26/05/2024
NEWS STORY
While we know from experience that Monaco enjoys a micro-climate it would appear that the Weather Gods are not going to be playing a part in today's event.
Consequently, if we are to avoid a repeat of last weekend's procession we are reliant on one of two things, either an incident - most likely at the first corner - or a brave strategic call.
This, like Imola, being a one-stopper, it has all the makings of a boreathon, indeed the only thing of excitement heading into the race is the Sky team's bid to insist what great opportunities there are to make this a great race.
Usually one would bet on the pole-man taking victory and with 12 of the events since 2005 being decided that way, there is little to suggest that today will be any different.
However, pole-sitter Leclerc would be the first to admit that his home track hasn't been too kind to him over the years, and one cannot help but feel that once again he might allow himself to yield to the pressure.
After losing out last week, Piastri gets the chance to show what he can do, but not only does he have to nail the Monegasque driver alongside, he also has to fend off the second Ferrari and his own teammate.
Then there's Verstappen, who finds himself sandwiched between the two Mercedes, with Tsunoda, Albon and Gasly behind, and each eager to prove - and score - a point.
Then, of course we have Ocon, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo, not forgetting Alonso and Perez who are both very much out of place.
First however, there is the little matter of Ste Devote, F1's annual attempt to play out the parable of the camel and the eye of a needle.
If the field gets through Ste Devote without any issues, barring any subsequent mishaps, or brave strategic calls, that is pretty much how it will look 78 laps later.
Reliability has been superb all season, however those barriers have caught out a number of drivers over the course of the weekend, and no doubt there are going to be some over ambitious moves this afternoon that end in tears.
Those who opt to start on the hards will aim to extend their first stint as much as possible, hoping for a Safety Car to give them a cheap pit stop in terms of time taken. In fact, it's quite difficult to predict the ideal pit stop window as that will depend on whether or not incidents on track create any opportunities. But in theory, they would be between laps 25 and 35 for those on a medium-hard strategy and between 45 and 55 for those running a hard-medium race.
While this weekend Piastri retains his front row slot, the Haas pair will start from the back of the grid after their rear wings were found to be illegal.
The pitlane opens and the drivers begin to head out. First out is Magnussen, followed by Bottas, Ocon, Sargeant and Ricciardo.
"I think we've had pretty good starts recently," says Leclerc, "so we just have to do our thing and not do anything too crazy, but the pace has been there all weekend. Carlos is starting third too which hopefully will be a help as well. I'll try to bring it home."
Indeed, and that is something that Piastri will have to watch, for if Sainz gets ahead of him he can assist his teammate, then again the same could be said of Norris behind.
"The steering is heavier than yesterday," says Alonso, while Russell complains that his "ride feels a little bit worse today".
Air temperature is 21 degrees C, while the track temperature is 49 degrees. Race control kindly informs that there is 0% chance of rain.
Most are starting on mediums bar Russell, Verstappen, Hamilton, Ocon, Stroll, Alonso, Sargeant, Perez, Bottas and Magnussen. Piastri, Norris, Stroll and Norris on used rubber.
They head off on the formation lap. All getting away cleanly.
The grid forms.
They're away! They get through Ste Devote without any issues... however, moments later Sainz grinds to a halt with a puncture, the Spaniard appearing to have clashed with Piastri, who touched the Ferrari coming out of Ste Devote.
Indeed, while Leclerc got clean away, Piastri lost ground to Sainz at the start and going into the opening corner the Spaniard is slightly ahead. However, Piastri goes around the outside and somehow gets ahead but in the process they touch ever so slightly, but enough.
The race is red-flagged but not for Sainz but because of an incident involving Perez, Hulkenberg and Magnussen further on up the hill.
All three cars are badly damaged as Sainz heads back to the grid hoping to make the restart.
Replay shows Magnussen was on the right of Perez as the three were going up the hill through Beau Rivage into Massenet, with Hulkenberg on the left. Magnussen and Perez touch after the Dane appears to touch the barrier and bounces towards the Mexican and in the ensuing mayhem they collect Hulkenberg who almost made it through. It was a big accident, with Perez' car effectively destroyed, however, thankfully, all three drivers are out of their cars and OK.
Replay shows Magnussen didn't in fact touch the barriers but instead went for a gap that wasn't there. This could well be a race ban for the Dane.
That said, on-board shows that Perez looks in his mirrors and was aware the Haas was there.
And now another replay shows that further around the two Alpines clashed, as they entered the tunnel, Ocon trying to sneak through on the inside of his teammate. The two touch causing Ocon to spin and lap into the air.
"What did he do, what did he do," screams Gasly, "why did he try to attack me. Oh my gosh!"
Needless to say, both incidents have been noted.
The order for the restarts will be Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Norris, Russell, Verstappen, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Albon, Gasly, Ocon, Stroll, Ricciardo, Alonso, Sargeant, Bottas and Zhou.
There will be no further investigation of the Sainz/Piastri clash.
The race will resume at15:44. "It will be a standing start," Bottas is told.
"I had a good part of my front on Perez's rear," says Magnussen, "and when he went to the wall I just got pushed into the wall.
"I trusted he was going to make a space," he adds. "You have to have a car width otherwise you leave the guy no option. It's unfortunate, a lot of cost for the team and a lot of work for the guys. From my point of view I was there, and I got squeezed into the wall."
"Turn 1, Turn 2... finished," says Hulkenberg. "Kicked in the rear axle by Checo who had contact with Kevin.
"Typical Lap 1 racing incident, two drivers who didn't want to bail out and I was the unlucky victim there. I don't know what the stewards are going to do."
Ahead of the restart Ocon is in civvies, so he will not be taking part.
Russell, Verstappen, Hamilton, Gasly, Stroll, Alonso and Bottas are on mediums, the rest are on hards. Piastri, Norris, Tsunoda, Stroll, Alonso and Sargeant on used rubber.
The grid forms... again.
They're away... again. Once again they negotiate Ste Devote without any issues, indeed they complete the first lap without any silliness, thankfully lessons have clearly been learned.
At the end of Lap 1, it's: Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Norris, Russell, Verstappen, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Albon and Gasly. Further back, Alonso has passed Ricciardo for 12th.
"No need to stick this close to Norris, just manage the tyres at this stage," Russell is told.
After 6 laps Leclerc leads by 0.4s, while Piastri is told that there are no obvious signs of damage following that earlier clash with Sainz.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Monaco here.
"Let me know if you want me to manage everywhere or just 3, 4 and 5," says Russell. "If we continue at this pace we're going to open a pit stop (window)."
Ocon is handed a 10s penalty for causing a collision... though he's already back in his apartment and watching events unfold on TV.
Lap 8 sees a new fastest lap from Sainz (20.272), who is watched by his illustrious father.
"We gain nothing from driving faster," Russell is told as Verstappen is advised of the Mercedes driver's tactics. The Briton has dropped 6.5s behind Norris.
Lap 13 sees another fastest lap from Piastri (18.745) who continues to hand on to the rear of the leading Ferrari.
As the leading four pull away, Russell leas one of several DRS trains.
Bottas pits at the end of Lap 15, the Finn switching to hards.
"Charles managing I guess," says Sainz, "because that was close with Piastri, one lap he might send it."
In clear air, Bottas posts a new fastest lap (16.561).
After 19 laps, the leading four are covered by 2.9s.
Albon is all over Tsunoda as they battle for 8th, while Sargeant (14th) will have to stop again due to the two compound rule.
"A lot of cars may struggle," admits James Vowles, " it creates an opportunity to do something at the end on fresh rubber.
"The hard is okay," he adds, "at this pace it will make the end but the medium, it is touch and go. That's why Mercedes are driving so slow."
On Lap 22 Leclerc slightly extends his lead to just over a second.
"I'm okay," says Ocon. "It was a hard launch in the air and a hard landing, but I've had worse days on that side of things. I think on that side of things I'm okay.
"Obviously it's an unfortunate incident to retire early in the race, after a long race that was going to go late on. A tough one. We tried to basically put the car back in the garage, so pulled out of the fast lane to try and repair what we could repair, but unfortunately we discovered too much damage sustained. A chaotic first lap and I hope that the team can score some points today."
Seemingly, team boss Bruno Famin is very, very unhappy.
"A little bit of abrasion, front-left," warns Norris, however he is told that Ferrari had similar graining ten laps earlier.
The Briton is currently 1.5s down on Sainz who is 0.9s adrift of Piastri.
"We see the first signs of front-left graining for Sainz," Norris is informed.
Down in 12th, 8.6s down on his teammate, Alonso leads a train of four cars.
Leclerc and Piastri lapping in the low 18s while Sainz is in the mid-19s.
Ocon will drop 5-gid place in Canada.
The gap between Norris and Russell is currently 17.2s, just a couple more and the McLaren driver can pit. The news is passed on to Leclerc who is told to ease his pace and reduce that gap.
"Today's incident was my fault," tweets Ocon who has finally seen a replay, "the gap was too small in the end and I apologise to the team on this one. Hoping for a deserved points-finish for the team today."
"He's slowing down," says Piastri of Leclerc, "he must be worried about something."
After 40 laps - just over half-distance - the leaders are lapping the back markers.
Stroll pits at the end of Lap 43, the Canadian rejoining in 11th, just ahead of his teammate.
"How is my front-left looking," asks Norris. "Of the four of you, you are the best," he is told.
"Do you want to know the margins?" asks Leclerc. "No, we are not interested," he is firmly told. "That's rude," he laughs. The youngster is currently lapping in the low 19s in a bid to close the gap to Russell. At which point he bangs in a 17.9.
"I have a puncture," reports Stroll. Indeed, as he enters the pitlane the tyre detaches itself.
If that had happened seconds earlier there would have been a VSC at the very least.
The Canadian rejoins in 16th (last) on softs.
At the end of Lap 41, Hamilton pits, the Mercedes driver rejoining still in 7th.
Verstappen reacts by going quickest in S1, before diving into the pits. However, he switches to mediums as he rejoins still in sixth.
A great move by Bottas on Sargeant at Mirabeau to claim 13th.
"Why didn't you tell me out lap's critical?" asks Hamilton as he posts a new fastest lap (16.458).
Verstappen responds with a 15.815 as he closes the gap to Russell to 11.5s.
The leading four still covered by just 5.4s, with everyone up to Hamilton lapped.
A 14.423 from Hamilton as Verstappen closes to within 8.3s of Russell.
In quick succession, Stroll passes Zhou and then Sargeant with his softs.
"If Lando puts a new medium, also Charles is in danger," warns Sainz.
"Mate, battery, no-one is watching it again," says Verstappen who is now just 1.1s down on Russell.
Verstappen is all over Russell who is now working his way through the back markers. Hamilton is just 2.8s behind the pair.
"We have a margin on strategy so you can push more now," Tsunoda is told. "That's what I like to hear," he replies.
As Russell is told to cool his brakes, Leclerc posts a 15.941 as the undercut threat appears to have abated.
Piastri appears to have settled for second, the gap to Leclerc now up to 5s. However, Sainz is just 0.79s behind.
As Leclerc laps in the mid-15s, the three behind are posting low 17s.
"On my onboard there is no point where you see Kevin and I was just pretty surprised that he kept it flat at that point," says Perez, "because it was just very unnecessary.
"We had a lot of damage," he adds, "we had a very dangerous incident. Also I'm very disappointed that it didn't get investigated, because it was a massive incident, my car is completely destroyed and I have a lot of damage."
At the end of Lap 73, Zhou pits for a set of brand new softs.
"I'll just bring it home," says Leclerc. "Thank you," comes the reply.
Leclerc takes the flag, ahead of Piastri, Sainz, Norris, Russell, Verstappen, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Albon and Gasly... the same order as the restart and indeed the original start.
Alonso is eleventh, ahead of Ricciardo, Bottas, Stroll, Sargeant and Zhou.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Monaco here.
"It was a tight one," says Sainz, "and a very bad feeling there in Lap 1 that turned into a very good feeling getting reinstated into P3.
"But I'm extremely happy to see Charles win his home Grand Prix and getting to share it with him. Maybe I had a chance to put pressure on Oscar to get him to do a mistake, we got him under pressure but it was not enough to pass."
"A tricky race," says Piastri, "the pace at the beginning was incredibly slow. I had one little half look into the tunnel but I didn't have a small enough car to pit in the gap.
"Nice to get a result on the board," he adds, "we've been strong the last few races but not got the results. What a place to get a podium.
"To be honest, Charles has been mega all weekend, it would have taken something very special in qualifying to out-do him, probably the best lap of my life."
"No words can explain this," says an emotional Leclerc. "I think because twice I started from pole and couldn't make it, it means more in a way.
"It was a race that made me dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver," he adds. "In the last 15 laps, the emotions were coming, I was thinking of my Dad, he gave everything to get me here. It was a dream of his for me to race here and to win, so this is unbelievable."
A great result for Leclerc and also Oscar, but in all honesty it was like one of those movies that promises so much, keeps you thinking something's about to happen, but it doesn't.
However, with Verstappen finishing sixth it kicks new life into the championship, which is good for us.
On the podium even Prince Albert looks emotional, as well he might, it is a very popular win.
The bank plays the anthems, the royal family and Ferrari crew sing both with gusto, it is most definitely party time in Monaco
Not the most enthralling of races - far from it - but as we said a popular result and one that offers hope of a genuine fight for the title(s) as the season progresses.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Monaco here.