Max Verstappen won the Monaco GP after Ferrari and Mercedes falter. Sainz and Norris drove excellently to make the podium, while Hamilton could only manage 7th. Verstappen and Red Bull now lead both championships.
Aggressive Defense
There was heartbreak for Leclerc before the race even began. The Monagasque’s Ferrari was unable to make the starting grid, sustaining more damage than expected after yesterday’s shunt. This essentially handed pole to Verstappen.
Verstappen’s Red Bull was at a sharp angle as they lined up on the grid. This led to a very aggressive defense off the line, Bottas having to back out to avoid an accident. The cars filed through and managed to avoid any accidents, although Perez did make a few connections with neighbouring cars.
Schumacher made a very tough move against his team-mate into the hairpin, the German was able to force his way past and up to 19th.
Bottas shadowed Verstappen for the entire first stint, but started to drop back before the pit stops. Crucially, he lost any major undercut opportunities as the Red Bull started to pull away. Behind, both Sainz and Norris were starting to gain on Bottas.
Pit Stop Peril
There was huge drama on and off the track as the pit stops started. Bottas came in from 2nd, but his front left wheel became lodged onto the car. The Finnish driver was losing a huge amount of time, dropping far off the podium battle. The tyre never came off the car and he retired on lap 30.
Hamilton pitted from 6th in an attempt to undercut Gasly in front. Hamilton was against stopping early, but Mercedes advised the call. However, this would prove to be a colossal mistake. Hamilton was unable to overtake Gasly after his stop and both drivers were leapfrogged by Vettel. Hamilton was down to 7th while his championship rival was maintaining a comfortable lead.
Verstappen had a superb stop and so did his team-mate, Perez. The Mexican came out a strong 4th, another punishment for Hamilton. Now, the Driver’s and Constructors championships were blown wide open.
Race To the flag
Sainz started taking huge chunks out of Verstappen’s lead, but was unable to break the 3 second barrier. Behind Hamilton’s frustrations were being aired. The Briton was livid at the choice of strategy. He was stuck behind Vettel and Gasly, the two drivers having a phenomenal afternoon.
With 20 laps to go, Norris started to complain about his car becoming ‘undriveable’ on the current set of tyres. He had a 5 second gap to Perez behind, but this was starting to fall. The Mexican made it onto the back of the McLaren with 14 laps to go and put the Briton under a huge amount of pressure.
Hamilton took an extra pit stop in an attempt to steal the point for fastest lap, but in the process came out just infront of Verstappen. Hamilton wouldn’t be able take a lap to charge his battery as blue flags would have put him behind the leader. He set a new lap record on lap 71 and took a crucial point off Verstappen.
Verstappen stormed across the line to take a hugely important victory. Sainz came across in 2nd for his first Ferrari podium, while Norris finished 3rd for the second time this year. Perez was able to take 4th, playing the second driver role superbly, ahead of the resurgent Vettel. Gasly finished a season best 6th while Hamilton eventually came across the line in 7th. Stroll rounded out the first double points finish for Aston Martin, while Ocon and Giovinazzi took the last availble points.
It was a significant advantage to Hamilton and Mercedes coming into Monaco, but they leave on the back foot. While Leclerc is by far the biggest loser, Mercedes will be taking a long look at their performance today. However, It was a superb Sunday for Red Bull and Verstappen, who have both made huge strides in the championship. The 2021 season has just taken a colossal turn.
Full Race Results
- Verstappen
- Sainz +8.968
- Norris +19.427
- Perez +20.490
- Vettel +52.591
- Gasly +53.896
- Hamilton +1:08.231
- Stroll +1 Lap
- Ocon + 1 Lap
- Giovinazzi + 1 Lap
- Raikkonen + 1 Lap
- Ricciardo + 1 Lap
- Alonso + 1 Lap
- Russell + 1 Lap
- Latifi + 1 Lap
- Tsunoda + 1 Lap
- Mazepin + 3 Laps
- Schumacher + 3 Laps
- Bottas RET
- Leclerc DNS
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
