The Monaco Grand Prix may be the jewel in Formula 1s crown but the race itself is rarely must-see TV. Sometimes, its downright dull.
F1 and its governing body, the FIA, hope a rule change for Sundays race will change that. Drivers will be forced to change tires at least twice in the hope that more pit stop strategy could shake up an event where Saturday qualifying and the resulting grid position is often more important than race day.
I guess it can go both ways, champion Max Verstappen said Thursday. It can be quite straightforward, or it can go completely crazy because of safety cars coming into play or not making the right calls. I think it will spice it up probably a bit more.
The change is designed to stop a repeat of last year, when a first-lap crash brought out the red flag, allowing everyone to make their one mandatory tire change.
With overtaking all but impossible on the twisty Monaco streets, the rest of the race was a procession . Home driver Charles Leclerc took the win for Ferrari and all of the top 10 finished in grid order.
How Sundays race shakes out could depend on whether teams get creative with their strategies.
Normally, with one stop, once you have a good pit stop and everything is fine, then you drive to the end and just stay focused and not hit the barrier, Verstappen said. But maybe with a two-stop it can create something different, people gambling, guessing when the right time is to box.
Leclerc leads the way
Leclercs win last year in Monaco followed years of frustration at his home race. Fridays first practice session had a similar pattern in miniature as Leclerc recovered from an early crash to set the fastest time.
Leclerc clipped the back of Lance Strolls slow-moving Aston Martin, smashing the Ferraris front wing and causing a brief stoppage so the debris could be cleared. Stroll said he hadnt heard a warning from the team over the radio that Leclerc was approaching before he moved across the track into the Ferraris path.
In the end, though, Leclerc was fastest by .163 of a second from Verstappen, with Norris third-fastest, .326 off the pace. Alex Albon of Williams was fourth, with Piastri fifth. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton placed ninth after briefly going airborne when his Ferrari went over a curb.
Leclerc went fastest again in an eventful second session which saw Piastri cause a red flag when he hit a barrier, though he recovered and was second-fastest, .036 off Leclerc and ahead of Hamilton and Norris. Verstappen could only manage the 10th-fastest time.
French rookie Isack Hadjar called himself so stupid over the radio after twice clipping the wall with the rear-left wheel in separate incidents, damaging his Racing Bulls car both times.
McLarens Monaco pedigree
Monaco was once McLaren territory. It could be again.
Its the most successful team with 15 wins in Monaco, but none since Lewis Hamilton took the victory in 2008 on his way to his first championship.
Verstappens win at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix last week tightened up a title race which was increasingly dominated by McLaren.
Oscar Piastri leads the standings, but now only by 13 points ahead of his teammate Lando Norris and 22 from Verstappen.
Monaco could favor McLaren because its car tends to be easier on its tires and, as Verstappen said last week, because his Red Bull dislikes low-speed corners.
Verstappen skips movie night
Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, all but two of the 20 F1 drivers were pictured at a private screening Wednesday of the upcoming movie F1, starring Brad Pitt and produced by Lewis Hamilton.
Not Verstappen, though, who became a father for the first time a few weeks ago.
I wanted to spend more private time, said Verstappen. There was the opportunity to watch it, but if I watch it now or in three or four weeks, thats fine as well.
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摩纳哥大奖赛或许在F1中是“璀璨的明珠”，但比赛本身却很少成为必看的电视节目。有时，它甚至相当乏味。
F1及其管理机构FIA希望在周日比赛中的规则改变能改变这一现状。车手们将被迫至少两次更换轮胎，希望更多的进站策略能改变一个比赛，其中周六的排位赛——以及由此产生的发车位置——往往比比赛日更为重要。
周四，冠军马克斯·维斯塔潘（Max Verstappen）表示，比赛情况可能各有不同。它可能相当直接，或者因为安全车进入赛道或没有做出正确的决定而变得完全疯狂。我认为这将使比赛变得更加精彩一些。
这一改变旨在防止重蹈去年的覆辙，当时首圈发生的事故引发了红旗，允许所有人进行一次强制的轮胎更换。
在蜿蜒曲折的摩纳哥街道上，除了几乎不可能的超车之外，其余的比赛都是一场盛大的游行。法拉利车队的本土车手查尔斯·勒克莱尔赢得了胜利，前十名全部按照发车顺序完赛。
周日比赛的结果将取决于各队是否能够运用富有创意的策略。
通常，如果有一个好的进站停车，一切顺利，那么你只需专注于驾驶到终点，不撞到护栏即可。但也许有两个进站停车时，会带来一些不同，人们会猜来猜去，猜测何时是换车的最佳时机。
勒克莱尔（Leclerc）引领了潮流
勒克莱尔去年在摩纳哥的胜利，是他在家门口赛事多年挫折之后的反弹。周五首次练习赛中，勒克莱尔从早先的碰撞中恢复过来，再次创下最快时间，呈现出与去年相似的微妙模式。
勒克莱尔撞上了兰斯·斯特罗尔（Lance Stroll）慢速行驶的阿斯顿·马丁（Aston Martin）的尾部，导致法拉利（Ferrari）的前翼受损，并引发了短暂的停赛以便清理碎片。斯特罗尔表示，在法拉利驶入其路径之前，他并未从车队收到任何通过无线电发来的勒克莱尔接近的警告。
最终，勒克莱尔以0.163秒的优势领先维斯塔潘，诺里斯以0.326秒之差位列第三。威廉姆斯的亚历克斯·阿尔本位列第四，皮亚斯特里位列第五。七届冠军刘易斯·汉密尔顿在法拉利赛车越过路缘时短暂腾空后，最终位列第九。
在第二场充满变数的比赛中，勒克莱尔再次以最快速度领跑，但皮亚斯特里在撞到护栏时导致比赛亮起红灯，尽管他迅速恢复并以0.036秒之差位列第二，领先汉密尔顿和诺里斯。维斯塔潘只能获得第10快的成绩。
法国新秀伊萨克·哈达尔在两起不同的事故中，均用左后轮撞上了墙，导致其Racing Bulls赛车两次受损，他在无线电中自嘲“真是个大笨蛋”。
迈凯伦的摩纳哥血统
摩纳哥曾经是迈凯伦的领地，未来它有可能再次成为迈凯伦的领地。
这支车队在摩纳哥的战绩最为辉煌，共获得了15场胜利，但自从刘易斯·汉密尔顿在2008年以该胜利开启了他的首个冠军赛季以来，便再也没有人能再创此佳绩。
上周在埃米利亚-罗马涅大奖赛中，维斯塔潘（Verstappen）的胜利让冠军争夺战变得更加紧张，而这场争夺战正越来越被迈凯伦（McLaren）所主导。
奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里（Oscar Piastri）在积分榜上领头，但目前仅比队友兰多·诺里斯（Lando Norris）领先13分，比维斯塔潘（Verstappen）领先22分。
摩纳哥的赛道可能更偏爱迈凯伦车队，因为迈凯伦的赛车对轮胎的磨损较小，而且正如维斯塔潘上周所说，因为他的红牛赛车不擅长低速弯道。
维斯塔潘（Verstappen）错过了电影之夜
在摩纳哥大奖赛之前，除了两位，其他所有20位F1车手都在周三的私人放映活动中亮相了即将上映的电影《F1》，该片由布拉德·皮特主演，刘易斯·汉密尔顿担任制片人。
虽然几周前，维斯塔潘才首次成为父亲。
“我想多花些私人时间，”维斯塔潘说道。“有观看比赛的机会，但如果我现在看或者三、四周后看，也挺好的。”
美国联合通讯社（AP）关于汽车赛事的报道：请访问[https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing](https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing)
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