The FIA has quietly done away with the rule that saw two mandatory pit stops at the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix.
Introduced as a means of (yawn) spicing up the action at a circuit where traditionally there is little overtaking, for the 2025 race the FIA introduced a rule whereby all drivers had to make two mandatory pit stops, using three sets of tyres as opposed to two.
Unfortunately, the team strategists were quick to find a loophole whereby drivers, especially in the midfield, deliberately backed up rivals running behind either to create a pit stop gap for themselves or their teammate.
The result was a race even more farcical and ludicrous than even the most processional of previous events.
“It’s not how we want to go racing, but them’s the rules,” said James Vowles after his drivers, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, who were running together, swapped positions and deliberately backed up the drivers behind them to help one another both finish in the points.
At one point, in a bid to pass Albon, George Russell, in a bid to break the deadlock, deliberately cut the chicane, earning himself a 5s penalty in the process.
While some, like Williams were able to use the new rule to their advantage, others found their race compromised almost from the moment the lights went out.
Fans, drivers and team bosses alike were critical of the rule, which it was feared might not only be used again this year but tried at other circuits.
Thankfully, for once the FIA was listening.
Now, about this energy harvesting b******s…