The emotions, or rather the fears, were experienced on the first lap, before the red flag. Then the Monaco GP proved to be a tactical, nerve-wracking race, where any mistake could cost dearly. Charles Leclerc was perfect: he started in command from pole position and, although he was always in sight of Oscar Piastri, he never feared being attacked. At the end, when the obsessive communications from the Ferrari wall went out, he freed his right foot and easily overtook the McLaren. The Monegasque is a prophet in his homeland, defeating any curse. He wins in Monaco, takes the sixth victory of his career and kicks off a new era with a competitive Ferrari.
The liberating cry on the radio “Yeees!” and subsequent tears of joy freed Charles. The Scuderia finds its champion who needed to unblock himself and rediscover those certainties that must push a champion. The boats in the port turned on their sirens, giving a long sound recognition to the winner. It was the most boring Monaco GP in history, but it was also the most nerve-wracking race for Prancing Horse fans.
Ferrari’s success was completed by Carlos Sainz’s excellent third place behind the stainless Oscar Piastri. In truth the Spaniard at the first start at Saint Devote tried to catch up with Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, which didn’t start very fast, and held out on the outside: one of the Australian’s wheels touched the Spaniard’s Ferrari which resulted in a puncture ‘front left. The Ferrari driver stops outside the Casino after being blocked. He sets off to return to the pits after the red flag is shown. Carlos got away with the punctured tyre, while Piastri suffered some damage to the floor which the pits tried to repair.
Thanks to the carambola at the back of the group, Sainz was able to return to the pit lane and restart in his position on the grid thanks to the excellent work of the sporting director, Diego Ioverno who convinced the FIA commissioners. Carlos, avoiding further trouble, consolidated third position by holding off Lando Norris, who was off the podium in the second McLaren. Ferrari has given a sign of its maturity: it may seem strange, but the Scuderia is second in the Constructors’ championship, 24 points behind Red Bull, while Leclerc is second in the drivers’ standings, 31 points behind Max Verstappen, forced only to sixth place with the RB20.
McLaren won in Imola, Ferrari in the Principality. It’s a changed F1 that offers new emotions. Because Piastri’s second place must also be rightly honoured: the young Australian was a mastiff until he grazed a wall and rightly threw the oars in the boat. Strange to hear the Monaco anthem at the Prince’s Box. It seemed like a historic day not only for Ferrari.
George Russell is fifth with the Mercedes equipped with the prototype wing. The Englishman was tactical: starting again on medium tires he was able to take a race pace that allowed him to finish the race without pit stops, while Max Verstappen, sixth, and Lewis Hamilton, seventh behind him, saw the gap open up. window to take a break and switch to the hard classes without losing positions. The two world champions took part in the challenge that was worth the fastest lap: Lewis won with 1’14″165, the last driver with full laps.
Yuki Tsunoda also celebrated eighth with Racing Bulls, ahead of Alexander Albon with Williams and Pierre Gasly with Alpine. Grove’s team leaves only Sauber with zero points in the Constructors’ Championship. The other team that collects nothing except damages is Haas.
Kevin Magnussen, if there was sporting justice, would not go to Canada. The Dane made yet another kamikaze maneuver of his career and triggered a bad accident on the Massenet climb immediately after the start: Kevin on the right of the road tried to slip around the outside of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, he grazed the barrier with the right rear. Result: the front left of the VF-24 touches the rear of the Mexican who starts spinning and cannot avoid the other Haas of Nico Hulkenberg which turns. Checo is pushed into the barriers by Magnussen’s Haas. The Red Bull disintegrates against the protections and returns to the track followed by Kevin’s Haas which ends up hitting Hulkenberg’s other VF-24. This bad accident which was not investigated by the FIA, caused the red flag.
In the meantime there was another contact before the Portier between the two Alpines: Esteban Ocon did not hesitate to attack Pierre Gasly, but to precede his teammate he did not take off in an irresponsible way on the wheels of the other A524, risking another bad accident while the race was decided to stop. Ocon will pay in Canada with a penalty on the grid, while Gasly takes home a very precious point for the Woking team.
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