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Monaco GP: Will New Engine Rules Finally Bring Change?
Monaco is famous for difficult overtaking, but new engine regulations and energy management could reshape the race entirely this year.
By Ruben Smit - 2026-06-03T05:48:40.000Z - 2 min read
For decades, the Monaco Grand Prix has been known as a unique event where pure engine power matters less than overall car performance. That makes it an outlier on the calendar, a race many drivers look forward to with high expectations. Lewis Hamilton, for instance, sees opportunities for his Ferrari precisely because it is less about brute force and more about chassis quality.
However, the narrow streets of the Principality have frequently produced snoring processions in recent years, sometimes yielding just a handful of overtakes across the entire race. By comparison, this season's average per Grand Prix is significantly higher, featuring plenty of wheel-to-wheel battles. Although the cars are lighter and slightly narrower this year, expectations are that this alone will not revolutionize overtaking opportunities; the differences compared to twenty years ago remain too small and the track is too tight.
Real change is expected to come from the new engine regulations, specifically the 'overtake' mode that grants extra electrical energy to a driver within one second of the car ahead. This mode has already caused plenty of 'yo-yo racing' this year, with positions swapping repeatedly. In Monaco, combined with tire degradation on the car ahead, this could open up opportunities for a pass, though the power offset here will be smaller than at other circuits.
On most tracks, current F1 cars suffer from an electrical energy deficit, meaning full power is not always available. Monaco is an exception; thanks to its many corners, energy can be harvested far more efficiently. This means drivers here may, potentially for the first time this season, have full engine power continuously available during qualifying. Drivers like Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc are consequently taking a positive view of the race weekend, although the FIA has capped electrical deployment, making taming all that power a real challenge.