2 Soft Compounds

Monaco GP: Glitz, Glory... and Gridlock! Are 'Pro Karts And Piss Stops' The Answer?!

• W4 Podcast Studio & GrandPrix247 • Season 1 • Episode 17

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Monaco GP: Glitz, Glory... and Gridlock! Are 'Pro Karts And Piss Stops' The Answer?! 

🎙️ Monaco: Glitz, Glory… and Gridlock – This week on 2 Soft Compounds, Rick and Paul break down Formula 1’s most glamorous paradox: the Monaco Grand Prix. It’s a race that promises spectacle but often delivers a slow-motion chess match - and 2025 was no different.

🏁 This week our hosts discuss the FIA’s mandatory two-stop experiment and why it may have sounded bold on paper, but in practice, it simply highlighted a painful truth: F1 cars have outgrown the streets of Monaco. 

💡 The duo also highlight the moments that were worth celebrating, including Lando Norris shedding his reputation for mid-race wobbliness; Isack Hadjar impressing with a Racing Bulls strategy masterstroke and Lance Stroll’s continued struggles - even in clear air - added more weight to questions about his long-term place in the sport!

🚨 And looking ahead to Barcelona, a new technical directive banning flexible wings could shake up the pecking order. Could this be Red Bull’s moment to strike back? It's all here on 2 Soft Compounds.


1️⃣ Monaco's Failed Two-Stop Experiment

2️⃣ Modern F1 Cars Too Big for Monaco

3️⃣ Solutions for Monaco's Racing Problem

4️⃣ Norris Impresses Under Pressure

5️⃣ Stroll's Disappointing Performance

6️⃣ Ferrari Pit Wall Communication Failures

Production Credits:

Presented by: Rick Houghton & Paul Velasco
Studio Engineer & Editor: Roy D'Monte
Executive Producer: Ian Carless
Produced by: W4 Podcast Studio & GrandPrix247

Rick Houghton:

I don't make mistakes, I make prophecies that immediately turn out to be wrong.

Paul Velasco:

Anything can happen in Formula One, and it usually does.

Rick Houghton:

Welcome to another Two Soft Compounds with me, rick and Paul Velasco, the founder and editor-in-chief of GrandPrix247.com, where you can get all of the latest Formula One news. Our podcast this week is focusing on what happened in Monaco a race around the Principality. Something that didn't go quite to plan was the mandatory two pit stops. It was good for some drivers terrible for others.

Paul Velasco:

Yep, it's an experiment that definitely failed this weekend, but we'll delve into that.

Rick Houghton:

You know what, paul, when they announced the mandatory two-stop race, I thought the FIA had played a bit of genius there. I thought it was going to really improve things. As it turns out, it didn't. But the thing that I loved about this was the fact that the teams that were lower down could make a pit stop on lap one, maybe even make a second pit stop on lap two, put the hard tyres on and then run to the end, and that would give us a real mix up in what was happening.

Rick Houghton:

Now, as it happens, there was four cars that made a pit stop at the end of lap one, and they influenced the the race quite a bit. Racing bulls, I think, played an absolute blinder with hadja, and that was the first of the teams to really use their teammate to back up the pack. So they used liam lawson to back up the cars that were behind hadja. Hadja got his pit stops out of the way pretty quick and I thought that was a genius strategy. But then, as the race panned out, I was like, oh okay, so the same thing's happening again.

Rick Houghton:

If you remember last year in Monaco, I think they were eight seconds off the pace because they were backing everyone up and the same thing started to happen again. Williams were really guilty of it, with Alex Albon and with Carlos Sainz, and a number of other teams were doing it as well, and it just takes the shine off the Monaco Grand Prix. I mean, paul, if you were running the FIA, what would you suggest for the way that Monaco plays out? Because Toto Wolff said after the race, he said we can't leave this iconic location. He said with the boats and the crowds and the atmosphere, and I totally agree with him, but we need to do something about the race itself. Man, you super ambushed me.

Paul Velasco:

Being FIA president I'd be totally the wrong guy, but I don't know. To be honest with you, it's a very, very good question. I think what's happened is it's like I think it starts from the root. The root for me is this is that Formula 1 cars became bigger, racing cars across the board became bigger, faster and more dangerous and all those kind of things. But also technology evolved and safety improvements and all that kind of stuff happened. But what happened?

Paul Velasco:

There was a phase I would say it probably started happening in the 70s and you'll know you, the penny will drop when, I you know, come to the point. And then, through the 80s, and now it's like gone is they started changing the original layouts of the tracks, you know, to slow them down. Remember, the old silverstone was like just six corners, it was like was, or the old Monza with no chicanes. So they became too dangerous. So instead of actually doing something to slow the cars to be able to race on those tracks, they disfigured the tracks. Do you understand what I'm saying? And that's essentially what's been happening. And then, of course, I would say, the ideal size cars were like anything from late 70s until early 2000s. That was the beautiful size car, but now with all the hybrid bullshit and I'm not a technical guy, but I think it's like you're adding a whole camel onto the back of this new generation of woke cars that are actually not woke anymore, but they were woke 10 years ago. So, yeah, yeah, this whole formula has made these cars into pretty much like the wheelbase of a Range Rover or something you'll correct me on that and just as just horrible to drive at the inner. When I say horrible to drive, I'm going to clarify that I think beautiful to drive in a qualifying situation where the guys I mean to me qualifying was just absolutely astounding how they were just scraping the walls and that to me.

Paul Velasco:

I thought you see, you don't need overtaking. This is so exciting. But when it comes to racing now you do need overtaking and there was none. Is there a solution? Well, you're going to have to, I think, take one, just take a sword, one meter and just kill the car and say, okay, let's fit the car in this area.

Paul Velasco:

But honestly, I was also very, very ambushed. You know we had everything in place. After qualifying. I thought, wow, this is going to be amazing. Two stops, anything can happen and I think the drivers themselves were kind of like, yeah, anything crazy could happen, which is what max forstappen said, and, um, yeah, uh, it. Yeah, it's an experiment that failed, which, again, as jade alluded to, forstappen actually said it you could have 10 stops, it's not going to change especially. And that that's in this whole fog of negativity.

Paul Velasco:

Those three guys started first, second and third, granted, but man, none of them made a single mistake all afternoon and that's finished. One, two, three, and I find that that's the level of the driver We've got drivers at the moment, and I thought about it today. The catchphrase is, I think, think, for this program is we've got probably the greatest group of drivers in the top 10 in formula one history, driving the shittest cars formula one history. Imagine these guys in smaller, narrower, normal, aspirated, whatever is not well, type of thing, like the, the schumacher 2001 that you see, that F2001? That sold for like a record fee, that kind of car with these kids go-kart boys. I mean we would be in Valhalla, but unfortunately they've decided that Formula One must be like a bus and that's what we have.

Rick Houghton:

Yeah, there were so many solutions that were muted. Christian Horner says he wants to make improvements to the track at Monaco. He wants to widen it, so there are overtaking opportunities. George Russell said he wants sprinklers on the car that each driver can deploy a set period of time in the race to make it more interesting. Toto Wolff said it needs to turn into a Sunday event instead of just a Saturday event.

Rick Houghton:

My personal view is I'd ditch the Formula 1 cars altogether for Monaco. I would have all the drivers in pro karts, in go karts, racing around the track, because they're very small, they're very nippy and you would get all kinds of overtaking. And every single one of the drivers on the Formula 1 grid started their career in go karts. That would be absolutely amazing to watch in Monaco. Every single one of the drivers on the Formula One grid started their career in go-karts. That would be absolutely amazing to watch in Monaco. You'd still get the spectacle and you'd still get the yachts and the fans. More so, more so, unbelievable. So there are so many solutions that are being tabled.

Paul Velasco:

The FIA need to go away and have a, but I can guarantee you the karting one is not one that's going to be tabled. But you're absolutely right. In fact, you're not the first guy to say it Another boomer like 104-year-old guy like you who's in my WhatsApp group, Red Mist, Michele Lupini. He basically said exactly what you said Get Rotax Max senior shifter karts, put them out there and they will see some racing. But you know what? I've got a better solution.

Paul Velasco:

I think there should be two mandatory stops. One must be a pit stop where you got to do all the stuff, and the other one's got to be a piss stop where basically, the guy's got to get out of the car. There's a port-a-potty on the thing, run across the road, have a pee, but he's got to fill a glass, and so you'll have like a camera on the glass. While the guy's having a run back put on, you can leave his helmet on, get in the car, and I think that would that would. That would spice up the show. So you have a piss stop and a piss stop.

Rick Houghton:

That's my, my call.

Paul Velasco:

Yeah.

Rick Houghton:

I think, I think you've done it and you know what, Paul, I think you are definitely with that. Just with Matt, you are in line for the next presidency of the FIA.

Paul Velasco:

Cool. Okay, blame it on me, but a piss stop when the race is boring could be good.

Rick Houghton:

Yeah, definitely One thing I wanted to talk about. You mentioned they started in the same order they finished. I was super impressed with Lando Norris because we've talked on the podcast many times and loads of other people have mentioned it about Lando being his own worst enemy when it comes to getting into his own head and scrambling his mind a little bit. I was super impressed, I thought, when Leclerc was catching Lando towards the closing stages of the Monaco Grand Prix. It was clear that Max was doing a bit of backing up there as well, because he was holding out for a safety car or a red flag, hoping that Leclerc and Lando would trip over each other.

Rick Houghton:

I was super impressed that Lando held it together. I was listening to his radio transmissions in the final five or six laps and he was really cool on the radio. There was no panic in his voice. There was no concern. He was driving to the best of his ability. He may have taken raskas a little slower than he would have done in qualifying, but he was obviously looking after the car and making sure the tires would get him to the end.

Paul Velasco:

But I was super impressed with his maturity and the fact that he kept a cool head yeah, I know I'm also super impressed with lennon norris and I know that he has an impressive showing. When jad our editor actually gives him praise because jad has his doubts that a nice guy like him can do well, I think he proved that he's changed his attitude a little bit. I think there's something slightly different about him. Maybe he's driving on home soil, he's a bit more confident. Look for me, what's fascinating, as I've always said from the beginning of the season, is the inner team battles. And there you have it, he came out, he won, oscar hit him. And his inner team battles. And there you have it. Like he came out, he won, oscar hit him one, two, two, twice on the canvas. Bam, bam, he's back up. Monaco. Boom, boom.

Paul Velasco:

I think he gave a good little hiding to Piastri there in terms of wake-up call and it's again. It's like a boxing match between the two inmates at McLaren. And yeah, I'm pretty, pretty impressed with Norris. But this has been the tale of these two boys. You know, boys and I say this with total respect, like they're my children right, these boys, they just get better and better, they just get better. Boom, you know, deliver. Piaget goes ta-ta and then up goes Norris a couple of notches and they're just getting better and better all the time. They're young, oh man, I'm just so fascinated by this duel.

Paul Velasco:

And yeah, as it stands, there was 13-point gap between Norris and Piastri before the race, and two hours later the gap's down to three, you know, and the championship's on McLaren can sit back. This is cool. Let them race, which is what Zach's doing. So, thank you, zach, that's very cool. Race, which is what Zach's doing. So, thank you, zach, that's very cool. There'll come a time, I guess, when they've probably wrapped up the championship. I don't see Max or anyone catching them. To be honest with you.

Rick Houghton:

Really. I mean, I think Max is always going to be a threat. And don't forget, we've got a rule change coming in Spain this coming weekend. True, true, banning flexi wings, which is whatclaren have played a strength on their flexiwing project, has probably seen them get to the top of the uh, the fastest car list over the first part of this season, but in spain that will not be allowed now. This could be a massive chance for max to take full advantage and, uh, start pulling out a lead in the championship. We, we don't know yet, but it's something to mention.

Paul Velasco:

I think that was just a mid-podcast punt for the Barcelona preview, which will come out just before the weekend starts down in Spain. But yeah, back onto this one, monaco. Let's talk about Lance Stroll.

Rick Houghton:

So before, in last week's podcast, before the Monaco Grand Prix, me and Paul both gave a prediction. Normally we predict who we think is going to win the race, but because Monaco is so tight and the walls are everywhere, we made a prediction about who would be the first to crumple his car. Now, he didn't hit the wall Stroll but we both said it would be Stroll. By the way, we said he'd be the first to put it in the wall. He didn't hit the wall, but he moved over which was just bizarre in practice and crumpled his car, so he was the first one to have any real damage of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. He did it again in qualifying. It's just like you know, they need massive wing mirrors on the Aston Martin or they need to tell Stroll that he needs to listen to his engineers. Well, I don't know.

Rick Houghton:

I saw Adrian Newey defending Lance Stroll in Monaco. He said Really, yeah, Did you not see that? Adrian Newey said most people have bad things to say about Lance Stroll, but actually he's a really quick Formula One driver. That's what he said.

Paul Velasco:

Listen, I'm not going to deny that.

Paul Velasco:

First of all, who pays Adrian's salary? Oh yeah, it's Lawrence. Okay, but no, seriously, though, lance can be quick, could be quick, but he's seen his best days, you know. Maybe when he was running those pink Mercedes and I think he got himself a podium and maybe even a pole, he proved that he has flashes of that. But you know, a flash does not make a Grand Prix driver. Ask Liam Lawson, ask all the Red Bull rejects, you know. But he should in any other team he'd have been long, long gone. But what perturbs me is that the guy hey, he just gets worse and worse Every weekend. He was the worst driver on the grid this weekend. He stayed out of trouble on race day but he was just rubbish. He didn't see Leclerc. He took Leclerc out. He says I didn't see again the Ferrari. He mistook an Alpine which was pink. We couldn't see the sun. He's been doing this for like five, six years. Whatever. He's got so many Grand Prix starts and he just gets no better. It's a shame because if Aston Martin wants to be taken seriously, there's no way they can have him. Furthermore, he's not even delivering on track because Alonso murdered him again. It really exposes him every time when Alonso brings his A game.

Paul Velasco:

Another thing you're a billionaire. Your dad's bought you this crazy. He spent like a trillion dollars man building you, this amazing team. Can't you crack a smile? Do you have to have this look like you've just swallowed lemons, even if you lost? Grip a cigar and get some character and just be the guy, the jolly billionaire? But no, he's not. He looks like he's pained to be there, which makes me question. Maybe Lance Stroll did not want to be his dad's reincarnation? You know what I'm saying. Maybe he didn't want to live Lawrence's dream of being a Grand Prix driver? Maybe he wanted to be a dressmaker in one of his factories and head up the whole dressmaking side, because he's not showing me that he's a happy guy racing a Formula One car. That's all I can say.

Rick Houghton:

Yeah, I would totally agree with you. And, talking about the team in general, I thought it was really disappointing that Alonso had the engine fail Because he was on for possibly a top five finish in Monaco. He was going really well, he had a great weekend in practice, he had a great weekend in qualifying. Uh, he put it up there on sixth and I think you know it's a real shame that he had a an engine failure and retired from the race. Ferrari, let's move on to Ferrari. Once again, once again and it's just doing my head in Once again, zero communication ability between the pit wall and Lewis Hamilton.

Rick Houghton:

Hamilton literally screaming at his engineers saying that's not what I asked you. I asked you how many seconds am I behind the car in front? And he gave him a plan that he went yeah, I'll get back to you, I'll get back to you, I'll get back to you. He's on the pit wall. He's looking at five or six different timing screens. He can see everything. Hamilton's going. Help me out here, man. How many seconds? I'm just like oh, this is just continuing. The ridiculousness of the Ferrari pit wall and their communication with their drivers. I've always said it. I don't think they watch the race. I've always said they look at data and telemetry. They don't actually watch how the race is panning out. Then it seems like they're not interested in any cars that are around them. They're just interested in the tyre temperature of Lewis Hamilton. That's it. They can't give him a simple answer of how many seconds he is behind the car in front. It just baffles me. It makes me want to go and punch the pit wall in the face very hard. Jesus, rick.

Paul Velasco:

Breathe, mate, breathe Rick, breathe, yeah, drink, yeah, have a drink. Jeez Gee, I don't have anything to say. That was the biggest roast of Ferrari I've ever heard in my life. Oh my God, you don't want to piss the English off when Lewis loses. Eh, the English don't dig it. My word Shh.

Paul Velasco:

Breathe, rick, yeah, good, yeah, I agree with you, like Ferrari. I mean, they also threw him under the bus. Also, he had to go and apologize to Verstappen because he tripped him up in Q1. Verstappen was coming through behind him and the pit wall said no, louis, verstappen's slowing down, and Verstappen was not slowing down.

Paul Velasco:

So yeah, again, you know it's not unexpected with Ferrari, but I'm going to take the positives because you know, listen, ferrari, dropping the ball and being like the Keystone Cops is just part and parcel of Formula One. You know what's new? But to me, the interesting thing is that I thought Leclerc should have got pole. I think he dropped the ball there a bit and he was pissed off afterwards, it's all. The body language was just so like oh man, that should have been mine. And I think I was quite surprised because he he had hammered it home throughout the weekend. He was super, super feisty, super aggressive, and even Lance Stroll trying to kill him didn't deter him, so you know, and they started killing him, I think in the first session, anyway.

Paul Velasco:

But yeah, I'm impressed with Ferrari, but again it dawns on me, because as much as Ferrari were there, mercedes weren't. And I think these teams now have got to this maturity, peak maturity of these regulations and these packages. They're all focusing on the next season, and now whatever they're bolting on is a bit of a Hail Mary Say hey, listen, we tried that thing, bring it on. If we get a tenth here, a tenth there, cool. I don't see big step-ups, you know, because I thought, wow, everyone might ah, red Bull's back. They were pretty bad here and we've got to talk about Red Bull. But what were your thoughts on Mercedes, though? That was quite a poor weekend, probably the worst they've had in a long, long time.

Rick Houghton:

Yeah, I thought Mercedes were in no man's land really. Obviously they had the crash, antonelli's crash in qualifying in Q2, which ruled him out of progressing, and then George Russell had the engine fail in qualifying, so they were well down the order. To start with, I saw an interview with Toto Wolff afterwards with the excellent Ted Kravitz, and Ted Kravitz said to him listen, did you not think about trying something different with at least one of the cars? Did you not think about trying something different with at least one of the cars? Did you not think about the early pit stop or the double early pit stop?

Rick Houghton:

And Toto Wolff said you know what he said we worked it out. He said there was nothing we could have done. We had to do what we did and if we'd have tried anything crazy it wouldn't have been to our advantage. And I think he was right. Know, they were stuck where they were. Other teams started backing up the pack as they got in more into the race. I thought it was interesting that toto wolf said we thought about backing cars up to our advantage and we were probably going to do it, but then, when other teams started it before we did in the race, we realized there was no point, so it was kind of like it was a nothing race for us, and that's exactly what it was.

Paul Velasco:

I think paul yeah, pretty much it was disappointing. I think I think mercedes had a car that could have qualified on the first two rows, I think russell knew it, but then didn't get a chance to see that in action. So, yeah, that to me very strange weekend and I think you know it's going to be like this. Some tracks are going to be user-friendly to some teams, but I think the most consistent team has to be mclaren. You know, they're fast everywhere. Fast at emily they were fast. Yeah, they're fast everywhere. That's a that's a superb car, but I think everyone else is circuit dependent and maybe even weather dependent, and so, yeah, it's very hard to tell In terms of that.

Paul Velasco:

I just want to go back to the Red Bull, because this was an example where they could have put four cars into play and I think there was one stage that was kind of like. You know, and as much as we want to say that it's two separate teams, it's not, it's one team with four cars. As far as I'm concerned, especially when it comes to a weekend like this, again, we've got to salute Isak Hadja. I mean, you know, you've got to wonder if Tsunoda is not doomed to be out of this car. They're going to keep him until the end of the season. He's just so out of his depth where Hadja is just relishing and reveling and really astonishing you know astonishing performance by him. What do you?

Rick Houghton:

reckon, yeah, hadja's impressed me from the get-go really. Performance by him, what do you reckon, yeah, had just impressed me from the get-go really? I mean, obviously, the first grand prix of the season in australia. He binned it on the way to the grid in the formation lap. We were all thinking, oh my god, what's going on here? But then after that, he's just, he's shunned and he, he's, he. He drives brilliantly. He's got a brilliant pit wall behind him as well.

Rick Houghton:

The strategy they played out in Monaco was genius.

Rick Houghton:

I know other teams adopted a similar strategy a little bit later on, but from the get-go, the strategy that they employed for Hadja to give him the advantage, to make sure that he was going to stay well within the top 10, using Liam Lawson to back up the cars that were around him I thought the strategy was genius and it was employed. That was the best strategy of the Monaco weekend. Other teams tried it, not to the same effect, but the racing bulls brilliant, and Hadja, I think, is just a stunning driver. I think you know, all right, tsunoda's going to be in the main car until the end of the season, but Hadja's going to have a full season in racing bulls, proving to the world that he's a fantastic driver, that he's got a really mature head on young shoulders and if they make that switch at the end of the season and put him in the main team next year, he's going to have all the experience of a season under his belt and it could be a real turning point for the Red Bull team. Yeah, indeed.

Paul Velasco:

You know, I think no one would have predicted Hadjo's heroics. And again, let's also give credit to Lawson. He had a good race, he played the team game and I think he's basically rebuilding his confidence. And you know, monaco is a big test for rookies and I think they both passed with flying colours, which is very interesting. Just one thing on aston martin adrian knew he was back in the pit lane this time, uh, for the first time wearing the green of aston martin. He had a lot to say.

Paul Velasco:

We've got an interview on the website, but generally saying a few of the highlights from that interview being that don't dream about max verstappen yet. Let's get a decent car. That seems to be the, the onus that he's sort of there, but at the same time this is probably the most important car he will ever design in his life. Everyone is expecting this thing to be fast out of the box and that's why he's there. I have a good cop and a bad cop brain and my bad cop brain I say what if it bombs? What if it's one of the new he's rare, but he's had some bad cars? What if it's one of Newey's rare, but he's had some bad cars? What if it's one of those Interesting times lie ahead, but it was good to see him there and he's very realistic about where the project is going.

Rick Houghton:

I noticed something very interesting that Adrian Newey was quoted as saying over the Monaco weekend. He said that the problem with the current Aston Martin car and this is a massive deal he said that they haven't been able to correlate the simulator to the actual car. Uh, that's excuse. That's the fucking oldest excuse in front of the wife. So he's saying, he's saying when we put our test drivers in the simulator, what they're doing doesn't correlate to the actual car. So the simulator is offset with what actually happens in the real world. And that's why this year's car has been more of a disaster than they thought it would be.

Paul Velasco:

We've been following this sport for a long time. That is the oldest Formula One excuse in the book. Ferrari streamlined it. It's like the Carini is not working because the Winder Tan Carini is not Workini because of the winter. Tanellini is not a Calabretini with the Carini and the simulator driverini. You know that's their version. You know. I remember when Williams and Paddy Lodge resigned that car. It was also like nothing correlated with nothing in terms of the winter. I think it's the oldest trick in the book. And there's Adrian Newey. He's a dinosaur from that age of excuses that everyone knows you're talking shit. And no, the bottom line is this Laurence Stroll has created the perfect Formula One team. Now they've got everyone that's there all earning massive bucks, all top of the pyramid, apart from Lance, of course, who's like bottom of the pyramid. These guys have to deliver a Ferrari-like team next year and carry on like that, otherwise why spend all this money?

Rick Houghton:

Let's talk about the rookies in general. Antonelli, rookie driver, was the only one that really clicked the barriers. The rest of the rookies Bortoletto and no, bortoletto hit the barrier too.

Paul Velasco:

Which Monaco Grand Prix were you watching? No, testing makes you shit driver, simple as that. Especially these cars. These cars are super cumbersome, they're super, super rubbish. They're cars for like open tracks, like Spa. They're going to be beautiful there, and maybe even Interlagos, because that's tight. But there's something about into lagos that these cars kind of relish, but uh, when it comes to monaco, it was just pretty clear that they're not made for it I thought it was interesting with williams.

Rick Houghton:

James vals was on the uh, he was the the pit lane guest for sky sports f1, uh, so they were going to him a couple of times during the race, um, and they asked him about team tactics, about backing other cars up, and he said, well, it's not something we're really interested in. And then, literally after he said that, they started backing up with albert and sites, and when they went back to him and said, well, you just said you weren't going to do that, but now you're doing it and you're doing it massively, he said you know, it's not the way I want to go racing, I do not want to be doing this. He said, but unless we do it, we give ourselves, you know, the chance of not finishing in the points. And we want to finish in the points and effectively we're really aiming for ninth place here.

Paul Velasco:

So we have to do it. But it's not what I want to do. It's not. You know what I tell you again. You, james, val's cool guys done a lot there at williams, but seriously, james, I don't believe that for a minute. You know when you want to inflict. You know all this fear and love and war. You push the envelope all the time. I'm actually surprised that max took it right to the end and that's I wouldn't have done. But I know someone who would have done it. Say, yuki, put it in the wall on the last lap. They would have won them the race, you know that.

Rick Houghton:

So that was something that I was very conscious of, because when it became apparent there was two things became apparent. First, max makes his second pit stop, he's going to come out in fourth place, exactly, which is what happened. Second, if Max doesn't make the second pit stop, the penalty is 30 seconds, fourth place. Third, if one of the racing bulls should suddenly hit the wall and it brings out a full safety car or a red flag, max wins the race. And I was thinking back to Singapore, back to the reno, back to flavio.

Paul Velasco:

I was thinking, wow, that would be very, very interesting and would just be in a call, like some kind of signal to lawson or yuki or whoever. I'd know how, joe, they wouldn't have done it to him, but they would have probably taken one of the guys running at the back, which was yuki, and they said yuki, it is time, because max dared them, max dared them, like right to the end, but they didn't do it. Credit to them. But I do still feel, uh and they might argue against it, but I'd like to hear their side of the story that they do have an advantage when it comes to these kind of races. When all four cars are running in the top 10, they can definitely fiddle and do stuff, whether it be at monaco or any other race.

Rick Houghton:

To be honest with you, we've all got our opinions on the monaco grand prix. Most of us want to keep it on the calendar because of its prestige in the formula one arena. Most of us would like to improve the racing and give teams the ability to overtake without having to back up the pack. That will be a debate that will roll on for the next 12 months until we go back to the principality. Next time out we're at a classic circuit it's the spanish grand prix and our next podcast is going to preview that, because I think it could be a very interesting weekend for a number of teams and a number of drivers. But for now, thanks for listening to Two Soft Compounds. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your colleagues that we are here and please follow us. And if you want the latest news in the world of Formula One, make sure you check out GrandPrix247.com. My friend Paul is the chief editor. Thanks, paul, thank you, Rick.

Paul Velasco:

Once again you hit a home run and I can't wait to listen to that podcast. And also barcelona, the place where there's zero margins. The teams are at their very best.

Rick Houghton:

It's going to be super interesting two soft compounds was presented by myself, r Rick Hutton, alongside Paul Valesco. The studio engineer and editor was Roy DeMonte, the executive producer was Ian Carlos, and this podcast is a co-production between Grand Prix 24-7 and W4 Podcast Studio Dubai. Don't forget, if you want to join in the conversation, leave a comment on our Instagram page at Two Soft Compounds. We love getting comments, questions, and we'll give a shout out to some of the best ones on the podcast in the next few weeks. You can also email us at twosoftcompounds at gmailcom and if you haven't done so already, please do click that follow or subscribe button. See you next time.