Charles Leclerc admits Formula 1’s proposed plan to increase the pit-lane speed limit at certain Grands Prix to spice up races hadn’t ever crossed his mind.
After a series of mundane affairs to open out the F1 season, particularly the Japanese and Saudi Arabian GPs, the sport’s organisers are looking into ways to spice things up and introduce strategy variation.
Pirelli has tried going softer with its compounds, which did little to change competitors sticking to the tried and trusted one-stop method in Jeddah, and it’s likely that Miami will also be focused on one-stop strategies.
The Race reports that following discussions between F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and Pirelli Motorsport Director Mario Isola, a plan to raise the pit-lane speed limit by 20 km/h at certain races has been proposed.
This could be done at the venues where the limit is lower than the standard 80 km/h, namely Australia, Monaco, Zandvoort and Singapore where the limit is currently 60km/h.
Safety measures will need to be taken to facilitate this, but it’s believed this could reduce pit stop times by approximately six seconds, introducing the potential for extra stops across a race distance.
Leclerc was surprised by the plans when it was put to him in Miami, telling select media, including Motorsport Week, “I have never heard of it [the idea], but definitely not for all races.
“I don’t think that will be sensible for all races. I felt like there are some tracks where it could work, but to be honest, I never thought about even doing this.
“I’ll have to look a little bit more into details and what are the implications of all these things. But as a first thought, probably on some races, it can make sense, yes.”
The F1 car-shaped elephant in the room
Other plans being discussed are more aggressive tyre compounds and a greater step between compounds provided by Pirelli to introduce greater strategic variance.
Monaco this year will introduce a mandatory two-stop to try and liven up what is historically the least entertaining race on the calendar with little to no overtaking.
However, none of these changes matter unless the cars get smaller, and lighter.
The current Formula has developed F1 machines into oversized aero monsters, whereby overtaking becomes a strategic game often dictated by the rulebook on the few occasions a move is pulled off.
If F1 truly wants entertainment, it must work on making cars smaller and lighter.
2026 is a step in a positive direction in that regard, but only marginally.
Tyres also play a massive role, and if it’s easy for Pirelli’s compounds to hold up for a one-stop, then that will continue to dictate a lack of strategic variance.
While the plan to increase pit-lane speed limits is slightly out of left field, it at least shows F1 is keen on improving the spectacle.
READ MORE – FIA confirms two-stop requirement for F1 Monaco GP
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