Alex Albon raises major fear ahead of F1 experiment

Alex Albon has highlighted some of the potential pitfalls awaiting F1 on the eve of it taking a novel approach to the Monaco Grand Prix.

For the first time around the streets of Monte Carlo, the championship is mandating each driver pit at least twice, in a bid to revitalise the famed race.

Whilst F1's annual trip to the principality has seldom seen great wheel-to-wheel racing, given the tight and twisty nature of the circuit, the spectacle has worsened in recent years as cars have become bigger and heavier, leaving the entire weekend too-often distilled to just what happens during qualifying.

This prompted the series to seek ways to breathe new life into the jewel in F1's crown. However, heading into the weekend, there is concern that it will either make no substantive difference, or that it will actually worsen the situation.

"The biggest thing is obviously we're doing this to shake it up, and the worry is that it doesn't shake it up and it just creates a lap one situation where everyone starts to come into the pits and just tries to take some of the space, try and use that [on] lap two, three, four, five - whatever it may be - to push and then, who knows?," Albon explained to media including RacingNews365.

The Williams driver added: "If you speak to the team, and I think every strategist, we don't really know how it's going to play out at the moment, the biggest thing for us is... especially in the midfield, it's team-mates and how they help team-mates, let's say."

A return of a contentious Haas ploy?

To illustrate his point, the 29-year-old highlighted the tactic employed by Haas at last year's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which saw Kevin Magnussen deliberately back the pack up to afford his team-mate, Nico Hulkenberg, a free pit stop.

That strategy earned the American team a point whilst Albon finished just outside them, sandwiched between the two Haas drivers in P11.

"I think a good example would be Jeddah last year with Haas, with Kevin [Magnussen]. The race where he basically parked the bus and allowed Nico to have a free [pit] stop," he pointed out to underline the potential for a repeat performance.

"When you do work around a track like here [Monaco] with two stops, that's definitely possible, and you don't want to race like that.

"That's not to say... I think it's a good idea to do a two stop. I think we need to try something, but it may not change, really, the style of the race."