Words we never thought we’d hear Christian Horner, or just about anyone outside of Aston Martin utter: “Thank God for Lance Stroll!”
But the Red Bull team boss was grateful that at least Lance Stroll made an on-track pass during the Monaco Grand Prix, a borefest from start to finish.
Christian Horner: The only guy that managed to overtake in the race
Additional reporting by Sam Cooper
After the opening lap drama at the Monte Carlo street circuit, which saw Sergio Perez eliminated after crashing with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, the race was restarted at on lap 3 with Red Bull’s sole remaining driver, Max Verstappen, lining up P6.
He started P6, restarted P6, ran P6, pitted to come in and out from P6, and finished P6.
In fact the entire top ten on the grid was the top 10 at the chequered flag, in that exact order.
Further back, though, there was one driver who pulled off an overtake, actually more than one, and that was Lance Stroll who pitted only to then suffer a puncture and fall to the very back of the field.
The Aston Martin driver, bolting on a set of soft tyres, overtook Zhou Guanyu and then Logan Sargeant.
And that ladies and gentlemen was the overtaking highlights of the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix summed up, two passes.
“I think it’s something that we should collectively have a look at,” Horner told the media including PlanetF1.com.
“It’s not racing as such when you’re just driving around three or four seconds off the pace because the other car hasn’t got any chance of overtaking.
“Monaco is such a great place to come racing but the cars are so big now that we just need to look at can we do something that introduces an overtaking area, or at least a potential of an overtake because the top 10 is exactly as it started on the grid and not a single overtake in the top 10.
“Thank God for Lance Stroll, the only guy that managed to overtake in the race.”
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It had Verstappen, who finished P6 in the middle of a Mercedes sandwich, joking with George Russell, P5, about what could be done to improve the show.
“My God that was terrible, so boring,” said Verstappen before joking about “five” mandatory pit stops or even a “mandatory nap” for the drivers while Russell wanted “one lap on foot”.
But whatever happens, Horner says something needs to be done as the Monte Carlo street circuit is not suited to today’s Formula 1 cars.
“Monaco keeps reclaiming land!” he said with a laugh before seriously adding: “I think it’s something that collectively Formula One should look at because it’s such a great place, there’s so much history here.
“But everything evolves.
“I think the cars are so big now. If you compare them to cars of 10 years ago, they’re almost twice the size.
“It’s something that we need to collectively as a sport, with the promoter, look at how do we introduce an overtaking opportunity.”
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