The 2025 Monaco Grand Prix, despite the introduction of a mandatory two-stop rule designed to increase overtaking, featured only two passes throughout the entire race. The main reason for this was the size of the modern Formula 1 cars in relation to the narrow Monaco track. The circuit is simply too tight for today’s large cars.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso spoke about this ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. He said he prefers the cars from the 2000s, even though they also struggled to overtake in Monaco.
Last weekend, Lando Norris earned his first win at Monaco after an impressive qualifying performance that put him on pole position. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished second, and championship leader Oscar Piastri took third place. Alonso, however, had a difficult race. His Aston Martin, powered by Mercedes, stopped on lap 37 because of a power unit failure. Alonso had started seventh and looked set to score points. But after losing his ERS system on lap 15, which reduced his car’s power by 160 horsepower, his race fell apart. This was Alonso’s third retirement in just eight races this season.
Several teams used legal tactics to slow down opponents and help their teammates during pit stops. In a light-hearted moment, Alonso joked about the car sizes. “The cars should be small enough to fit Yuki and myself in it,” he said, referring to teammate Yuki Tsunoda. “After that, it’s George’s problem.”
Alonso made the comment during a press conference, sitting next to George Russell, who is one of the tallest drivers in Formula 1 at 1.85 meters. Tsunoda is the smallest driver at 1.59 meters, while Alonso is fourth shortest at 1.71 meters.
“There are other sports like basketball that George could try,” Alonso added jokingly.
Reflecting on the cars from the early 2000s, Alonso said, “Those were the best cars I drove, maybe because I’m a bit romantic about that time. It was my early Formula 1 career and my first successes came then.”
He continued, “The V10 engines and smaller cars gave me great memories. They were fun to drive. But even then, overtaking at Monaco was still very difficult.”
In 2026, Formula 1 will introduce smaller cars. The width will be reduced by 100mm to 1900mm, and the wheelbase will shrink by 200mm to 3400mm. However, these cars will still be larger than the cars from 2005.
