Monaco
RACE
REPORT
NORRIS TAKES VICTORY OVER LECLERC AND PIASTRI IN GRIPPING MONACO GRAND PRIX
Lando Norris expertly converted pole position into victory during Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, leading home Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc and McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri at the end of an intriguing, strategic race, which saw Max Verstappen hold P1 until the penultimate lap on an alternate strategy.
Norris survived a massive lock-up at the first corner before working through Virtual Safety Car phases, spells of traffic and the mandated two-stop rule to score his second win of the season and slash Piastri’s championship lead.
Leclerc applied plenty of pressure at various stages of the race, including that initial run to Sainte Devote and late on when Verstappen backed the pack up, but ultimately had to settle for second, with Piastri – now just three points clear of Norris in the standings – completing the podium.
Verstappen ran an off-set tyre strategy that saw the Red Bull driver go much longer across his stints, giving him the race lead into the very closing stages, but he dropped to fourth after completing his required second stop with a lap to go.
Lewis Hamilton had a lonely race en route to fifth place, making up a couple of spots following his post-Qualifying penalty for impeding Verstappen, with rookie Isack Hadjar taking a fine sixth over Haas’ Esteban Ocon and team mate Liam Lawson.
Williams bagged a double points finish with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz in P9 and P10, denying the Mercedes of George Russell, who grew frustrated at Albon’s defensive driving earlier in the race and picked up a drive-through for an illegal overtake.
Haas driver Ollie Bearman put on a strong recovery from his 10-place grid penalty and some wild moments in the opening stages to take the chequered flag in 12th position, followed by fellow rookies Franco Colapinto (Alpine) and Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber).
Bortoleto hit the barriers at Portier on the opening lap after a scrap with Kimi Antonelli, but bounced back to finish just ahead of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, experienced team mate Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull.
Antonelli was the final finisher in 18th, having completed his pit stops extremely late in the race, with Fernando Alonso retiring for Aston Martin amid engine trouble and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly dropping out via a clash with Tsunoda exiting the tunnel.
WINNER'S WORDS
“It feels amazing. It’s a long, gruelling race, but good fun. We could push for quite a lot of the race. [At] the last corner I was a little bit nervous with Charles close behind and Max ahead, but we won in Monaco. It doesn’t matter how you win, I guess. I had an amazing weekend. This is what I dreamed of when I was a kid, so I achieved one of my dreams!”
Lando
NORRIS
