Leclerc in favour of Monaco pit stop proposal

Charles Leclerc believes that the plan to introduce “specific regulations” for the Monaco Grand Prix, including additional pit stops, will spice up the racing.

At a time the sport has launched another ‘fan survey’, even though previous surveys merely heralded the ongoing decline of the sport, Tuesday saw a Jo Moore ‘good day to bury bad news’ moment following the first meeting of the F1 Commission this year.

Amidst the hoo haa of the livery launch gig, the commission announced that “with the aim of promoting better racing at the Monaco Grand Prix, the commission discussed proposals for Monaco-specific regulations. The commission agreed to increase the numbers of mandatory pit stops in the Race”.

While this will no doubt go down well with those fans dancing away to the various bands at the livery launch, the laser show almost compromised by the light from the myriad of phones held aloft, to purists it is just another gimmick, another nail in the coffin.

Fact is that for the most part Monaco has always produced processional races, certainly for much of the modern era. Were it any other circuit it would be dropped from the schedule, or, assuming the hosting fee was impressive enough, ordered to heavily modify the track.

However, this is Monaco, playground of the famous, the wealthy and the beautiful, and though F1 is aiming to further promote its own Las Vegas race to the heights, currently remains the jewel in the sport’s crown.

Sadly, one of the first to give the thumbs up to the proposal is home boy Charles Leclerc, who won the race in 2024.

“Yeah, because strategy will become a bit more of a thing then, which I think is a good thing,” he replied, according to Speedcafe, when asked if he thought the proposed change was good. “Monaco is super exciting on a Saturday. For us drivers, it’s incredible. It’s the best qualifying of the year. Then, on the Sunday, it can get a little bit too… there’s not much happening. This is a way to spice things up a bit more.”

Of course, some might argue that a return to Istanbul might produce better racing, but Istanbul isn’t Monaco.

Over the years, the sport has tried various means of spicing up the action, some worked, many didn’t leading to U-Turns.

“We’ve got to be open-minded,” he said. “If it’s the direction that we are going to take, then we need to see if that actually makes a difference or not and be open to change back if that’s not the right solution.”

Meanwhile, Silverstone and Singapore are among the first to reveal details of this year’s events.

On Wednesday, Silverstone announced the headline acts for its “star-studded music line up” for the 2025 Grand Prix.

“Having attracted record crowds of 480,000 last summer, the home of British motorsport is set to go bigger and better when it hosts an eclectic mix of British music heavyweights this year,” it warned.

“The unprecedented four-day line-up will see Silverstone take its music and arts offering to the next level – cementing the British Grand Prix as a summer highlight on both the British sporting and music calendar.

“Headlining Thursday’s Opening Concert is BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter, Sam Fender, with chart-topping, multi-award-winning, RAYE taking to the main stage on Friday to perform her first UK outdoor show of 2025.

“On Saturday fans can expect pioneering DJ, producer, and electronic music icon, Fatboy Slim to bring his genre-defining beats and high-energy performances, before double Brit Award-winning singer-songwriter, and dance music powerhouse, Becky Hill closes the main stage on Sunday with her anthemic take on modern dance music.”

The following day, organisers of the Singapore Grand Prix revealed that this year’s event “will feature Elton John and G-DRAGON at the Padang Stage to complement the thrilling track action at the home of Formula 1 night racing”.

“We are incredibly excited with how the full entertainment line-up is progressing,” said says Adam Firth, Executive Director of Singapore GP Pte Ltd, “but could not wait to announce that these superstars will be performing at the Marina Bay Street Circuit this year. Other acts will be unveiled in the coming months to complete the full race weekend entertainment programme.”

Surely the time is coming when the likes of Britain’s round of the world championship can merge with Glastonbury, or, better still, BST Hyde Park.