Due to too-narrow streets and too-wide cars the Monaco Grand Prix has become quite predictable in recent years, to the point where some begin to wonder whether this historical street track truly deserves its place on the calendar (despite this marina being very much real).
But thanks to a spot of rain, a few less-than-stellar strategy calls and some lapses in concentration this Grand Prix was one worth watching, even if you were in for the long haul. Perhaps the Monaco Grand Prix isn’t yet obsolete but it simply requires an investment in a sprinkler system?
Here’s the report cards from round 7:
Top of the class:
Sergio Pérez – Qualifying: 4th | Race: 1st
This is exactly what Sergio needed after Barcelona. Whilst there, the team made it quite clear that he’s their number 2, here he was able to show him that there’s some bite to his bark. It’s a rare sight for one of Max Verstappen’s teammates, but this weekend the Mexican was consistently faster than the current World Champion, and he deserves some extra kudos for keeping Max and the two Ferrari’s behind as the clock ticked down.
On the podium it was clear that this win meant a lot to him. Unsurprising, because Monaco is special for every driver, but worth mentioning is that he’s also the first Mexican to ever win the Monaco Grand Prix, so that must have carried some weight too.
Just before the podium, Sergio dropped another bombshell, mentioning that he had already signed, and hinting that perhaps with this knowledge he could have negotiated a higher price.
We will forget that Q3 crash that brought out the red flag as the series still cannot settle on a red flag procedure, we’ll dispute into the night whether drivers should be allowed to keep their times if they disrupt qualifying. Apart from that small blemish, it was a stellar job from Sergio this weekend.
Pierre Gasly – Qualifying: 17th | Race: 11th
Whilst the performance during Quali wasn’t much to write home about, probably partly to blame on some bizarre AlphaTauri strategy in Q1, Pierre deserves kudos for being one of the first to make a bold tyre choice. He seems to be one of the few who welcomed the rain with open arms and has the results to show for it. Whilst it’s a shame that he couldn’t take home points, it was a brilliant recovery drive.
“It was obviously tricky, sliding all over the place, but it was really fun, you were driving on the limit and that’s what Formula One is all about,” said Gasly, before adding; “I think we deserved to be up there this weekend.”
It may have been a missed opportunity as Pierre could have easily been amongst the top 10 in quali, but he’ll remember that move into the Swimming Pool on Daniel Ricciardo for a while to come.
Fernando Alonso – Qualifying: 7th | Race: 7th
By simply looking at results alone, one might not get why Alonso earns himself a position on the upper half of this list, but as almost always the case, the results are not telling the whole story.
After his crash in qualifying, he was leaning more towards the bottom of this list, but the sheer Alonso-ness of his driving during the race earned him some bonus points. He drove 2 or 3 seconds a lap off pace for nearly a quarter of the race, but with some elbows out driving in the narrow streets of Monaco he managed to frustrate Hamilton and a whole train of drivers behind.
The Spaniard finished more than 34 seconds behind Lando Norris in front in an effort to save tyres. Perhaps not his most stellar drive, but stereotypically Alonso, which you got to love. It was also an important time to beat teammate Esteban Ocon as rumours of his future continue to swirl.
Then for honourable mentions:
The first honourable mention goes to Lando Norris, who scored for the fifth time this year and took home the Fastest Lap point. The second honourable mention goes to Valtteri Bottas, who was the only driver who started outside of the top ten to fight his way into it.
The Struggle Bus:
Ferrari’s Strategists
The Monaco Curse has partly been lifted, because Charles was at least able to finish his home race. But after nabbing pole in a brilliant manner, the Monegasque deserved more than crossing the finish line in 4th position. This especially because it wasn’t him who threw the win away, some spectacularly bad strategy was the reason for his downfall.
It began with him being called in for inters on a rapidly drying track, whilst others were already switching to slicks – but an indecisive second stop (as part of a double-car pitstop) to put on slicks within a few laps only made things worse. During the Red Flag situation Charles stormed off in a huff, and if you ask me, quite rightly so.
Red Bull simply overcut the Ferraris as Charles got bogged down by a blue flag-ignoring Alex Albon. Not only that but leaving Carlos Sainz out to jump straight from wets to slicks ensured the Spaniard also jumped Charles. It will be little comfort that he finally finished a home race because it was very Ferrari-esque turning a solid 1-2 into a disappointing 2-4.
Haas
Mick Schumacher – Qualifying: 15th | Race: DNF
Kevin Magnussen – Qualifying: 13th | Race: DNF
Mick won’t be pleased to have to board the struggle bus once more, but after that nasty-looking crash, the majority of the fans will be relieved that he’s able to board at all. Whilst Schumacher finds himself on the bottom half of this list, we have to give kudos to the safety regulations, because clearly, they do their job. A car snapping in half will be an expensive bill for Haas, so unsurprisingly that Guenther Steiner sounds less than pleased, but it kept Mick safe.
Still, the German will be keen to earn himself his first points in Baku, because that looks to be the only thing which would shift the narrative in his favour once more.
The other side of the garage didn’t see the chequered flag either, but Kevin’s retirement passed with much less fanfare. It went so unnoticed in fact, that due to some confusing television directing, it at first looked like Kevin had crashed out rather than Mick. This later proved to be false, as he retired with a power unit issue.
Williams
Nicholas Latifi – Qualifying: 19th | Race: 15th
Alex Albon – Qualifying: 16th | Race: DNF
Nicholas was one of the first to buckle under the pressure of a wet race, damaging his front nose at the Grand Hotel Hairpin on the first lap of proper racing, which was practically race-ending. He saw the chequered flag, so he did finish, but he was absolutely nowhere to be found for the entire race.
Alex looked to be outdriving the car in previous weekends, but he didn’t manage to make the car work for him this time around. He experienced some unexpected bouncing on the straights, which was a cause for concern and reason enough for the team to retire the car. Alex also ran off at turn 1 at least twice, got a penalty for cutting the chicane and gaining an advanatge, and simply ignored blue flags which ultimately cost Charles Leclerc a podium finish.
Then for dishonourable mentions:
The first dishonourable mention goes to Lewis Hamilton. Bahrain remains to be the only race this year that he’s topped Russell, which means that he’s now 34 points behind the other Brit. Normally, Lewis takes advantage of wet conditions like these, but this time around it wasn’t meant to be.
The next dishonourable mention goes to Daniel Ricciardo. Like Lewis, he doesn’t quite seem to be able to get on top of his teammate. Especially in qualifying the gap was quite painful, with Daniel being knocked out in Q2 whilst Norris qualified in the top 5. The FP2 crash at the Swimming Pool also did nothing to boost his confidence at one of his favourite tracks.
The third one on this list goes to the Stewards, who seemed to simply be quite late to every party? They took quite a while to decide when to get racing, whilst several drivers were already asking what the hold-up was about, and towards the end of the race they penalised Ocon for something that had happened nearly an hour and a half previously. Don’t get us started on the notes about the pit lane exit either.
The last to earn a dishonourable mention is the TV director. There were quite some cut-aways at inopportune moments and we were missing the logical follow-up shows. Like where was the immediate slomo of Checo’s tyre after he had that big lock-up? Whilst we’re all couch-experts, we want to know what the damage looks like, so we can rage about it on Twitter! At least we didn’t have a repeat of the infamous ‘Stroll’ incident from last year.
The drivers will have a week to rest up, but then they’ll have to roll up their sleeves for another round of the championship. On the 12th of June we’ll be heading to the Baku City Circuit for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, be sure to watch lights go out at 12 pm UK time.
