Mercedes and Hamilton lose F1 title leads as Verstappen and Red Bull revel in Monaco
Mercedes and Hamilton lose F1 title leads as Verstappen and Red Bull revel in Monaco
Max Verstappen cruised to his maiden Monaco Grand Prix victory to lead the drivers' championship for the first time in his six-year F1 career.
After starting with a 14-point deficit to seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, the Red Bull driver heads to the next race in Azerbaijan in a fortnight's time with a four-point lead over his Mercedes rival who could only manage seventh, adding a key point for fastest lap late on.
In a brutal swing in the championship for Mercedes, the team's 29-point cushion over Red Bull in the constructors' standings heading into the weekend has turned into a one-point disadvantage.
Remarkably, it is the first time since the 2018 German GP that Mercedes has not led both championships.
That is due to a number of factors in relation to this race, starting with Charles Leclerc's failure to start the race from the pole position he had secured on Saturday.
Strategically, after being praised for their acumen two weeks ago in Spain, Mercedes then blundered around the streets of the Principality as Hamilton failed to make up places as the pit stops unfolded.
Worse followed when team-mate Valtteri Bottas pitted as the right-front wheel nut machined onto the axle and was unable to be removed, forcing him into retirement.
With no Hamilton or Bottas in the top three, Ferrari's woe over Leclerc was tempered slightly by Carlos Sainz finishing second, matching the best result of his career.
McLaren's Lando Norris completed a podium for a third third-place finish in F1, while tactics allowed Sergio Perez to claim fourth and ensure Red Bull gained a strategic measure of revenge over Mercedes given what transpired in Barcelona.
Ferrari and Leclerc woe
Ferrari will reflect, however, on what might have been as Leclerc was ruled out before a wheel had turned in anger.
On his way to the grid after the pitlane had opened 30 minutes before the start of the race, a distraught Leclerc radioed back to the team a suspected gearbox problem.
Although Ferrari had cleared the component of any damage following Leclerc's crash in qualifying despite two inspections, the issue was ultimately diagnosed as a failure with the left driveshaft.
It allowed Verstappen to become de facto polesitter, albeit starting from his second-place grid slot, with Bottas alongside him on the 'front row'.
Once the five red lights disappeared to signal the start of the 78-lap race, Verstappen comfortably covered off an attack from Bottas on the short run to Sainte Dévote.
In fact, the only drivers who made up a place at the start were all in the lower half of the grid - Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, Kimi Raikkonen in his Alfa Romeo, Fernando Alonso for Alpine and Nicholas Latifi for Williams.
Mercedes fall apart
Over the early stages, Bottas managed to keep Verstappen within two seconds but after being told over the radio after 15 laps to 'show us your pace', the Dutchman then proceeded to pull away.
Verstappen was aided by tyre issues on the Finn's W12 that instead saw him fall into the clutches of the chasing Sainz.
As the pit-stop window loomed, it became a case of who would blink first, and it was Mercedes who called in Hamilton after 29 laps from his sixth place.
But on new hard tyres, Hamilton was unable to perform the undercut on AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly, and to make matters worse, Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel performed the overcut on the Briton to elevate himself into 12th.
It led to Hamilton fuming over the radio as he told the team: "I said the tyres could go longer, that doesn't mean we stop before."
Hamilton radio anger
Hamilton's ire grew when he was also informed that Perez would also be ahead, and so it transpired when the Mexican pitted after 34 laps to claim fourth.
Perez then proceeded to reel in Norris who suffered issues with his tyres, but despite 12 laps in which to make a pass to claim third, around the tight, twisty confines of the circuit there was no way past.
The only consolation for Hamilton was that in building a sufficient enough cushion to the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll in eighth, it allowed him to make a second stop to take on a set of soft tyres and claim the point for fastest lap.
Verstappen eventually won by nine seconds to Sainz, with Norris a further 10.7secs back, while Perez dropped to a second off the Briton.
Behind Hamilton, Stroll was eighth, followed by the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, while Alfa Romeo scored its first point of the season as Antonio Giovinazzi was 10th.
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Haas announce Hulkenberg EXIT as F1 star's new team confirmed
- 2 hours ago
F1 champion claims Drive to Survive success was 'very lucky'
- 9 minutes ago
F1 franchise welcomes return of INCREDIBLE feature
- 1 hour ago
F1 News Today: Red Bull star set to QUIT team as F1 driver role CONFIRMED for 2025
- 1 hour ago
F1 team set to axe BOTH star drivers
- 2 hours ago
Red Bull to lose F1 MVP as true cost of Horner saga hits
- Today 09:57
Related news
F2/F3 Power Rankings - Verstappen Monaco display BEATEN by rising star
FIVE thing we learned from Monaco - as Mercedes find out their chances of 2023 wins
F1 MUST make these changes to SAVE Monaco or say goodbye to the 'crown jewel'
Marko makes ‘INCREDIBLE’ claim over Verstappen barrier contact during Monaco GP
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860