THIS [not so] many number of overtakes happened at the Monaco GP on Sunday
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- Corwin Kunst
Opinions on the Monaco Grand Prix are somewhat divided. Some found it boring, while others found it rather exciting because of the tactical element with tyre management and driving deliberately slow to let the differences become small or not too big on purpose. At least one thing is certain: there was not much overtaking. Last Sunday, there were only four overtakes to note.
The overtaking that took place under blue flags - putting stragglers on a lap - logically did not count. We had to wait until the 51st lap for the first overtaking action on track. Valtteri Bottas passed Logan Sargeant for 13th place. After that, Lance Stroll overtook both Guanyu Zhou and Sargeant and it was the same Sargeant who managed to pass Zhou on the narrow streets on the 68th lap. It stopped there in the principality.
The four overtakes are in stark contrast to the past two editions of the Monaco Grand Prix. Racingpass.net calculated that in 2023 there were "as many as" 22 overtakes, although that number was so high thanks in part to the rain that fell in the closing stages. In 2022, there were 13 overtaking events, even then there was wet tarmac. In terms of overtaking, the 2024 edition bore more similarities to previous dry races in 2021 (0), 2019 (2), 2018 (4) and 2017 (3).
Most overtaking in China
This is the first time since Monaco 2021 that there were so few overtaking events in Formula 1. This does not include that year's Belgian GP - which was cancelled after one lap.
The Chinese Grand Prix was the most spectacular in terms of overtaking this season: 53. It was followed by Japan with 48.
This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.