2026 Monaco Grand Prix to also have two mandatory stops?

The Monaco Grand Prix has been under criticism for years now due to the procession it has become, as overtaking is virtually impossible.

And while Formula 1 and the FIA continued to bury their heads in the sand, ignoring the elephant in the room, which is the size of current F1 cars, they have been looking somewhere else for a solution.

This season, the FIA mandated the use of three tyre sets for the Monaco Grand Prix, which meant having two pit stops, hoping for some strategic variety, but the end result was one of the most bizarre races in the history of the sport.

Teams whose drivers ran closely asked the one behind to back up the field, thus creating a gap for his teammate to pit and keep his position, which meant drivers were driving four seconds off the pace, which was frustrating to fellow drivers behind and the fans watching as well.

Now it appears that the FIA will bring back the mandatory two-stop rule for Monaco in 2026 following an e-vote for the World Motor Sport Council, and Williams boss James Vowles, whose team was one of those who applied the weird tactics around the Principality this year, is confused by the decision.

"Good question," he responded when asked why the rule is back for 2026. "It wasn't actually discussed in F1 Commission.

Vowles suggested the FIA's Director of Single Seaters, Nikolas Tombazis, is the person to ask about the two-stop mandate and went on to admit he was no fan of his team's tactics in Monaco 2025.

"For the record, we weren't the first to do it," the Briton pointed out. "We had to do it in reaction to the field. I didn't like it.

"It's the most uncomfortable I've felt. I like going out there and fighting for points on merit rather than having to game the system in order to achieve it.

"I think the arguments that are being made were, was it a better show irrespective of that? I can't answer that question.

"I think that's for the fans to answer. My personal feeling is, I don't like the lack of clean racing that occurs as a result of it," Vowles concluded.

However, Motorsport.com went on and asked Tombazis about the matter; he said: "First of all, we don't think that what we saw this year is necessarily the thing to repeat or the thing to aim for. There is an issue to be addressed.

"At the moment the 2026 rules still include the two pit stops for Monaco, but we are in August, and Monaco is in June next year.

"Clearly, the request to the teams is to be creative and propositive. We at the FIA are not sold on any particular solution yet. If there are proposals that will make it better, then we will definitely support them.

"This is one of the topics that will be discussed with the Sporting Advisory Committee and the F1 Commission in the next few meetings," Tombazis, a former Ferrari engineer, concluded.

Williams' Alex Albon who was driving slowly frustrating Mercedes' George Russell to death behind him, had to take his rival out to an expensive lobster dinner to make up for it. (Additional reporting by Agnes Carlier)