26/05/2025 11:30
Carlos Sainz has demanded that Formula 1 looks into the Monaco Grand Prix, claiming that "manipulating" the results was possible. The brand-new mandatory two-stop rule at the Circuit de Monaco was met with mixed responses; however, many, including Sainz, were left unhappy by some tactics which were used. He pinpointed Racing Bulls' strategy of making Liam Lawson slow down the second half of the field, allowing Isack Hadjar to complete both pit stops early and finish in sixth. It created a huge buffer in the pack, before Williams found themselves with no choice but to use Racing Bulls' tactic to get both Alex Albon and Sainz to finish ninth and 10th, respectively. At times, the pace was four seconds slower than the expected race pace, triggering Sainz to call for F1 to look into some of the tactics which were used by the likes of Racing Bulls. "[We were] driving four seconds off the pace at some stages of the race," Sainz told select media, including RacingNews365 . "Ultimately, we were victims, first from Lawson that managed to lose 40 seconds to Isack, [it allowed] two pit stops that Isack would do in front of us to finish, to do his two pit stops and finish P5. "As we were victims of that situation, we had to, in the end, do the same thing as Lawson did both times with Alex and myself to make sure we bought the two cars to the points, something I definitely didn't enjoy doing, something definitely the sport should look into." Bad look for the sport Sainz believes it should not be allowed to purposefully drive several seconds slower; however, it is is something he recognised is becoming a growing trend. The Spaniard actually praised the intrigue around having to pit twice and the excitement it created around the pit windows, but wants to see the drivers pushing rather than driving slowly. "Ultimately, yeah, you're driving two or three seconds off the pace that the car can do. You are ultimately manipulating the race and manipulating the outcome a bit. "So we should find a way that this cannot be done in the future because of the feeling then every year, people are going to do it more and more, and it's becoming more of a trend the last few years. "So in that sense, the two-stop, if anything, helped to maybe spice up around the pit windows, to have two pit stops, but it made us have to do the slow driving twice, which is not a very good look for the sport."
