Why not 10 stops? Verstappen says Monaco experiment failed

MONACO :Formula One champion Max Verstappen ladled out a serving of sarcasm on Sunday as he declared Monaco's mandatory two-stop experiment a flop.

The decision to force drivers to use three sets of tyres was taken in a bid to liven up a race famed for being processional and lacking overtaking.

Spectators who saw any passing were probably hallucinating, with the top four finishing in their starting positions and the main tension provided by the hope of a safety car that never appeared.

"Very exciting. I was on the edge of my seat every lap. It was fantastic," Verstappen, who finished fourth, told reporters without expecting anyone to take his words seriously.

"Maybe next year four stops. I could have done four stops today and still finished P4."

Speaking to Sky Sports television, Red Bull's four-times world champion went even further.

"You can't race here. It doesn't matter what you do. One stop, 10 stops," he said.

"Nowadays with an F1 car, you can just pass an F2 car around here. I get it but I don't think it's worked. We were almost doing Mario Kart. Then we have to install bits on the car and maybe you can throw bananas around. Slippery surface."

Other drivers echoed the Dutch driver's sentiments.

"The two-stop clearly did not work at all," said Mercedes' George Russell.

McLaren's race winner Lando Norris gave a two-word answer when asked for his thoughts: "Hated it."

That said, he said overtaking had always been difficult in Monaco and did not understand why people expected anything different.

"I also think Formula One should not turn into just a show to entertain people. It’s a sport. It’s who can race the best, who can qualify the best," he said.

"The last thing I want is manufactured racing, and I think we definitely need to