Moving on to our next race of the season, we have the Monaco Grand Prix, also known as F1’s most iconic event—lots of people on expensive boats drinking champagne. Monaco’s track length is 3.337 km, and the race is made up of 78 laps and 19 turns per lap. The track has held a staggering 70 races, making its F1 debut in 1950. I think it is fair to say that it is a track with a lot of history. Lewis Hamilton holds both the track and lap records, with a time of 1:10.166 for the track record (set in 2019) and a time of 1:12.909 for the lap record (set in 2021). Senna is the driver who has the most wins in Monaco, and Graham Hill is the only driver to have won consecutive races here twice. The team with the most wins here is McLaren, with a total of 15, which they could possibly add to this weekend; however, it is Ferrari that has the most podium finishes. There are eight previous podium finishers at Monaco on the current grid: Hamilton, Alonso, Verstappen, Sainz, Norris, Ocon, Leclerc, and Piastri. So let’s take a look at how the weekend unfolded.
We got off to a very busy start for Q1. Lawson, Antonelli, and Leclerc went straight into the top 3; however, this didn’t last long as Stroll and Bearman went quicker than the trio. Bearman will want to climb the grid as high as he can, facing a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race. Norris and Piastri are looking quick on the track, with Leclerc and Verstappen being thrown into the mix as well. Stroll, being Stroll, got in the way of another driver, but this time it was Pierre Gasly, who was fuming. Race control has noted some impeding between Hamilton and Max, which will be investigated after the session. The two Alpines are trying to get out of the danger zone, but Antonelli hit the wall at the Nouvelle Chicane, causing a red flag, and Q1 is over. Bortoleto, Bearman, Gasly, Stroll, and Colapinto are out. We go again for Q2, and Leclerc is looking very sharp around the track and went to the top of the timesheet, but it is a disaster for Mercedes as we have yet another red flag, this time for Russell, who crawled to a stop in the tunnel after losing power.
We then get the green light for the session to continue, and Norris clocks a lap 0.011 seconds quicker than Leclerc, pushing him off the top spot. Ocon climbs his way out of the danger zone, putting himself into P8, and Albon puts in a great lap, putting himself in P3. Sainz, Tsunoda, Hülkenberg, Russell, and Antonelli are all out in Q2. Moving on to Q3, and most likely the declared race winner before the race has even happened, Piastri puts down a time of 1:10.531; however, he is soon knocked off the top by teammate Norris. Max crosses the line to go into P4 and is two tenths down on Norris’ provisional pole time, and it’s a battle for pole between Piastri and Norris, as the Australian goes quickest on the timesheets. Norris then does one better. Not long after, Leclerc snatches provisional pole; however, Norris takes pole by putting in a lap time of 1:10.954, leaving Leclerc to take P2, Piastri P3. Lewis would have been P4 but was given a penalty later. Verstappen took P4, Lewis P5, P6 Hadjar, P7 Alonso, P8 Ocon, P9 Lawson, and completing the top 10 is Albon.
Monaco was as boring as it could possibly be. As the lights went out, Norris locked up before the first corner but held onto the lead. Meanwhile, Bortoleto hit the wall at Portier; however, the yellow flag was quickly cleared. Lap 2, and we had a virtual safety car, where a few drivers came in for pit stops, including Bearman, who had a very slow stop as they were trying to fit the left tire onto the right-hand wheel, putting him right at the back of the grid. Lap 9, and we had yet another yellow flag, this time for Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, who, exiting the tunnel, locked up, sending him into Tsunoda. The Frenchman slowly made his way around the circuit with debris all over the track. The pit lane was closed when Pierre made it back, as he could not brake; he was left with no choice but to retire from the race. Hadjar came in to pit for softs and rejoined in 8th on lap 15, and 5 laps later, he got his second stop out of the way and was running on hards, rejoining again in 8th. I like this strategy from VAR (assuming this is what VCARB refers to).
Moving on to the second half of the race, and it seems as though a few drivers are working together to help each other with a two-stop race strategy. It’s bad luck for Alonso, as he is out of the race. On lap 37, the Spaniard stopped. Meanwhile, the remaining teams are deciding when to bring their drivers in for their second stop. There have been a lot of trains in this race, and, like a normal race at Monaco, hardly any overtaking. This race is proving to be a total snoozefest. Sainz has proven to be a great team player, backing up the rest of the field so Albon can make both his pit stops and still remain in the top 10. Russell is hit with a drive-through penalty for cutting a corner on Albon, making things go from bad to worse for Team Mercedes. On lap 68, Max is now leading the race on 40-lap-old medium tires, hoping for a safety car to make his last pit stop, but that luck never came, and he was forced to pit on the last lap. Norris takes the win, with Leclerc following in second and Piastri completing the final podium spot.
A few of the drivers did not sound like fans of the race, either, with Sainz saying, “Just a bit disappointed with the whole race, with the whole outcome of the weekend. It shows that a two-stop strategy is pointless around Monaco, and people will still do what we did today. People will still manipulate the final result with their driving. We either come up with a solution, or it will always be like this in Monaco.” Max also gave his views, stating, “You can’t race here, anyway, so it doesn’t matter what you do, one stop or ten stops. At the end, I was in the lead and my tires were completely gone, and you still can’t pass, I think, with a modern F1 car—you can just about pass a Formula 2 car around here.” Liam was more positive about his experience; when asked, he said, “It’s not often you have a chance to completely control the race and it works out perfectly. From our side, there were obviously doubts, but to have both cars in the points is very good.” I think it is clear that something needs to change.
Honestly, this is one of the worst races of the season so far for me. I know the two-stop strategy was meant to make it a bit more exciting, but the best part was qualifying. Something more needs to be done because it was terrible. Imagine being introduced to F1 and that being your first race! I actually fell asleep during some of it because I was that bored. I was happy to see some other drivers score points, like Lawson and Ocon, and it was great to see Hadjar finishing in 6th too. I think Lawson definitely suits the car more, so it was a good decision to move him but still keep him in the sport. Williams again getting a double points finish, which they must be pleased with. I honestly don’t know who pays to watch that race in person; I think I’d throw myself off one of those yachts. Next up is Spain, and they don’t have a lot to beat following that, but let’s hope we see more on-track action and hopefully Alonso can finish the race!
What changes would you make to Monaco?
Amy x
Current Driver Standings
| Pos | Driver | Nationality | Car | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Piastri | AUS | McLaren Mercedes | 161 |
| 2 | Norris | GBR | McLaren Mercedes | 158 |
| 3 | Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 136 |
| 4 | Russell | GBR | Mercedes | 99 |
| 5 | Leclerc | MON | Ferrari | 79 |
| 6 | Hamilton | GBR | Ferrari | 63 |
| 7 | Antonelli | ITA | Mercedes | 48 |
| 8 | Albon | THA | Williams Mercedes | 42 |
| 9 | Ocon | FRA | Haas Ferrari | 20 |
| 10 | Hadjar | FRA | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 15 |
| 11 | Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 14 |
| 12 | Sainz | ESP | Williams Mercedes | 12 |
| 13 | Tsunoda | JPN | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 10 |
| 14 | Gasly | FRA | Alpine Renault | 7 |
| 15 | Hulkenberg | GER | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 6 |
| 16 | Bearman | GBR | Haas Ferrari | 6 |
| 17 | Lawson | NZL | Racing Bulls Honda RBPT | 4 |
| 18 | Alonso | ESP | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 0 |
| 19 | Doohan | AUS | Alpine Renault | 0 |
| 20 | Colapinto | ARG | Alpine Renault | 0 |
| 21 | Bortoleto | BRA | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 0 |
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