Charles Leclerc survives chaotic first lap melee to finally break Monaco GP curse
A chaotic Monaco Grand Prix saw four cars taken out in separate crashes on the first lap while the timing forced Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton onto sub-optimal tyre strategies
The stars finally aligned for Ferrari and Charles Leclerc in Monaco
Monaco native Charles Leclerc survived opening lap chaos to finally taste victory on home soil.
Leclerc has secure pole position in the Principality twice before but a run of rotten luck prevented him from converting either into a victory. But it was third time lucky for the Ferrari driver as he led the entire race and kept Oscar Piastri behind to win for the sixth time in F1 – his first since April 2022.
A 40-minute delay was needed after three cars were involved in a lap-one smash. And it worked to Carlos Sainz‘s advantage as he had picked up a puncture at the first corner but, because of the timing of the red flag, he did not lose his positions and so remained in place to keep Lando Norris at bay and secure third place for Ferrari.
George Russell did enough to hold off Max Verstappen who had to settle for sixth after starting there, and he in turn kept Lewis Hamilton behind. The top 10 at the finish were all in the same places they were in when the race began.
The pack had negotiated just a few corners of the first lap when the race was stopped. There were several incidents but the one which brought out the red flags involved Sergio Perez and the two Haas cars.
Kevin Magnussen made contact with the Red Bull at turn two and sent it spinning and smashing into the wall. The Dane’s team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was an unfortunate casualty as Perez’s spinning car hit into his as he tried to avoid the melee and he too suffered terminal damage.
Debris was scattered everywhere across the track and a 40-minute stoppage was needed to clear the track. Fortunately all the drivers involved were okay, but .
Sergio Perez’s car was obliterated in the crash (
Sainz suffered a puncture but was saved by the red flag as it meant he did not lost any places on track. He was able to continue, but Esteban Ocon wasn’t so lucky after picking up too much damage on his Alpine after a brainless move on team-mate Pierre Gasly.
Seconds before the red flags flew, he tried to dive up the inside of his fellow Frenchman at Portier. But all that happened was their wheels collided and Ocon’s car was sent up into the air and came crashing back down hard onto the track, ending his race. Ocon was penalised but because he was out, that will become a five-place grid drop for the next race in Montreal. No punishment was given to any of the drivers involved in the other incident, much to Magnussen’s relief.
When the race eventually restarted, there was far less drama and it quickly developed into the sort of procession that has become typical in Monaco. Overtaking was at a premium and, because of the stoppage, most had taken the opportunity to change tyres and remove the threat of a botched pit stop.