Max Verstappen warns against more ‘Mario Kart’ gimmicks at F1 Monaco GP

Max Verstappen has warned that introducing any further gimmicks to spice up the F1 Monaco Grand Prix would risk turning the race into “Mario Kart”.

In a bid to spice up the show, F1 imposed a mandatory two pit stop rule for all 20 drivers.

The race remained a dull affair with very few overtakes.

The rule had unintended consequences for some teams, such as the Racing Bulls and Williams, who deliberately backed up the pack with one of their drivers to aid their teammates.

It even led George Russell to intentionally cut the chicane to get ahead of Alex Albon before being hit with a drive-through penalty.

Speaking after the race in Monaco to Sky Sports, Verstappen declared the rule simply didn’t work.

“Yeah, but you can’t race here anyway, so it doesn’t matter what you do,” Verstappen said. “One-stop, 10 stops. Even at the end, I was in the lead, but my tyres were completely gone, and you still can’t pass. Nowadays with an F1 car you can just pass an F2 car.

“I get it. I don’t think it has worked.”

Verstappen was then asked if further tweaks should be made to improve the show in Monaco.

Verstappen dismissed any other gimmicks, likening any other changes to the popular video game ‘Mario Kart’.

“Honestly, we’re almost then doing Mario Kart,” Verstappen added.

“We would have to install bits on the car, and maybe you can throw bananas around. I don’t know. Slippery surface.”

Verstappen: Red Bull didn’t have the pace

Verstappen ultimately finished fourth, behind Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri.

He led the race heading into the final few laps after Red Bull kept him out waiting for a possible Safety Car.

Verstappen felt Red Bull didn’t have the pace to compete with the top three.

“There was nothing to lose. I had a big gap behind,” Verstappen explained. “Like I said, I could have done four stops and still the same position. For me, that’s Monaco for you. Qualifying is super important. Normally, when nothing bad happens you don’t really move forward and if you just do normal pit stops you just keep your position and it’s exactly what happened today.

“I don’t think we had the pace anyway to fight the guys ahead because every time I tried to stay with them my tyres were wearing a bit too much and graining a bit too much. P4 is definitely the maximum we could do.”