Lewis Hamilton idea to spice up Monaco GP backed as Damon Hill adds two more suggestions

To the suggestion of mandatory usage of all three tyre compounds in the Monaco Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton had hinted at, 1996 World Champion Damon Hill gave his support and also proposed shorter and lighter cars.

Fresh off Formula 1’s latest visit to the iconic streets of Monte Carlo, a familiar topic was left behind for debate, that being the quality of the racing action around this tight and technical circuit.

Damon Hill weighs in after Lewis Hamilton suggests mandatory Monaco pit stops

The race was not completely void of overtakes, with the likes of Lance Stroll towards the back pulling moves on Zhou Guanyu and Logan Sargeant, though the top 10 drivers on the grid would all finish in the positions where they started.

Hamilton, who finished P7, was among the drivers to offer a potential solution for creating more on-track action, suggesting “three mandatory stops” could be the way of “spicing it up a bit more”.

Respected F1 statistician Sean Kelly endorsed that idea with his Monaco GP suggestion, which was backed by Hill.

“Since they’re debating tyre rules on F1TV… I’ve always advocated they should run three compulsory dry Pirelli compounds in the Monaco GP,” Kelly wrote on X.

“It costs nothing.

“Before you say we shouldn’t have rules just for Monaco, there are literally rules just for Monaco in the current regs.”

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Hill would reply with “it’s a good thought”, though looked to take the conversation further with two more ideas for how the racing action at Monaco could be improved.

Over the years, F1 cars have become bigger and heavier, which certainly does not lend itself to creating overtaking opportunities around the Monaco circuit.

With that in mind, Hill suggested ditching 100 kilograms in weight from the cars and shortening them by a meter, arguing that better racing would more than compensate for a loss of power.

“It’s a good thought. That and making the cars about 1m shorter and 100kg lighter,” Hill suggested.

“Less power is not a problem if the racing is better.”

Highlighting the limited overtaking going on, the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix set a new record with the top 10 finishing the race in the order which they started, the previous record having been the top six crossing the line in the same starting order.

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