With a cursory glance at the race-results, you would expect the Monaco Grand Prix to have been an exciting one, the Mercedes drivers nowhere in sight and Ferrari and McLaren on the podium with Red Bull’s golden boy Max Verstappen. Unfortunately, this wasn’t entirely the case, but there still are report cards to be handed out for the action in the Principality. Here are the top of the class contenders and struggle bus riders from the fifth round of the 2021 season.
Top of the class:
Championship battle
Whilst the race won’t be going down as a classic in the history books, it did wonders for the championship battle. When the chequered flag fell, Max Verstappen snatched the lead in the drivers’ championship from Lewis Hamilton. The Dutchman now has a four-point advantage over the 7-times World Champion.
Thanks to Sergio Perez finishing a solid 4th, that’s not all – Red Bull are now leading the constructor’s championship as well. It’s only one measly point, but it is a lead – and considering Mercedes and Hamilton have been topping the leader board since the 2018 German Grand Prix, many fans consider it a breath of fresh air, hoping that this trend will continue for the rest of the season – Wishing to see a living legend battle it out on track with an up-and-coming superstar.
Sainz/Norris Bromance
Norris and Sainz were a fan-favourite driver pairing in their time at McLaren, the two seem to be genuine friends and are always quick to coax a laugh out of each other, which is why so many fans were delighted to see them share a podium.
If Lando Norris ever finds himself bored with racing, he could always make a go of being a fortune teller, as the Brit texted Sainz before the race weekend to tell him that he had a great shot at victory. That wasn’t quite the case, but 2nd is closer than anyone predicted them to be.
The prancing horses were impressive all weekend, already topping the timing sheets during practice and continuing the trend during qualifying. Sainz qualified fourth, having made a small mistake on his first run in Q3 and not getting a second shot at setting a quick time due to the session being red-flagged. During the race, the Spaniard managed to capitalise on both Leclerc and Bottas disappearing from the grid, bringing the car home in second place. This is his first podium with Ferrari, whilst being his third podium overall.
McLaren weren’t expecting much from the Monaco weekend, but with the ink still drying on Norris’ contract extension, the Brit was in his element. Lando qualified in fifth place before cruising to third on race day, holding off Perez and looking fresh in McLaren’s historical Gulf Oil livery as he did. This allowed him to leapfrog himself back into third in the drivers’ standings, now nine points clear of Valtteri Bottas.
Sebastian Vettel – Qualifying: 8th | Race: 5th
It is no secret that four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel had a bit of a slow start at Aston Martin, but he seems to have figured out how to make the car work for him in the narrow streets of Monaco, as he qualified strongly and managed to improve on this result during the race.
After his pitstop, Vettel found himself in close proximity to Gasly’s Alpha Tauri, racing him uphill towards Massenet before pulling ahead. It was a killer move, but one few fans caught because the race director chose to cut away from the wheel-to-wheel racing. More on this later.
Antonio Giovinazzi – Qualifying: 10th | Race: 10th
The Italian brought home Alfa Romeo’s first point in the season, a deserved result as he has been shading teammate Kimi Räikkönen this season, particularly in qualifying. The 27-year-old qualified P10 and held the same position at the chequered flag after being sandwiched between Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and teammate Räikkönen for 78 laps.
He reckons that he could have done ‘a little bit better’, estimating that an eighth or ninth position should also have been possible, but it was an undeniably solid drive which he can be proud of.
Honourable mentions this week go to a duo of Frenchmen, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon. Both drivers brought their cars home in the points (P6 and P9 respectively) and have been dominating their teammates in recent races.
The struggle bus:
Circuit de Monaco
I seem to be making a habit of putting abstract concepts or innate objects on this list rather than drivers, but the Monaco Grand Prix certainly deserves to drive the struggle bus this time around. It might be one of the most important and prestigious races in the world, but this year’s F1 race certainly won’t be going down in the history books as a classic.
This isn’t the first time that fans have wondered if perhaps Formula 1 has outgrown Monaco, but this time around this opinion seems to be unanimously shared among everyone, as I haven’t yet found a single person who speaks positively of this weekend’s race.
Perhaps next year will be better, as the new regulations will change the appearance and build of an F1 car significantly, but I doubt that it will have much effect on the length and width of the car – at least not in the desired direction, as the cars will most likely be 38 kg heavier to account for the 18inch wheels and some safety improvements on the chassis.
It makes one wonder, is there truly still a place for Monaco on F1’s ever-expanding calendar? If it is kept on, significant changes would need to be made to encourage more on-track action. If not, we are most likely heading for yet another snooze fest in 2022.
Not all can be blamed on the track, however, as the race director failed to show some significant events during the race. It is yet another thing F1 should consider re-negotiating about when it comes to the Monaco Grand Prix, as the Monaco Grand Prix is the only race the F1 isn’t in charge of. Instead, a French television channel by the name of TMC is responsible for what’s broadcast to the world.
In recent years, F1 has provided more consistent coverage by eliminating local production teams, but here the Monaco GP differs, as it does in a few other aspects as well. Fans were left beyond frustrated, suggesting that Liberty Media and F1 should step in sooner rather than later after the TV director outrageously cut to a replay of Lance Stroll taking a flying lesson at the swimming pool chicane when Gasly and Vettel were duelling up Beau Rivage.
Charles Leclerc – Qualifying: 1st | Race: DNS
The Monegasque continued his run of bad luck at his home race. During the previous two races at the principality, he failed to see the chequered flag, whilst this weekend he didn’t even get a chance to see the lights go out on Sunday.
It must have been a rollercoaster of emotions for the Ferrari driver, as he began the weekend with trouble during his first practice session on Thursday. The Monegasque then managed to get a hold of pole position during the third qualifying session, before crashing in that same session after pushing too hard in his second run. Clipping the Armco as he went to turn into the chicane, breaking his front suspension in the process and sending him into the barrier. It brought out a red flag, which meant that Leclerc also invertedly stopped other drivers from completing their final lap.
Many wondered whether Leclerc would be able to start the race on pole, as it was predicted that he’d need a gearbox change which would earn him a five-place penalty. It was thus a real surprise when Ferrari announced on Sunday morning that this proved not to be necessary, meaning that Charles would get to start on pole after all. When he went to make his way to the grid, the Monegasque was then heard moaning ‘No… No… No…’ over the board radio, before returning his car to the pits, becoming the first pole-sitter to fail to start a race due to mechanical failure since Michael Schumacher in 1996 (also with Ferrari).
At first, it was suspected that the gearbox was giving him trouble after all, but it turned out to be a completely different issue which prevented him from starting. The left-hand driveshaft hub failed, which was quite unexpected as this was the opposite side of the car from the one that hit the barrier on Saturday. On Monday the team admitted that the hubs were not inspected, as they were not expected to fail in such a situation, but they will be instigating new procedures in the future to try and avoid such a situation from arising again.
Lewis Hamilton – Qualifying: 7th | Race: 7th
Lewis Hamilton doesn’t often have a bad weekend, which is probably why the Briton has seven championship titles behind his name, but his Monaco weekend certainly wasn’t anything to write home about. He is known to be incredibly consistent, meaning that it felt quite surreal to see Hamilton qualify seventh.
During the race, Hamilton was bumped up a place by Leclerc’s inability to start, but Mercedes’ call to bring him in on lap 29 to attempt an undercut later turned out to be the wrong call to make, as Pierre Gasly managed to maintain his advantage over Hamilton after his pitstop, whilst Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez were later able to overcut Hamilton and get ahead. Had his teammate Valtteri Bottas not been forced to retire from the race, Lewis would have brought the car home a lowly eight.
Due to a significant gap to the cars behind, Hamilton was able to pit a second time and reel in a bonus point for fastest lap, but it was a plaster on a wound which in reality needs stitches, as Lewis Hamilton was none-too-pleased with himself or Mercedes after the chequered flag.
A singular wheel nut
There wasn’t any cause for celebration on the other side of the Mercedes garage either. Valtteri’s qualifying wasn’t too shabby, as he managed to lay a hold on the third position. Leclerc’s absence then promoted him to second on the grid and the Finn then managed to get away cleanly at the start, but all fell apart at the seams during the Finn’s pitstop.
He stopped on lap 31 only to find that his mechanics couldn’t switch his right-front tyre, forcing them to retire the car and bringing Valtteri’s day to an early end. The wheel nut had become machined to the axle by the wheel gun, and as of yet it still hasn’t come off. The car will have to be returned to the Brackley factory where the wheel will need to be removed by a high-power drill.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal, said that there were ‘many factors’ which contributed to the issue and refused to put it down to a single error. Suggesting that Mercedes needs ‘to review the design, we need to review the material of our wheel nut, because the mechanics that operate the wheel nuts need to do it in a way that you can’t machine it off.’
Then, some dishonourable mentions at the address of two drivers. Things weren’t quite bad enough for them to earn themselves a place on the struggle bus, but they haven’t quite managed to fly under the radar either.
First, Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian driver managed to score points in each of the four previous races despite having to still get to grips with his new McLaren, but this came to a shuddering halt in Monaco. He qualified 12th and was unable to progress in the race, meaning that he had to suffer through being lapped by teammate Lando Norris. Daniel still had much of the season ahead of him, so there is plenty of room to improve, but the Australian himself admits that he needs to get on top of his game.
The second driver to earn himself a dishonourable mention is Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver had an incredibly strong debut, but then struggled to replicate such form. In Monaco, Yuki finished behind both Williams drivers, whilst teammate Pierre Gasly scored points for the fourth time in a row. As he is a rookie and a promising talent, I want to cut him some slack, but the driver clearly needs a confidence boost, perhaps he’ll gain that with a few more races under his belt.
F1 will have a week break, before heading out to Azerbaijan to race on the Baku City Circuit. The race itself will take place on the 6th of June and lights will be going out at 16:00 local time (13:00 in the UK).