F1 teams take a 'gamble' at tyre strategies, 'Anything can happen'

The casino in Monaco is world-famous, being one of the buildings Formula 1 drivers speed past this Sunday. But the Grand Prix itself could turn into a big gamble too, partly due to the special rule that requires everyone to stop at least twice.

For every Grand Prix, tyre supplier Pirelli sends out a document to the media, outlining the expected pit stop strategies. This Sunday, something hit the journalists' inboxes, but there wasn't much to deduce. Pirelli states: “Three different sets of tyres to use in Monaco Grand Prix with all available compounds in play. Anything can happen!”

In the narrow streets of Monaco, indeed, anything can happen, as was clearly demonstrated during the F2 race. In the first round, things went terribly wrong at the front of the field, causing half the grid to crash into each other and be eliminated. Should a red flag be waved in the first round of the Grand Prix as well, the drivers will undoubtedly switch tires immediately - after all, it's a 'free' pit stop.

If the safety car comes out during the opening phase, then it's also expected that (almost) the entire field will look for the pits for the first stop and possibly even make the second right after. So, it could quickly become chaotic in the small pit lane if everyone heads in at the same time. The scenario of two pit stops at the start of the race is real and achievable. After all, tire degradation in Monaco is virtually non-existent, and an F1 car could in theory complete the race distance without a single stop.

But what happens if participants have made a stop at some point in the race and then a safety car or even a red flag comes? Essentially, it's no different than at any other race where someone could benefit from that. Only: where faster cars often have a good chance of passing the surprising leader in such cases, that will be a lot more difficult in Monaco. After all, overtaking is completely impossible.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri each have two new sets of hard tyres, a single set of mediums, and no new set of softs left. Max Verstappen has one set of new hards, a set of new mediums, and no new softs left. Charles Leclerc has the same, but Verstappen has one more set of used softs than the Monegasque (four versus three). Is all this relevant? Not really, because all tyres last a really long time in Monaco.