Monaco GP Race Report
Lando Norris laid down a marker and bounced back from his recent frustrations by taking pole and winning the Monaco GP in some style.
In so doing he closed the gap in the World Championship to McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri.
At a track that demands perfection, and which always presents some jeopardy for the pacesetting teams, McLaren nearly had an optimum weekend. The only glitch was that Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc spit the papaya cars and kept Piastri in third.
The talk all weekend was of the new regulation that demanded two compulsory tyre changes, and which presented strategists with a much more complicated challenge than normal.
While it did add some interest to Sunday’s race, ultimately the rule didn’t have much impact on the battle at the front.
Following a recent run of disappointment and his ongoing lack of confidence in pushing the car over one lap Norris did a superb job to grab pole in the dying second of qualifying, just edging out local hero Leclerc. The Ferrari driver had dominated all the practice sessions, but lost out when it really mattered.
Piastri arrived on a high after usually edging out Norris in 2025 and winning four races, but he had something of a scrappy weekend that included a practice crash, and he had to settle for third on the grid.
Max Verstappen didn’t expect Red Bull to be at the front in Monaco as the RB21 doesn’t like bumps and kerbs, and he was only fifth on the grid. However a penalty for Lewis Hamilton – who initially took an encouraging fourth – lifted him up a place.
In the race the main interest at the front surrounded a gamble from Verstappen and Red Bull. After the three guys ahead made their second and final stops he stayed out in the lead in the hope that a red flag would give him a free second tyre change, and allow him to stay in front at the restart and steal the win. The red flag never came, and he led until taking his second stop right at the end and falling back to fourth.
Norris, Leclerc and Piastri meanwhile ran around in close formation and finished in the order in which they started, reflecting the fact that passing is impossible at Monaco. As noted, a first Monaco win since 2008 was a good outcome for McLaren, and while Leclerc was left frustrated it was also Ferrari’s best showing of the season. From his penalised P7 on the grid Hamilton worked his way into a distant fifth.
Fourth for Verstappen was damage limitation at a track that could prove to be one of the worst of the season for Red Bull, but he is still in the title fight, and with Norris and Piastri sharing out the big points he will always be a threat. His team mate Yuki Tsunoda had a solid but unspectacular weekend, trying a lap one tyre change gamble and finishing 17th.
Among the frontrunners the big loser was Mercedes. George Russell suffered a power unit failure in qualifying just after Kimi Antonelli had crashed out, and the pair started a disastrous 14th and 15th. Despite a penalty for jumping the chicane and gaining a place Russell rose to 11th, and while Antonelli was classified a lowly 18th after his strategy of doing both stops very late didn’t play out.
With Mercedes out of the picture the door was open for others to score decent points. Racing Bulls grasped the opportunity, with Isack Hadjar starting fifth and finishing sixth, and Liam Lawon earning eighth. The team employed the classic Monaco “spoiler” tactic of using one driver to slow the field and create a pit stop gap for the other, which worked to perfection.
The VCARB cars were split by Esteban Ocon, who did a great job to earn seventh for Haas after a poor Imola weekend. His team mate Oliver Bearman started last after receiving an expensive 10-place grid penalty for passing under a red flag in qualifying. The Briton should have been a points contender, but he had to settle for 12th.
Williams also used the slowing and backing up rivals tactic to good effect, allowing Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz to finish ninth and 10th. Nevertheless that was not as good showing as practice form had initially suggested.
The only retirement impacting the points was that of Aton Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who started P6 and was in the fight for the same position in the race when he was stopped by a Mercedes power unit failure. Despite two strong qualifying showings the Spaniard has failed to score a point in eight races in 2025. Team mate Lance Stroll was again off the pace in 15th place.
It was an unexpectedly poor weekend for Alpine, with the A525 not performing well on the bumpy track. Pierre Gasly retired early after hitting Tsunoda at the chicane, while Franco Colapinto did a solid job to take 13th, having been slowest in qualifying.
Sauber again lacked pace, with Garbriel Bortoleto surviving a first lap slide into the barrier to take 14th, and Nico Hulkenberg finishing a couple of places behind.
Attention now turns to Barcelona and the third race in as many weekends. The big talking point will be new stricter front wing flexing tests introduced by the FIA. All teams have had to revise their wings and ensure that they meet the new standards, and some are convinced that rivals will take a big hit in terms of aero performance.
It’s also a venue that traditionally sees team introduce update packages, and that could also have an impact on the pecking order.
Meanwhile after two weekends with its softer C4/C5/C6 tyres, Pirelli switches to the harder C1/C2/C3 compounds, a combination used in Japan and Bahrain. That may prove more favourable to some teams than others.
About Adam Cooper
Adam Cooper logs his 40th season as a motor racing journalist in 2024. Motor racing journalist, author, historian and copywriter. Started writing career in 1985 while still at university, and has been at every Formula One Grand Prix since Japan 1994 without missing one. He contributed to Autosport for nearly 40 years, while other clients have included Motor Sport, Autoweek, Racer, Road and Track, F1 Racing and The Sun.
