Monaco - Race

After Saturday's qualifying the emotions ran high and hope grew in the hearts of quite a few of the drivers. Charles Leclerc was on track to get his first home win. Alex Albon could, for the first time this season, score some much-needed points for his team. And the two Haas drivers, who were supposed to start the race from the back after getting disqualified from qualifying for a rear wing breach, had nothing to lose and everything to gain. 

The fight began the second the lights were off. Piastri did all he could to take the race lead from Leclerc, while Norris and Sainz fought to improve their positions and settle into the top three. The day started poorly for the Spaniard. After a brief contact with Piastri, he punctured his tire and had to drive off the track. It could have been the end of the race for him, was it not for what was happening at the back of the grid where Perez and the two Haas found themselves involved in a nasty crash. 

As all three fought to improve their position, Perez and Magnussen got dangerously close. Around turn 2 their wheels made contact. The Red Bull got rotated and was pushed by the front of Magnussen's car. It hit the barriers on both sides of the track and the impact completely wrecked it. Hulkenberg was close enough to be impacted by the incident. Thankfully, none of the drivers were harmed. The accident brought out a red flag that paused the race for about 40 minutes. 

The race resumed at 15:44 local time. Perez, Hulkenberg, Magnussen, and Ocon did not participate after the unexpected break. The Alpine driver finished the day early since before the red flag, he made contact with his teammate, damaging his car. He later announced on his social media that he takes all the responsibility for the unfortunate accident and apologizes to the team. Sainz was allowed to take 3rd place upon restart. During the break, all top four cars changed their tires from mediums to hards. This meant that they completed the mandatory change and could opt not to drive into the pits for the remainder of the race. 

The top fours cars, Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, and Norris. kept close together, but a significant gap began building up between P4 and Russel in P5. The Mercedes driver was instructed not to push too hard, as being fast would not give either him or the team much of an advantage. Piastri was close to Leclerc, for a while getting fastest lap after fastest lap. Even with all his efforts, he did not manage to overtake the Monegasque. 

Since the race was rather stable, with no overtaking in the front and very little in the back, it quickly became a battle of strategy and technicalities, especially between Ferrari and McLaren. Both teams kept a close eye on the data and discussed the strategies for eventual pit stops. The last part did not come into play as neither of the teams ended up pitting their drivers. Verstappen and Hamilton both did change their tires. Because of their fresh grip, they were able to fight for the fastest lap of the race. In the end, it belonged to Hamilton. 

There was a lot to celebrate as the race came to an end. Alex Albon scored William's first points of the season and Pierre Gasly scored his first point. Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz both added another podium to their ever-growing list. And finally, after years of heartbreak, Charles Leclerc, the second Prince of Monaco, broke the curse and won his home Grand Prix. His exceptional performance earned him the title of driver of the day and brought him closer to fighting for the driver's championship. At present, he is 31 points behind Max Verstappen in the standings while only 24 points separate Ferrari from Red Bull. 

Il predestinato vince ancora. 

Order of the grid:

1. Charles Leclerc

2. Oscar Piastr

3. Carlos Sainz

4. Lando Norris

5. George Russel

6. Max Verstappen

7. Lewis Hamilton

8. Yuki Tsunoda

9. Alex Albon

10. Pierre Gasly

11. Fernando Alonso

12. Daniel Ricciardo

13. Valtteri Bottas

14. Lance Stroll

15. Logan Sargeant

16. Zhou Guanyu

DNF Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen