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2021 Formula One Monaco Grand Prix: Round five wrap

Pre-race drama for Ferrari, while Verstappen takes his first win in Monaco and the championship lead.


Most of the drama at Monaco happened before the race even began, with pole-sitter Charles Leclerc reporting back “no no no" to his team on the first lap after the grid opened.

Charles’ Ferrari copped a hard hit in Q3 and the team decided to take a punt in not changing the gearbox, claiming all seemed in order. Once it was under load however, there was a different story.

Charles didn’t make it out to the grid returning to the garage before the race even started, with Ferrari announcing his retirement was due to an issue with the left driveshaft.

Ferrari was criticised for not changing the gearbox and taking the grid penalties. However, since then, the team has said the issue was completely unrelated to the crash. And so the curse continues for Leclerc at his home track, who is yet to reach the chequered flag at Monaco.

Good news for the Scuderia on the other side of the garage – Carlos Sainz got his first podium finishing in second, while McLaren’s Lando Norris scored yet another podium and again outperformed his teammate (but more on that later).

It was the flying Dutchman who reigned supreme and got his first win in Monaco. A great drive by Max now puts him four points ahead in the championship fight.

His teammate in Sergio Perez proved that the Red Bulls are indeed speedy, finishing fourth. It was this position plus the poor performance by Mercedes which has blown the constructors’ championship wide open too – Red Bull Racing-Honda now leads by one point.

Hats off to Sebastian Vettel and Aston Martin Mercedes who were a step ahead of the works Mercedes team in terms of strategy, and finished in fifth and eighth.

Speaking of Mercedes, it was bad luck for both the silver arrows. Lewis Hamilton struggled with tyres over the weekend, and therefore had a lacklustre qualifying session. He complained on the team radio that they were a step behind in the race, pitting too soon and continually losing places with Hamilton only managing a seventh.

His teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was forced to retire after a disastrous pit stop where the wheel nut got caught and the mechanics were therefore unable to remove his front right tyre.

Ricciardo had a shocker of a weekend at a track where he usually excels. There wasn’t much he could do from twelfth – unfortunately his teammate lapped him on lap 52. Ouch.

Round five and I’m happy to say we have a championship battle on our hands here. Let’s hope it sticks! Bring on Azerbaijan.

Results

PosDriverTeam
1.Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda
2.Carlos SainzFerrari
3.Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes
4.Sergio PerezRed Bull Racing-Honda
5.Sebastian VettelAston Martin-Mercedes
6.Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda
7.Lewis HamiltonMercedes-AMG
8.Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes
9.Esteban OconAlpine-Renault
10.Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari
11.Kimi RäikkönenAlfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari
12.Daniel RicciardoMcLaren-Mercedes
13.Fernando AlonsoAlpine-Renault
14.George RussellWilliams-Mercedes
15.Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes
16.Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda
17.Nikita MazepinHaas-Ferrari
18.Mick SchumacherHaas-Ferrari

Did not finish: Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc (DNS)


2021 Driver Standings

PosDriverTeamPts
1.Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda105
2.Lewis HamiltonMercedes-AMG101
3.Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes56
4.Valtteri BottasMercedes-AMG 47
5.Sergio PerezRed Bull Racing-Honda 44
6.Charles LeclercFerrari 40
7.Carlos SainzFerrari 38
8.Daniel RicciardoMcLaren-Mercedes 24
9.Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda16
10.Esteban OconAlpine Renault12
11.Sebastian VettelAston Martin-Mercedes10
12.Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes9
13.Fernando AlondoAlpine Renault5
14.Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda2
15.Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari1
16.Kimi RäikkönenAlfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari0
17.George RussellAston Martin-Mercedes0
18.Mick SchumacherHaas-Ferrari0
19.Nikita MazepinHaas-Ferrari0
20.Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes0

2021 Constructor Standings

PosTeamPts
1.Red Bull Racing-Honda149
2.Mercedes-AMG148
3.McLaren-Mercedes80
4.Ferrari78
5.Aston Martin-Mercedes19
6.AlphaTauri-Honda18
7.Alpine Renault17
8.Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari1
9.Williams-Mercedes0
10.Haas-Ferrari0
Emma Notarfrancesco

Emma has been on our television screens for over a decade. Most of her time in the industry has been spent at racetracks reporting at major motorsport events in Australia - from TCR and Superbikes to Porsche Sprint Challenge and Supercars. Emma has also hosted various MotoGP and F1 events interviewing the likes of Daniel Ricciardo and Jack Miller. Having previously presented on an automotive show, she made her move to the Drive family in 2020. Fiercely proud of her Italian heritage, Emma is a coffee loving, stylish-black wearing resident of Melbourne.

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