Sitting in the Monaco Grand Prix media centre towards the end of Sunday’s Formula 1 race, my Motorsport Network colleagues and I were trying to decide just how we felt about the introduction of the mandatory two-stop rule and if it had worked or not.
One of them hit the nail firmly on the head when he suggested that it worked for teams who played it smart with strategy and punished those who did not – and in terms of those who boxed clever, there was none better than Racing Bulls.
Speaking on Saturday evening, Pirelli motorsport chief Mario Isola said it would require a “genius” rather than a strategist to work out how to make the most of the new, Monaco-specific regulation change.
It turns out Racing Bulls had both on the pitwall in Monte Carlo, as they were the first to utilise the tactic of the second car backing up the field to create a gap for the lead car to pit and return to the race in clean air.
Isack Hadjar, having started the race in fifth following a fine qualifying effort, was the beneficiary of the tactic, but Liam Lawson deserves credit for carrying out his role perfectly, too.
It led to Hadjar finishing sixth and Lawson eighth on a fine afternoon in the Monegasque sunshine for the Red Bull junior outfit.
“You can see it – the whole team is gathered here in front of the garage, they're absolutely thrilled for the team, for Isack, for Liam,” Racing Bulls chief executive Peter Bayer told ServusTV.
“Brilliant job by our strategists. We've had our share of frustrations with Laurent [Mekies, team principal] over strategy but today they really pulled off a stroke of genius. The bit of risk we took definitely paid off.
“Theoretically there was even more possible. The risk was definitely high – 'no risk, no fun', as they say – but the decision was to let Lewis [Hamilton] go so we could essentially take control with both our cars.
“Carlos [Sainz] might have taken that position from us otherwise, but since he was clearly pushing hard, we said ‘okay, that gives us the window’. And we had to use the soft tyres, so we tried to keep that stint as short as possible because they simply wouldn’t deliver performance over a long period. And yeah, perfectly executed by the guys – we’re very, very happy that the risk paid off.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was left frustrated with Williams implementing a more aggressive version of the same tactic, but did single out Racing Bulls for doing a great job of “punching above their weight” with this strategy call.
“Of course, it’s hugely important – 12 points in the championship,” added Bayer.
“I think that puts us just behind Haas, but even more important is, the car works, the team works, and there’s harmony. You can really feel the energy in the team, the joy they get from their work. And sure, triple-headers are exhausting, but this way we’re heading to Barcelona with a smile and looking forward to it.”
One person whose smile may be slightly broader than anyone else’s is Hadjar, whose fine rookie season continued on the tight and twisty streets of Monaco.
Having brilliantly recovered from his inauspicious start to the year in Australia, with the Frenchman in tears after crashing out before the race had even begun, he is now showing great potential – even if he was slightly unimpressed by the enjoyment of his Monaco debut.
“The problem is you're nearly falling asleep because you're doing tyre management and it's becoming really boring,” he said.
“Sometimes I was picking up the pace because I was so bored that I had to keep thinking. It was a long way to the end. Qualifying was the most intense day and the most hard work I've had to put in since I can remember.
“Today it was a bit easier because I really relied on Liam. He followed the strategy and the plan perfectly. He offered me really early pitstops. That was the target and that was perfectly executed.”
Lawson has now seemingly found the feeling of being back home after his promotion to Red Bull lasted just the opening two rounds of 2025.
The disappointment in not getting a longer run to prove himself would have stung, but now he is getting on with his business and proved on Sunday he would do what is needed for the team.
“I mean, there's always a potential, and I think obviously when we make a decision like that, our race is limited to basically where I was in P8,” he said.
“But honestly, it's hard to overtake here anyway. So, for us on our side, the damage was done in quali yesterday, but for the team it's a great result.
“[Driving slowly] is actually really a lot more difficult than I expected from a concentration point. But, yeah, it's something that obviously, from a team side, made sense.”
