signing Max Verstappen will be a "pipe dream" until they have a car good enough for Red Bull's four-times world champion, according to the team's design great Adrian Newey. Newey, whose cars have won many Formula One championships for three teams, joined Aston from Red Bull in March with speculation Verstappen might eventually link up with him again. Verstappen has won two of seven races this season and is third overall behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris while Aston Martin are seventh in the standings and far from the podium places. Double world champion Fernando Alonso, 43, has yet to score. In Monaco to attend a race for the first time since his move, Newey was asked the inevitable questions about Verstappen's future. "Max is clearly a phenomenal talent, and he's a supreme competitor and part of that means Max likes to break things down to a simple common equation," he told reporters. "That is, in this particular case, choosing the team he believes will deliver the fastest car. So if we're to ever attract Max, the first thing we have to do is make a fast car. "It's a pipe dream about anything else from there." The Briton said it had been easy to settle into his new surroundings and, while focused on next year's car, he had spent time assessing how the team worked and the strengths and weaknesses. He singled out the driver-in-the-loop simulator as requiring a lot of work, while the new wind tunnel was arguably the best in Formula One. "It (the simulator) is not correlating (to the track) at all at the moment, which is a fundamental research tool and not having that is a limitation," added Newey, who said fixing the simulator would probably take two years. Newey said Aston Martin, whose state-of-the-art Silverstone factory is on the old Jordan team site, had good people but needed them to settle down and work better together after a time of expansion. The designer said the 2026 rule change, the start of a new era for Formula One, offered "a reasonable amount of flexibility" and expected a range of different solutions. He said he was working at the factory "pretty much full-on". "My wife, she kind of says I go into a design trance," he said.
Qatar Tribune
3 days ago
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
Norris wins in Monaco as new pit-stop rules flounder
DPA Monaco McLaren's Lando Norris won the Monaco Grand Prix from pole on Sunday after a double pit-stop rule aimed at boosting excitement failed to make much impact. 'It feels amazing. It's a long race, a long, gruelling race,' the Briton said after his maiden victory in the famous event and sixth of his F1 career. 'We could push for the whole race, and we won in Monaco! An amazing weekend with pole, with today. This is what we dream of, this is what I did dream of as a kid,' he added. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who won on home tarmac in Monaco last year, started second on the grid and finished second but was at least on Norris' tail at the end. Overtaking, though, proved too difficult. McLaren's Oscar Piastri began in third and ended up third to see his lead over Norris in the standings cut to just three points. World champion Max Verstappen, who fended off the McLarens to win last time in Imola, also finished where he started in fourth having waited until the last lap to box a second time. Lewis Hamilton, knocked down to seventh on the grid after impeding Verstappen in qualifying, was a rare gainer as he placed fifth and Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar was sixth in his best result so far. Mercedes duo George Russell and Kimi Antonelli had a nightmare in qualifying and tried to hold back their two stops until well past halfway through the race. A penalty for Russell for gaining an advantage off the track left him 11th. Antonelli finished 18th. Amid the glitz and glamour on Monte Carlo, the race has been widely viewed as too boring in recent years due to the near impossibility of overtaking on the famous twisting street circuit. Last year's top 10 in qualifying was the top 10 in the race. F1 bosses reacted by announcing drivers must make at least two pit-stops in the principality this year in a bid to add drama. Hopes evaporated Teams pondered ahead of the race whether it might be beneficial to pit after just one lap, or pit on a penultimate lap, while the chances of a safety car on the tight track also complicated matters. The drivers got away from the grid unscathed with Norris ahead. But Kick Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto soon hit the wall when he was squeezed out before the tunnel, heralding a virtual safety car. Four drivers took the chance to pit but none of the leaders did so. Another yellow flag followed on lap 9 after the front left wheel of Pierre Gasly's Alpine was ruined by a collision, further preventing any albeit unlikely overtaking moves. Hamilton was the biggest name to box first on lap 19 when placed fifth and leader Norris came in the next lap. Hadjar pitted twice by lap 21 in a bold strategy gamble while Piastri's first stop was slower than McLaren would have liked. Temporary leader Leclerc waited until lap 22 to change tyres a first time and emerged behind Norris, with Verstappen the last of the big five to box on lap 28. After the first pit stops, Hamilton was the only one of the leading pack to have improved to fifth. Fernando Alonso then retired his Aston Martin at the halfway mark due to smoke but the veteran knew where to park to avoid a safety car. The second tyre changes looked key given there was no overtaking among the top drivers and no crashes. Leclerc also complained on the radio he was getting caught up in traffic behind the backmarkers. Piastri pitted for a second time first amid the top five on lap 49 and Leclerc followed - as did Norris. Verstappen held on at the front as long as he could before his second compulsory stop on lap 77 of 78, meaning Leclerc could close in on Norris because Verstappen was slowing with ageing tyres. But Norris held on as fan hopes of a thrilling finish evaporated. 'We lost the race yesterday (in qualifying),' Leclerc said. 'We should have done a better job, Lando did a better job and he deserves the win. It is above our expectations here, I thought we would struggle to be in the top 10 so it has been a good weekend. But I wish I'd won.' The next race is in Spain next weekend.
