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Giles Richard's report from Monaco
The top ten finish in starting grid order for the first time in F1 history. No previous F1 race had ever seen more than the top six drivers finish in the positions they started #MonacoGP
— Sean Kelly (@virtualstatman) May 26, 2024
I wonder if this might be the moment F1 bosses take the concerns about Monaco seriously. The Monaco track has remained largely unchanged from the first grand prix staged here in 1929. And some have claimed it is no longer fit for purpose in its current guise.
F1 has looked at ways to adapt the tight and twisty layout but have made little progress. The heaviest generation of F1 cars ever seen has made overtaking practically impossible.
At one point Verstappen said over the radio: “Fuck me, this is really boring. I should’ve brought my pillow”. On lap 39, Leclerc was even instructed to slow down by his Ferrari team to save his tyres.
Destiny fulfilled 🤩#F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/C3dpe2yadD
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 26, 2024
“Tonight is going to be a big night,” says Leclerc.
Leclerc is, needless to say, very happy. “YEEEEEESSSSS!!!” comes over the radio.
We end with the top 10 from the grid. This one of the dullest sporting occasions you will ever see.
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4. Lando Norris, McLaren
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
7. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
8. Yuki Tsunoda, RB
9. Alex Albon, Williams
10. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Leclerc wins Monaco GP
The local boy wins his home grand prix for the first time, leading from start to finish. He did not put a foot wrong.
Updated
Lap 77/78: I do not think we will see any last-minute risks being taken here. Everyone is happy with their lot.
Lap 76/78: Leclerc could probably have a pit, open a bottle of red and still win.
Lap 75/78: We are set to have the time top 10 from start to finish.
Mbappe has the chequered flag.
Lap 74/78: Leclerc is on his victory parade. He knows this is done. He has had a great race, holding off all the competition without a moment’s concern.
Lap 73/78: Sainz seems to fancy a late attempt to overtake Piastri. This could be fun.
Zhou goes for a tyre change and looks to confirm the fastest lap.
Lap 72/78: Eight seconds ahead for Leclerc. He really is growing the gap in the final stages. All very straightforward. It will be a great moment to win in front of a home crowd.
Lap 71/78: Sainz is very close to Piastri, around 0.7 seconds behind. Maybe this is the final bit of intrigue available in this race.
Lap 70/78: A five-second lead for Leclerc. He can probably taste the champagne already.
Lap 69/78: Ten laps to go!
Leclerc is more than three seconds clear of Piastri. This race is done.
Apart from the first lap, this has been rather tedious.
Lap 68/78: Sargeant hits a wall but manages to carry on. He is dead last.
Russell is told to cool his brakes, ending some jeopardy to his battle with Verstappen.
Lap 67/78: The only thing that can change the final top six is a mistake from one of the drivers and no one has made one since the restart. A nice quiet afternoon in the sun for the pit teams.
Lap 66/78: Tsunoda has been told he can put his foot down. He is in eighth.
Lap 65/78: Sainz v Norris is offering some intrigue with half a second between them.
Lap 64/78: Russell’s tyres are in decent condition and could help him hold off Verstappen.
Updated
Lap 63/78: Leclerc is not in any trouble currently. He has judged everything perfectly thus far.
Russell is holding off Verstappen reasonably well but there is plenty of time to go. Hamilton is chasing down Verstappen.
Lap 62/78: The top six has not changed since the start. Thrilling stuff.
It does look like Verstappen will get the better of Russell sooner rather than later.
Lap 61/78: Verstappen looks keen to get past Russell. He is closing the gap and Russell does not look like he can up his speed.
Lap 60/78: At least the long the race goes on, the greater the chance of something going wrong comes into it. Are the drivers tired? Are the tyres struggling?
Verstappen bemoans the state of the battery.
Lap 59/78: McLaren need to decide if they want a quick pit to give Piastri a chance of hunting down Leclerc.
Lap 58/78: Stroll is having the time of his life with a couple of overtakes to move up to 14th.
Lap 57/78: Lando Norris’ dad looks a little nervous as he watches on from the garage. He is guaranteed a top-four spot at the moment. Can he make the podium?
Lap 56/78: Leclerc and Piastri will both go to the end without pitting, unless something strange happens.
Lap 55/78: Russell looks set for 20-odd laps of defence as he cannot afford to pit, otherwise will lose precious time.
Lap 54/78: Bottas overtakes Sargeant. This is racing!
Hamilton irked that his team did not tell him to push while Verstappen pitted.
Lap 53/78: Verstappen comes into pit. His tyres are changed and he’s off on a hard tyre. He stays in sixth.
Russell will be looking over his shoulder.
Lap 52/78: Hamilton has a pit stop. He is 45 seconds ahead of Tsunoda so goes in and out in seventh. Verstappen is going for a bit of a push in sixth to keep himself clear of Hamilton and earn time for a pit and tyre change.
Lap 51/78: Stroll has moved onto the softs for the final 20-odd laps.
Lap 50/78: Same top six.
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4. Lando Norris, McLaren
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Lap 49/78: Hamilton is down in seventh and is not closing in on Verstappen.
Stroll has a puncture and his tyre rolls off as he enters the pit lane. Thankfully the tyre stays in the pit lane and does not emerge onto the track. No need for a safety car.
Lap 48/78: Norris says he will be happy to take a “free stop” for a tyre change.
Lap 47/78: Leclerc needs to ensure that Piastri cannot have enough time to pit stop. An intriguing battle, in a sense.
Lap 46/78: Leclerc is getting closer to winning his home race. It’s all been pretty easy since the restart.
Lap 45/78: Stroll is on the hard tyres and can have fun seeing what he can do by pushing his car a bit more.
Lap 44/78: Stroll pits! Something for everyone. He comes back out in 11th, where he was when he went in.
Lap 43/78: Alpine boss Bruno Fermin: “Ocon’s attack was completely out of line, that is not what we wanted to see. There will be consequences. We have a difficult decision to make.”
Strong words.
Lap 42/78: Russell is speeding up to close the gap on Norris and stop him from having sufficient time to pit.
Lap 41/78: Bottas, who still has the fastest lap, is now being lapped.
Still the same top six:
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4. Lando Norris, McLaren
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Lap 40/78: Piastri is becoming very confused by why Leclerc is going so slow.
Lap 39/78: Norris should have time for a pit stop, which would be very helpful. He is 18 seconds clear of Russell.
Leclerc is slowing down to stop McLaren having a pit stop window. Leclerc things that he is going too slow and putting his tyre temperature at risk.
Lap 38/78: Leclerc has been to slow down by Ferrari. This is exciting stuff.
Lap 37/78: It is clear blue skies in Monaco. It must be tricky going from the sunshine to the tunnel. Yes, I am struggling to think of things to write about.
Five-place grid drop for Ocon in Montreal.
Updated
Lap 36/78: I am backing Hamilton: there needs to be some changes to this race to aid overtaking because this is tedious.
Lap 35/78: Leclerc is an impressive 18 seconds clear of Russell in fifth.
Lap 34/78: It is all quite pedestrian as everyone is maintaining tyres.
Lap 33/78: Piastri finds himself a second behind Leclerc. Will he fancy a little dart at the race leader?
Sainz thinks the tyres are starting to grain across the board.
Lap 32/78: Norris almost clips the barrier but just avoids an impact. He sits in fourth, as he did when we started 90 minutes ago.
Lap 31/78: Stay tuned! We think one of the top four will have to pit before the end. Hold onto your hats, people!
Lap 30/78: TYRE CHAT WITH ANTHONY DAVIDSON. Not much is happening so we are talking graining. Stroll is slowing down and is having to maintain his mediums.
Lap 29/78: Norris: “A little bit of an abrasion.” He should be able to avoid pitting however. He has a big gap on Russell so has can pit if he feels the need to.
Lap 28/78: I suspect most of these drivers could be in a Vauxhall Corsa and still avoid being overtaken.
I wonder if anyone is inside the Monte Carlo Casino not watching, instead playing some roulette.
Lap 27/78: Ocon: “It was a big one but it was less than Budapest last year when I was pushed from the back and landed hard. I am OK but unfortunately there was too much damage to repair. I hope the team can cope.”
Lap 26/78: Ted Kravitz suggests that Verstappen should “have some fun”. I am not sure what form that could take.
Lap 25/78: There is a five-second gap between the top four.
Verstappen is down in sixth with almost no hope of winning. He must feel like he’s going through the motions. His car is not perfect for the street circuit, that’s for sure.
Updated
Lap 24/78: To pit or not to pit? That is the question. There could be some interesting decisions to be made in the latter stages.
Lap 23/78: Leclerc has decided to speed things up but Piastri is keeping pace with him. Maybe he just wanted to give the spectators something to cheer.
Lap 22/78: Russell is 12 seconds behind Norris. Is he actually going too slow?
No changes in the top six.
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4. Lando Norris, McLaren
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Lap 21/78: James Vowles thinks the hard tyres can make it to the end here but the medium will be “touch and go”.
Lap 20/78: Albon and Gasly is an interesting battle for ninth and tenth.
Lap 19/78: The big test for the drivers is maintaining focus for all these laps on this tight track. Focusing will be tricky in this heat.
Lap 18/78: Bottas’ tyre change has worked, allowing him to set the fastest lap of the race. Sadly for him, he is last.
Lap 17/78: The front four a in a nice convoy with around two seconds between them. No risk of overtaking.
Lap 16/78: Bottas is getting his tyres change.
No further investigation on the crash that took out Perez, Magnussen and Hulkenberg. Hmmmm …
Lap 15/78: Leclerc on his home track knows better than anyone how to safely navigate these corners without putting himself in danger. This is risk-free racing.
Lap 14/78: The intrigue is that Norris has opened up a gap on Russell and could earn himself a pit stop in this. Wait and see …
Very much a tactical race here. Leclerc is very much playing this game of chess like a master.
Lap 13/78: Even Sky have accepted this is dull.
Sauber are preparing a tyre change! Here we go!
Lap 12/78: I am not saying this is a bit dull but Sky have cut to drivers’ girlfriends on a couple of times.
Russell told: “We gain nothing by driving faster.” That’s not in the spirit of F1. Russell very much planning to stay on these tyres to the end.
Lap 11/78: There are lots of lovely boats in Monte Carlo. I can almost see why people have them. I once went to Monte Carlo and watched Monaco v Marseille. No cars were racing at the time.
Lap 10/78: This is all quite sedate after the early drama.
Ocon was awarded a 10-second penalty but instead will get a grid penalty for the next GP.
Lap 9/78: Verstappen is nine seconds off the lead. I suspect he will not be winning today.
Current positions:
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4. Lando Norris, McLaren
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Lap 8/78: Piastri has a bit of damage to his car and has lost down force. He looks to be going OK in second, aided by the pace.
Lap 7/78: Leclerc is setting the pace and keeping things pretty smooth. No one is looking to do anything silly at this stage.
Lap 6/78: Russell seems to fancy getting the best of Norris in fourth while the latter’s tyres are waiting to get up to temperature.
It is not particularly quick at the moment because the cars are fuelled up.
Lap 5/78: The front three have opened up a little gap on fourth.
Lap 4/78: Ferrari are on the hard tyres, which is good news for them.
It is all very bunched up, which is unsurprising because of the nature of the circuit.
Russell looks eager to go past Norris, which should be an interesting watch.
Lap 3/78: No one crashed on the first corner, which is a positive.
Leclerc maintains the lead once more.
We are down to 16 cars. Ocon is also out, in addition to Perez, Magnussen and Hulkenberg.
We have started from the third lap so we will effectively have 77.
Updated
Away we go (again)
Some more racing.
We have seen a few tyres changes during this 40-minute delay.
The drivers are warming up once more.
From PA Media: “On a chaotic opening lap Carlos Sainz, who started third, went in too deep in his Ferrari at Casino Square, falling down the order, while the two Alpine drivers were also involved in a collision. Esteban Ocon passed Pierre Gasly through Portier, but in doing so made contact with his team-mate, who launched him spectacularly in the air.
“What did he do?” Gasly yelled over the radio. “Why did he attack me? Oh my gosh. The whole car has damage now.” Pole-sitter Charles Leclerc beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on the short dash to the opening corner with Lando Norris promoted to third after Sainz ran off the road.”
We will start again at 1446 BST.
We do have some options for other live sports.
Perez, Magnussen and Hulkenberg will not be back for the restart, that is for sure.
We will have a standing start with Sainz in third. A good result for Ferrari.
Sky are very much filling at the moment as we await next steps.
They need to fix a barrier. We could be here for a while.
Updated
Hulkenberg was also taken out in the crash and looks to be fuming as he walks through the pit area.
Magnussen very much at fault for the crash. We are still waiting on the next steps. Verstappen watches a replay of the crash and looks a little shocked.
Perez’s crash described as “a monster of an accident” on commentary.
Updated
The track is being cleared of all the rubbish and one Haas has been lifted away.
Sainz’s puncture comes from contact with Piastri.
Perez gets clipped by Magnussen and his Red Bull has lost few wheels and a bit of bodywork after bouncing between the barriers.
Do we need to do a restart or carry on from where we were?
Lap 1/78: We have a red flag! Leclerc gets a good start and maintains first off the grid but Sainz gets a puncture and is limping his way. Sergio Perez and the Haas cars are stopped. There is plenty of debris on the track.
Updated
LIGHTS OUT
And away we go!
Is change needed? “100% yes,” says James Jones. “This season actually has some promise of not being a total Max procession to the title, but I’m not going to waste a minute of my day watching a queue of cars canter around Monaco. The race was over in qualifying and it is exceptionally dull.”
Is change needed?
She was in Endeavour which I find very exciting.
Michael Douglas passes on Catherine Zeta Jones’ apologies to Brundle.
Anya Taylor-Joy is here to support Lewis Hamilton and claims she was brought up watching F1. This is classic stuff.
I have no idea who she is. Will Google.
Siya Kolisi has a can of Red Bull and discussing the difficulties of overtaking. It is “all about strategy and when you make the stops”.
Updated
Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers actually has some history of attending the event and is looking forward to an “exciting day”.
Ben Chilwell is there with Red Bull and seems to know next to nothing about the motorsport, but who could turn down a trip to Monaco?
Joe Pearson emails: “Growing up in Indianapolis, this was always one of Racing’s biggest days. Monaco GP in the morning, followed by the Greatest Spectacle in Racing (which will almost certainly be delayed by rain today), and then the World 600 (now Coca Cola 600) in Charlotte as a cozy nightcap. Settling in for a day of cars going round and round but getting nowhere, with a temporary detour to watch the Championship Final. I’m tired already.”
Kylian Mbappe says he is not faster than an F1 car. Good to have clarity.
Martin Brundle is wandering through the grid. He has found Diogo Dalot and Antony. He enjoyed winning the FA Cup and is celebrating by turning up for his first F1 race.
The pit stop teams have gone through rigorous warm ups to make sure they are in tip top condition for the race. Pit stops could be crucial today with so little overtaken generally available on this track.
The drivers are warming up the tyres on what looks like a lovely day in Monaco.
There is a lot of celebrity spotting going in Monte Carlo. Michael Douglas, Kylian Mbappe and lots of young famous people.
A tricky day in store for Verstappen.
Nigel Mansell has had a natter with our very own Giles Richards.
The big news is that I am trying a new brand of mint tea for the Unwin household. Will it be welcome back long term? One way to find out.
What happened yesterday.
Starting grid:
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4. Lando Norris, McLaren
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
7. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
8. Yuki Tsunoda, RB
9. Alex Albon, Williams
10. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
11. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
12. Daniel Ricciardo, RB
13. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
14. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
15. Logan Sargeant, Williams
16. Sergio Perez, Red Bull
17. Valtteri Bottas, Sauber
18. Zhou Guanyu, Sauber
19. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
20. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
Preamble
Charles Leclerc starts on pole and Max Verstappen is way down in sixth after an underwhelming qualifying session. Can the Red Bull perform some magical overtaking on a notoriously difficult circuit for such events? It will be intriguing to see.
This is Leclerc’s home race and he knows more than most what needs to be done to keep the chasing pack in his rear view mirror. The Frenchman winning this grand prix would be the culmination of a lifelong dream but life is rarely that simple, and there will be plenty behind him eager to chase him down.
Verstappen can comfort himself by the fact he starts 48 points clear atop the drivers’ championship and will be confident that no one will be able to catch him over the course of the season.
Race start: 2pm BST.
