The race in Monaco this weekend was nothing short of exciting, however Lando Norris was able to maintain his lead ahead of Charles Leclerc and his teammate, Oscar Piastri, whom he’s now only three points behind in the Championship standings. That doesn’t mean the Grand Prix wasn’t full of ups and downs, though, all of which you can read about below.
A great weekend for Racings Bulls (and Ocon)
- New Mandatory Two Pit-Stops Rule
- In an effort to create a more exciting race at a track that is notoriously hard to overtake on, a new rule was implemented for the Monaco Grand Prix. The rule essentially stated that all drivers must use three sets of tires on race day, meaning a minimum of two pit-stops is necessary. However, the hope that this would create more racing excitement failed to become a reality in the eyes of many. Most teams took to playing a team game, and Williams was one team that did just that. Albon and Sainz were running ninth and tenth for most of the race, and when it came time to box, Sainz was in charge of holding up all the cars behind in order to let his teammate Albon complete both pit-stops. Afterwards, the pair swapped positions to switch roles. This, as you can imagine, annoyed many of the drivers behind, but most of all both Mercedes, as they were running directly behind the slow moving Williams of Sainz, then Albon. Many fear that the new pit-stop didn’t exactly have the result that the FIA was looking for, so perhaps it’s back to the drawing board for next year.
- Two DNFs
- Monaco will always bring the drama of race retirements due to the close-quarters of the street circuit, and this race was no different. Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso both suffered from a DNF, and both for different reasons. Early in the race, Pierre Gasly had an incident with Yuki Tsunoda, as the Alpine slipped up and collided with the back of the Red Bull. Tsunoda escaped relatively unharmed, but Gasly’s front wing came completely off, and his left tire almost suffered the same. The Alpine driver continued to limp around the circuit and make his way to the pits. No safety car, virtual or otherwise, was deployed, though the pit lane entry was closed for a brief amount of time and yellows were waved to clear the debris. Fernando Alonso was the next car to retire from the race, due to a power unit issue. Once again, no safety car or VSC was brought out as he and his car manged to escape to safety. Alonso’s retirement also means that he still has yet to score a point this season, with eight rounds having been completed.
- Mercedes Having a Bad Weekend
- The weekend got off to a bad start for the silver arrows on Saturday, when neither Mercedes reached Q3 for the first time since 2022. The pair was able to make it up to P11 and P12 on Sunday, but Russell was not a happy driver as he was stuck driving behind Carlos Sainz, and then Alex Albon, as mentioned above. At one point in the middle stages of the race Russell went wide and passed Albon, before saying he’d rather ‘take the penalty’ than give the place back. Eventually, though, Russell finished the race in eleventh place after having to pit twice during the last half of the race. Antonelli was in a similar situation, though his two pit-stops cost him many more places, and the rookie finished P18, in what will be a race to forget for Mercedes.
- Pressure on Norris
- Some may say that in Monaco, the race is during qualifying, but although Lando Norris started the Grand Prix from pole, his race was far from over. Going into the first corner, Norris had a big lock-up, which gave Leclerc a chance to look for an overtaking opportunity. However, Lando managed to keep his McLaren strategically placed in order to keep his lead. From there the race seemed to be smooth sailing, with the Brit only losing his lead due to the two mandated pit-stops. But in the late stages of the race, Lando found himself behind his old rival Max Verstappen, who still needed to complete one more pit-stop but was waiting for the chance of a red flag. Verstappen was also giving an extra hand to Leclerc, who was able to close up to Norris and was all over his gearbox in the final laps. Luckily for Lando, Monaco is a track with little to no overtaking opportunities, so the McLaren driver was able to keep his head down and drive a clean race right to the checkered flag, especially once Verstappen boxed on the last lap.
- A Positive Weekend for Racing Bulls
- Both Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson had a great qualifying session on Saturday, and both drivers were starting from inside the top ten. From there, on Sunday they did play a team game in order to pit and lose less positions than normal. Rookie Isack Hadjar had a brilliant drive to finish in sixth place, while his teammate Liam Lawson scored his first points of the season, in P8. Between the pair was a shocking addition to the top ten. After reaching Q3 in qualifying Esteban Ocon ended the race on Sunday in seventh place, and without a teammate to help out with pit-stops, as Bearman was down in P12. This has helped Haas maintain sixth place in the Constructors’ Standings, although they are now only four points ahead of Racing Bulls in seventh, after the Red Bull sister team took away a double points finish in Monaco.
