Opinion

Formula 1 Monaco GP

Who slept worst last night: Frederic Vasseur

OPINION: Charles Leclerc might have finished second in the 2025 F1 Monaco Grand Prix, but Ferrari's team boss will have had much to ponder in the aftermath – including his role in advocating the two-stop rule introduced for this event

Christian Nimmervoll

Edited: May 26, 2025, 8:08 AM

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Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

"Before the race, I thought the idea of two mandatory pitstops was great. But the way the race developed was a disaster for the sport."

Not my words but those of a fan moved to comment on my Facebook page – and their sentiments were representative of the majority, forming a scathing overall verdict on the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix. “Farce” and “catastrophic” ranked among the nouns and adjectives most frequently deployed. One post even read: "I've been watching Formula 1 for 29 years, but this was truly unbearable."

You may be wondering whose idea this was, but we’ll come back to that in a moment.

While the hardcore fan community was clearly in a state of agitation, it’s harder to divine what the casual viewer made of Sunday’s events. This is a demographic which doesn’t necessarily head straight to social media to exchange opinions before the podium Moet is uncorked, but rather switches TV channels and probably won’t think about Formula 1 again until whenever.

I find myself torn. As an avowed traditionalist, shaped by the Formula 1 of the late 1980s and early 1990s, I feel a deep unease when the outcome of a grand prix depends on chance as much a spin at the roulette tables of Monaco’s legendary casino.

That unease intensifies when the particular circumstances of Monte Carlo – where overtaking has been virtually impossible here since Antony Noghes decided on the route – steers teams towards maximising their own result by ordering their drivers to engage in underhanded blocking tactics. Not illegal, to be clear – but unsporting in a moral sense.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

On the other hand, it’s hard to deny that – unlike many Monaco Grands Prix in the past – there was a real sense of uncertainty right up to the penultimate lap. Any moderately knowledgeable viewer knew Max Verstappen stayed out on track for one reason only: to hope for the gift of a late red flag, which would have practically handed him the win.

And in Monaco, such a red flag can happen at any time. That’s why Lando Norris only truly felt secure once Verstappen finally pitted on lap 77 of 78. Tension until the very end: it’s what commercial rights holder Liberty Media wants from every race.

If this was the definition of ‘peak end effect’, the 100-or-so minutes preceding it also had a few high points. Take Gabriel Bortoleto’s bold move around the outside of Kimi Antonelli at the hairpin on the very first lap, and the Italian’s even bolder response just meters later at Portier, which left Bortoleto’s Sauber embedded in the barrier.

It was a fight that instantly brought back memories of 1998, when my compatriot Alexander Wurz – for a few weeks at least considered the next big thing in Formula 1 – challenged the great Michael Schumacher at the very same spot. A duel that ultimately didn’t launch Wurz’s breakthrough, but rather ended with a totalled car at the tunnel exit.

Later in the race, there was at least a moment when it seemed that Isack Hadjar might pull off a huge surprise. The Racing Bulls rookie had already completed both of his mandatory pit stops and, thanks to some dedicated teamwork from Liam Lawson, still held sixth place — even though all the cars ahead of him had yet to pit.

The final phase, as Verstappen led the race on completely ruined tyres, holding up first Norris and then Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri, may have looked spectacular from the outside – but in reality, it was nothing more than a procession. That overtaking in Monaco is virtually impossible unless the driver ahead wants to be overtaken is something we’ve known at least since the epic Senna-Mansell showdown in 1992 – a finish that still makes my heart rate spike whenever I watch those old clips.

At some point in the early hours of Monday morning, I found myself wondering who had come up with the idea for the special Monaco rule in the first place – and who likely had a pretty rough night’s sleep after things didn’t quite unfold as planned.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

The Monaco-specific rule was decided in February 2025 during a meeting of the Formula 1 Commission. The proposal still had to pass through other bodies, like the Sporting Advisory Committee (SAC) and the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC), but the real groundwork was laid during that commission meeting.

Here, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali picked up on earlier discussions about what could be done to make Monaco more exciting – not just the Saturday qualifying, but the race on Sunday, too. He reintroduced an old idea: to at least consider mandatory pitstops as a way to shake things up.

At one point, there was talk about requiring drivers to use all three tyre compounds (ie hard, medium and soft) during the race. But then Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur chimed in with an alternative idea: simply mandate two pit stops, each with a compulsory tyre change. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was the first to support Vasseur’s proposal.

The SAC later resolved the details – three different tyre sets rather than three different compounds, what to do in wet weather, and so on. Just to be clear: Vasseur was by no means the one who pushed the rule through single-handedly. The entire commission approved it, and the WMSC, which could have vetoed it, didn’t.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

But as the man who boosted the key proposal in that decisive meeting, Vasseur effectively earns the front-page spot in today's post-race column. Especially since there are several other reasons why Vasseur might not have slept well last night.

On the surface, Leclerc’s second place doesn’t look all that bad. But Monaco is Monaco – a world of its own – and the reality, as Leclerc puts it, is this: "On a track like this, with so many bumps and kerbs, our car is actually performing very well. This is helping us. But unfortunately, it’s only going to help us on such an extreme track like here."

After eight of the 24 race weekends in 2025, Leclerc sits fifth in the drivers’ standings with 79 points – far behind championship leader Oscar Piastri, who already has 161. And the constructors’ championship is even further out of reach. McLaren leads with a staggering 319 points, while Mercedes (147), Red Bull (143), and Ferrari (142) are left battling it out for a distant second place at best.

Ferrari last won a drivers’ title in 2007 (with Kimi Raikkonen), the constructors’ in 2008. You don’t have to be a genius to realise that the dream of adding another trophy to the cupboard in Maranello in 2025 is looking increasingly unrealistic. And that, given the enormous expectations in Italy following the spectacular signing of Lewis Hamilton, is ultimately a bitter disappointment.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

At the end of 2024 Ferrari seemed to be on the right track – riding in McLaren’s slipstream and on the verge of returning to F1’s fast lane. But then the engineers in Maranello had the idea to rework what had been a functioning technical concept, including a complete overhaul of the suspension. The result is well known.

And again, you don’t have to be a genius to foresee that the pressure on Vasseur could start mounting if Ferrari doesn’t manage a turnaround by 2026 at the latest, when the new regulations come into effect.

Building success takes time in Formula 1. But the fact that, after years of Mercedes and Red Bull dominance, it’s now McLaren – not Ferrari – taking the next big step forward, cannot possibly sit well with John Elkann, Ferrari’s top decision-maker. Monaco and Ferrari: two great pillars of the F1 myth. Both are in need of some sympathetic restoration.

But fixing their problems is a complex undertaking – and, unfortunately for grand prix racing’s legion of passionate fans, it’s likely to take a while. What last Sunday proved is that when you reach for quick, easy solutions, you get unintended consequences…

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