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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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
摩纳哥大奖赛可能被视为“F1王冠上的宝石”，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希望周日比赛的规则改变能改变这一局面。驾驶员将被强制至少两次更换轮胎，以期望更多的进站策略能在周六的排位赛以及因此产生的发车位置比比赛日更加重要的比赛中掀起波澜。
周四，冠军车手马克斯·维斯塔潘（Max Verstappen）表示：“我认为情况可能会两极分化。它可以相当直接，也可能因为安全车（Safety Cars）的介入或做出错误的决定而变得完全疯狂。我认为这可能会使比赛更加精彩一些。”
此更改的目的是为了防止重蹈去年覆辙，当时第一圈的碰撞引发了红旗，允许每个人进行一次强制的轮胎更换。
在曲折的摩纳哥街道上，除了几乎不可能的超车之外，其余的比赛就是一场盛大的游行。主场车手查尔斯·勒克莱尔为法拉利赢得了胜利，所有前十名的车手都按照发车顺序完成了比赛。
周日的比赛结果如何，取决于车队是否会采取创新的策略。
通常，在单停策略中，如果你在进站维修时表现良好，一切顺利，那么你只需继续开到终点，保持专注不碰上障碍。但如果是双停策略，它可能会带来不同的情况，人们会进行赌博式的猜测，猜何时是换胎的最佳时机。
勒克莱尔（Leclerc）率先行动
勒克莱尔去年在摩纳哥的胜利，是他多年在家乡比赛中因挫败而感到沮丧后的转机。周五第一次练习赛中，勒克莱尔从早先的撞车事故中恢复过来，以最快的时间完成了比赛，这一过程在某种程度上与去年的情况相似。
勒克莱尔在兰斯·斯特罗尔（Lance Stroll）缓慢行驶的阿斯顿·马丁（Aston Martin）后面进行了一次轻微的碰撞，导致法拉利（Ferrari）的前翼受损，并引发了短暂的停赛，以便清除碎片。斯特罗尔表示，在他横穿赛道进入法拉利（Ferrari）的行驶路线之前，他并未从车队那里收到勒克莱尔（Leclerc）即将靠近的无线电警告。
最终，勒克莱尔以0.163秒的优势领先维斯塔潘，诺里斯则以0.326秒的差距位居第三。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飞起后，最终位列第九。
勒克莱尔在第二阶段再次跑出最快成绩，尽管皮亚斯特里在撞到护栏后导致比赛暂停（红旗），但他迅速恢复并排在第二位，落后勒克莱尔0.036秒，领先汉密尔顿和诺里斯。然而，维斯塔潘只能获得第10快的成绩。
法国新秀Isack Hadjar在两起单独的事故中，均用左后轮撞墙，导致其Racing Bulls赛车两次受损。他通过无线电广播自嘲道：“我真是个笨蛋。”
迈凯伦在摩纳哥的家族传统
摩纳哥曾经是迈凯伦的领地，未来也可能再次成为其领地。
这是摩纳哥站最成功的车队，共获得了15场胜利，但自从刘易斯·汉密尔顿在2008年获得他的第一个冠军赛胜利以来，就再也没有获得过胜利。
维斯塔潘上周在埃米利亚-罗马涅大奖赛中的胜利，让原本由迈凯伦日益主宰的冠军争夺变得更加激烈。
奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里（Oscar Piastri）目前领头，但现在仅以13分的优势领先队友兰多·诺里斯（Lando Norris），以22分的优势领先维斯塔潘（Verstappen）。
摩纳哥赛道可能更有利于迈凯伦车队，因为其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喜欢低速弯道。
维斯塔潘（Verstappen）没有参加电影之夜
在摩纳哥大奖赛之前，除了两名F1车手外，其余18名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。
不过，不是维斯塔潘，他几周前才第一次成为父亲。
维斯塔潘（Verstappen）说：“我想花更多的私人时间。当时有机会看比赛，但我现在看或者三、四周后再看也无所谓。”
美国新闻社（AP）关于汽车赛跑的信息：https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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