Charles Leclerc, a darling of the home crowd, gave them something to REALLY cheer about as he delivered a masterful performance to claim his maiden victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, dominating from pole position in a race marred by early drama.
Disaster struck before the lights even went out as a multi-car collision involving Sergio Perez’s Red Bull and both Haas entries of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg brought out the red flags. The chaos continued as Esteban Ocon was forced to retire on Lap 1 after contact with Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly.
When the race finally got underway, Leclerc assumed the lead and held off a strategic battle behind him. The key question became whether the frontrunners would pit for fresh tyres or attempt a one-stop strategy.
Leclerc remained calm under pressure, expertly managing his tyres to secure a comfortable win. This victory marks a significant improvement on his previous best result of P4 in Monaco and will be a moment he cherishes forever, having triumphed in his home Grand Prix.
Asked how he felt after taking the chequered flag and stepping out of the car, Leclerc said: “No words can explain that… It’s such a difficult race, I think the fact that twice I’ve been starting on pole position and we couldn’t quite make it makes it even better in a way.
“It means a lot, obviously. It’s the race that made me dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver one day. It was a difficult race emotionally because already 15 laps to the end you’re just hoping that nothing happens, already the emotions were coming.”
Monaco saw Charles Leclerc record a famous victory on home soil, sharing the podium with Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz. Only 16 cars saw the flag, though, with a slew of incidents on the opening lap causing a lengthy red-flag stoppage.
Here are the some intersting facts and stats from an emotional Monaco Grand Prix…
This is Leclerc’s first win since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, ending a 39-race winless streak. He had never previously finished on the podium here in F1 or F2.
The top 10 finished in their grid order, the most in F1 history. The previous record was the top six finishing in grid order in Monaco 2018, Singapore 2018 and Belgium 2021.
Leclerc is the first-ever Monegasque driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix in the world championship era, and the first since Louis Chiron in 1931, which was the third edition of the race.
Leclerc grabbed his fifth podium finish in the first eight races, having only managed four rostrums in the first 20 races of 2023. He also ends his streak of not winning from the pole, having failed to convert his last 12 pole positions into victory – the second-longest streak in history.
Piastri came home second, to tie his career-best Grand Prix finish from Qatar 2023 for McLaren’s best result in Monaco since Lewis Hamilton won here in 2008.
Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren have taken every podium position so far this season.
Sainz was third and hasn’t finished outside the top five so far this season, as he grabbed a third career podium in Monaco.
George Russell was fifth, to match his and his Mercedes team’s best result of the season from Bahrain.
Max Verstappen finished in P6, his lowest finish since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix where he also finished sixth.
