Piastri is unsure whether new Monaco sporting rule should remain in the future

F1 Grand Prix, GP Monaco, Monte Carlo Circuit

Having finished the Monaco Grand Prix third, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri suggested that he is unsure whether the mandatory two-stop strategy should be retained for next year's race in the Principality.

Although Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc dominated the practice sessions at the Monaco Grand Prix, McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri picked up the pace in qualifying.

The Briton set the benchmark in the middle part of qualifying before posting a track record in Q3 en route to a brilliant pole position in the Principality.

His team-mate Piastri was unable to put a perfect lap together, and ended up third on the grid behind the Ferrari of Leclerc.

Despite the introduction of a mandatory two-stop strategy for this year’s Monaco Grand Prix, Lando Norris controlled proceedings in the 78-lap race to snatch his first victory in the Principality from home favourite Charles Leclerc.

Piastri did not always look overly comfortable in his MCL39, but it was still enough for the Australian to finish on the podium and maintain his lead in the championship.

Asked whether the race panned out as he expected, Piastri has revealed that the mandatory two-stop strategy meant that the front-runners were forced to pick up their pace which made the race more intense.

"Pretty much exactly how I expected. I think there was a lot of action behind, so maybe that was a bit different. But from where I was at, it panned out pretty much how I thought.

"It definitely made the pace of the race a bit higher, certainly compared to last year. So from the cockpit, it was a little bit more intense. We’re still not pushing flat out, but it just made certain points of the race a bit more tense."

Pushed to to comment on his feelings inside his car, Piastri noted: "Everything felt okay, but you're not really pushing it to the limit in the race. I was pretty happy with it in qualifying. I think we got there eventually.

"It was more just struggling to get into a rhythm before qualifying. And around here, you pay the price for not having that clean run into quali. So that’s where I think our weekend got away from us a little bit.

"But the pace was still good, just trying to get everything out of it. Every single lap was tough yesterday. And today, we tried a few things to get higher than third, but it didn’t work.

Last Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix saw the introduction of the mandatory two-stop strategy which meant drivers were obliged to use three sets of tyres.

Although the sport wanted to generate more spectacle with two mandatory stops, several teams - including Williams, Racing Bulls and Mercedes - used team games that saw drivers drop four seconds a lap in order to create a gap for a "free" pit stop for their team-mate.

Signing off with a word for the strategy, Piastri noted: "It definitely made it a bit more tense at a few points. You had to push more at certain points to kind of recover the safety car windows to other cars around you or put yourself outside of someone else's safety car window.

"So there were some strategic elements involved. But ultimately, at the front, I don’t think it changed a whole lot. It would have been quite a different story if there was a red flag with five laps to go and Max would have won.

"I’m sure if we keep this going in the future, eventually a result like that will happen. Is that what we want to see? I don't know. But at the front, I don't think it changed a huge amount this weekend," concluded the Australian.