Will 2026's 'yo-yo racing' mean overtaking in Monaco?

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, McLaren's Lando Norris won the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix from pole position in a race that featured only four overtakes By Andrew Benson F1 Correspondent Published 8 hours ago Lewis Hamilton is looking forward to the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend. "It's the one track where power is not king," the Ferrari driver says. "It's definitely car performance. Our car could be really strong there." But if Hamilton and his team-mate Charles Leclerc are expecting a good weekend around the narrow streets because the effect of their engine's power deficit to Mercedes will be less pronounced, they're not the only drivers approaching the race with anticipation. In fact, pretty much every driver is - because the unique nature of Monaco should mean that it is a race different in character to the rest of this season. And perhaps - although this is less likely - even the character of the Monaco Grand Prix itself could change. In qualifying, the drivers expect that for the first time this year, they should be able to drive on the limit at all times; the fact that they cannot is their biggest complaint about this year's cars. And in the race, there is a thought that overtaking might just about become possible in certain circumstances. Even if, as one senior figure puts it, "in the end, it's Monaco. It won't be about overtaking." Let's delve into both to see how Monaco might change things. The racing Monaco has become notorious in recent years for soporific races in which the leader controls the pace from the front in an attempt to secure the victory knowing that overtaking is almost impossible. Last year's 78-lap race had just four overtakes in total. The average for 2025's 24 grands prix, discounting sprints, was 66.9. F1 has taken on a new look this year, with increased levels of overtaking and on-track battles lasting for many laps, with drivers swapping positions repeatedly. Could this change the character of the race where overtaking is most difficult? On paper, there are reasons to believe it might. A bit, anyway. Drivers have complained in recent years that the cars were simply too big - too long and wide - to race effectively in the tight confines of the streets of Monaco. But the fact that the cars are slightly lighter and smaller this year is unlikely to make a difference. While the 2026 cars are 10cm narrower and slightly shorter, they are still 10cm wider than the cars of 20 years ago. And overtaking has been all but impossible at Monaco between cars of similar levels of competitiveness for at least half a century. If anything is going to change the nature of racing in Monaco, it is the new engines, with their nominal 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power, and - most importantly - the new overtake mode. 'Overtake' gives a driver within a second of a car in front an extra 0.5MJ of electrical energy per lap. This is central to the new character of racing this year and the battles that many in the