The arrival of summer was needed to wake Stefano Domenicali from the sweet spring torpor. The sudden heat, infamous in the way it presented itself, finally stimulated the reaction of Liberty Media's first representative in Formula One.
“Even we sometimes wonder what happens in certain situations. The rules are generally too complicated. If the regulations are complicated for the teams, let alone for the spectators”, thundered the Imola manager in an interview with AMuS.
“I have to look at F1 with the eyes of an enthusiast and identify with the customer. Let's take Monte Carlo. We know what to expect. The track is what it is, our cars are what they are, and it's almost impossible to overtake. But when there are pit stops during the race there is also action. This year, with the red flag on the first lap, everyone has already made their pit stop before the start. Something like this must never happen again. We need to better anticipate scenarios like this and use rules to avoid them”.
![F1 Sundays](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DOM-jpg.webp)
But finally! He got there too. We underlined it immediately after the “incriminate” race that taking the concept of a toy train to the extreme was intolerable. Despite the superhuman mess that broke out at the first start, after 78 laps, the Monaco GP standings hadn't moved an inch: the protagonists of Q3 were the same as those of the race. In the same order, without anyone advancing or retreating. What a shot at life!
F1, Stefano Domenicali: new rules to avoid a Monaco repeat
Domenicali – and hopefully everyone else involved in the decision-making process – has finally established that it is not the Principality that is anachronistic or incompatible with Formula One. There is a problem, it's clear. Anyone who denies it does the truth no service. But solving it by thinking of abandoning the iconic streets of the Riviera would be a cardinal sin for which there are no expiations.
Does Monaco live by its own laws? Well, something must be done to protect its specific features and prevent the race from becoming a long series of yawns. If on the first lap the management is forced to decide on a red flag, it is absurd that one could think of having the tires "unmarked" and going to the checkered flag without passing through the pits.
It would be enough to change an elementary rule. And this is perhaps what Domenicali is alluding to. It would be a child's game that all the protagonists of the game would agree on decision making and it would avoid another Monaco 2024. A grand prix which, in its own way, will go down in history as it reached an all-time low in pit stops and overtaking manoeuvres.
The spectacle offered by the Formula 3 and Formula 2 drivers in Monaco was certainly of a better standard. The drivers dared, pushed, overtook. They had fun and had fun. Formula One, on the other hand, was "animated" only by Max Verstappen's sharp radio teams. The spectacle seen on the track was pitiful and those who hold the rights understood it by throwing their noses at it.
Could it be a coincidence that the show was animated by cars from the preparatory categories which are aerodynamically less complex and more compact in size? No, it's not a coincidence. Formula 1 needs to get its act together on weight and size as proposed a couple of weeks ago perhaps not entirely satisfactory. Pat Fry, just yesterday, expressed more than one reservation (read here).
![GP Monaco order arrival](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Leclerc-7-jpg.webp)
It is not Monaco, therefore, that is inadequate. No, these cars are no longer compatible with tracks like that of the Principality or Imola, another theater resistant to overtaking. Fewer DRS, fewer frills, fewer Carrara marble tires and smaller sizes. This is the path that the legislator should take once and for all.
If Stefano Domenicali, after having seen the 2026 legislative framework, still speaks in critical terms, the doubt arises that some problems may still exist. A well-founded fear that also pervades us observers.
Crediti foto: F1