– The Formula 1 race in Monaco is usually decided on Saturday. Because overtaking on the narrow street circuit is almost impossible nowadays, pole position in the principality is considered half the battle. In 2025, for example, the top 4 finished exactly in the order in which they started.
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In 2026, the Formula 1 cars have become somewhat smaller, but expert Ralf Schumacher emphasizes in the podcast Backstage Boxengasse from Sky: “The cars are smaller, but that will not be enough, because the cars were already that small in my time.”
“And yet we could hardly overtake,” he recalls and adds: “We could overtake here and there, but you have to be significantly faster [than the other car] or there have to be driving errors and the other has to cooperate.”
The Monaco race in 2025 was “a disaster” due to tactical games, says Schumacher, who emphasizes: “I doubt it, but I hope that we see a bit more action and that we don’t see so much tactics again this year.”
In 2025, all drivers had to make two mandatory pit stops, which led to the field being deliberately slowed down in several places. Although the regulation was abolished again for this year’s Grand Prix, it probably won’t change much.
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Photo series: Formula 1 teams with at least five wins at the start of the season
Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto also fears that overtaking will continue to be “difficult.” Monaco is not a so-called low-energy track, explains the Brazilian. Therefore, one should not expect that the new engine regulations will suddenly create more overtaking opportunities this year.
“Hopefully it will be a somewhat more entertaining race than last year,” Bortoleto says, “but we know that nowadays we have big cars and unfortunately it is not easy to overtake. So I do not expect big differences from the past. But I hope I am wrong.”
According to Schumacher, at least safety car phases could provide some excitement in 2026, “if not even red flags with the cars we have this year,” says the expert, who explains: “The error rate this year for everyone is [with the new cars] somewhat higher.”
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And because a car hitting the wall in Monaco almost always involves at least one safety car, that could provide some variety in a race that otherwise is likely to be the usual procession again in 2026.
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