Ferrari's Charles Leclerc drove to victory on Sunday at the 2024 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, which served as round eight of the current season.
A native of Monaco, it was Leclerc's first win at his home event in six attempts. The Ferrari driver also clinched the pole position, which is crucial in a race run on a narrow circuit like Monaco's. This helped him finish comfortably ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri, who started in second on the grid, with the gap between the two drivers expanding to seven seconds by the end of the race. Rounding out the top three was Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who finished seven and a half seconds behind his teammate.
There was drama right at the start, with Sainz and Piastri coming into contact on the first lap and Sainz suffering a punctured tire as a result. He had some luck, though, as Red Bull Racing's Sergio Perez, starting near the back of the grid, received some contact from Haas' Kevin Magnussen. Perez ended up bouncing off a wall and colliding with Haas' other driver, Nico Hulkenberg. Despite Perez's car being destroyed, no major injuries were reported, though his race was over, as was the case for both Haas drivers.
There was also some contact between the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon on the first lap, when the latter tried an overtake move at the Portier corner. Gasly raced on, while Ocon was forced to retire.
2024 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix
The race was halted for 45 minutes as the track was cleared following Perez's impact with the two Haas drivers. At the restart, the drivers lined up in their original grid positions after having changed tires, with most swapping to a new compound to avoid the obligatory pit stop.
After the second restart, there was very little action. Midway through the race, the top ten positions were unchanged, with Leclerc leading, and Piastri and Sainz fighting for second. Behind them was McLaren's Lando Norris, who was ahead of Mercedes-Benz AMG's George Russell and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
As tires started to wear out, some drivers made a gamble and went for a second stop. One of them was Aston Martin's Lance Stroll who was then forced back to pits due to a puncture caused by clipping one of the barriers. Up front, Leclerc was well ahead of the field and remained there to the checkered flag. Piastri had his work cut out for him as he faced several challenges from Sainz looking to make it a Ferrari one-two finish, but he kept his cool and the order didn't change.
Following the weekend's action, Verstappen remains in the lead in the 2024 Drivers' Championship with 169 points. Leclerc is second with 138 points and Norris has moved into third with 113 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull leads with 276 points versus the 252 of Ferrari and 184 of McLaren.
The next race on the calendar is the Canadian Grand Prix, in two weeks.
2024 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix
Below are the full results from the 2024 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix:
1) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2) Oscar Piastri, McLaren +7.152 seconds
3) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +7.585 seconds
4) Lando Norris, McLaren +8.650 seconds
5) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG +13.309 seconds
6) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +13.853 seconds
7) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG +14.908 seconds
8) Yuki Tsunoda, RB +1 lap
9) Alexander Albon, Williams +1 lap
10) Pierre Gasly, Alpine +1 lap
11) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +2 laps
12) Daniel Ricciardo, RB +2 laps
13) Valtteri Bottas, Sauber +2 laps
14) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +2 laps
15) Logan Sargeant, Williams +2 laps
16) Zhou Guanyu, Sauber +2 laps
NC) Esteban Ocon, Alpine – DNF
NC) Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing – DNF
NC) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas – DNF
NC) Kevin Magnussen, Haas – DNF
