- Charles Leclerc ended his home race win curse by winning the Monaco Grand Prix and beating the “adopted” Oscar Piastri.
- The 26-year-old had made two starts from pole in a race that was stopped after first lap incidents claimed the cars of five drivers.
- Oscar Piastri of McLaren came in second while Carlos Sainz of Ferrari came in third.
Charles Leclerc ended his home race win curse by winning the Monaco Grand Prix and beating the “adopted” Oscar Piastri.
The 26-year-old had made two starts from pole in a race that was stopped after first lap incidents claimed the cars of five drivers, and it was his first podium finish in six attempts at Monaco.
Oscar Piastri of McLaren came in second while Carlos Sainz of Ferrari came in third.
Max Verstappen, the 2023 Monaco winner and leader of the Red Bull championship, began and finished sixth, marking just the third time in eight races this season that the three-time world champion has lost.
Huge accident at the start
Stewards retrieve Perez’s crashed car in the first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix. Photo/ The Independent
One of the trickiest opening laps of the season at Monaco quickly became chaotic, with Sainz Jr. first seeming to sustain damage.
Leclerc had a clean start to pull ahead on a picture-perfect afternoon in the Riviera, while Piastri and Sainz entered Ste Devote side by side and clashed behind him.
The race was red-flagged before Sainz had a chance to recover because of a collision between Perez and the two Haas cars at the bottom of the pack.
At an estimated speed of 240 km/h, Perez spun and clipped the barriers before colliding with Nico Hulkenberg and subsequently Kevin Magnussen on the ascent into Massenet. “Unnecessary,” exclaimed Hulkenberg in a rage. Magnussen may have been barred from the race if he had been punished but not found guilty.
Esteban Ocon tried to dive inside Gasly at Portier, but all he managed to do was create an aerial drama, which led to another first lap incident involving the two Alpines. Ocon was dealt a 10-second penalty that would have resulted in a five-place grid drop in Canada, not to mention the wrath of his teammates.
The mechanical devastation spared none of the drivers, but the damage to a barrier at Beau Rivage needed extensive repairs before the race could resume.
After regaining his position third on the grid, Sainz started the race without incident this time around, trailing Leclerc and Piastri.
To Russell’s dismay, who was in fifth place on mediums and ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton, Leclerc maintained a consistent pace at the front, making tire management more important than ever in this race. With all four of them on hards.
How Charles Leclerc won the race
Charles Leclerc.|PHOTO: F1|
With Leclerc in control and the other teams inclined to stop in order to get a possible “under-cut” and a new tire charge, the leading teams’ focus was on assessing risks, gaps, and tyre wear.
Despite Hamilton and Verstappen’s pit stops, the pack had to tighten up and follow suit, but at the flag, the order was still unaltered.
Before the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks, Leclerc closed the gap on Verstappen by 31 points in the increasingly competitive championship battle after finally securing the jewel in the Formula One calendar.
The British combination of Lando Norris and George Russell finished fourth and fifth, respectively, among the drivers who started the race in the first five rows of the grid.
Max Verstappen, leading the championship, had to settle with sixth place, ahead of Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton, Yuki Tsunoda, and Alexander Albon.
Verstappen currently leads Leclerc by 31 points, and Sainz Jr. is only five points behind Norris in third position.
Alpine drivers face off
Esteban Ocon and Gasly of Alpine at the Monaco Grand Prix. Photo/ Autosport
After colliding with colleague Pierre Gasly during the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, Esteban Ocon was subject to the fury of his Alpine teammates, as well as possible disciplinary punishment and a grid penalty in Canada.
During the first lap, the French driver tried to overtake Gasly, but all he managed to do was collide, lift his vehicle, and then fall down to the ground.
The consequences of his careless driving didn’t end there; his car sustained severe damage and he was unable to drive.
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