Carlos Sainz believes the “lottery” of the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix will only be made bigger this weekend following the introduction of a mandatory two-stop race.
In an attempt to spice up racing around the tight, twisty streets of Monte Carlo, the FIA World Motor Sport Council confirmed in February that each driver must make a minimum of two pitstops during the race.
F1 has struggled to provide entertainment in Monaco of late, largely down to the width of the current cars, while one-stop strategies are all too common with track position king.
The situation reached a head last year when an early red flag allowed drivers to switch tyre compounds before the restart, with only six drivers later visiting the pitlane under race conditions.
It remains to be seen how successful the move will be, with some suggestions cars that qualify further back could pit twice early on and then run to the end on the hard compound.
Sainz thinks it will add another potential unknown into the mix but also gave reason to be wary of team orders also being tweaked as a result.
“There's an element of lottery that Monaco can always offer. I think this year that element is going to be a bit bigger given the two-stop rather than the one-stop,” the Williams driver said.
“I think everyone that is not starting on pole is welcoming the two-stop. Only the guy who will be on pole will be cursing a bit the fact that the year that he starts on pole is the year that is a mandatory two-stop, and a lot of unknowns could happen.
“I'm just a bit worried of teams playing a bit too much with the pace to help the other team-mates. I hope there's not too many gimmicks with that.”
Meanwhile, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg feels the move will still not alter the fact that position on track is vital – regardless of how many times a driver is forced to pit.
“It is difficult to say and to predict,” he said when asked if a driver from the midfield could get lucky.
“It can be. But I think it all depends on where you start, your track position at the time, the timing of things. But it definitely adds another variability into the race that can go your way or really against you, I guess.”
