Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finally won on his home track. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez is in a difficult situation.
The eighth race in Monaco already saw the fourth winner of the F1 season, when Ferrari’s Monaco driver Charles Leclerc achieved his first domestic victory.
While last season, in addition to Red Bull, only Ferrari celebrated a victory once Carlos Sainznow during the first eight races of Red Bull Max Verstappen’s and in addition to Leclerc, Sainz and McLaren have celebrated the victory Lando Norris. So the desired development has taken place in the F1 series.
It was the third time that Monaco’s Leclerc was able to shoot from the pole position on his home track. In 2021 and 2022, the races of the Ferrari star ended in disappointment, but now the third time told the truth.
Driving in Monaco for the sixth time, Leclerc has had a lot of bad luck on the track in the past, but now the curse has been lifted. The victory is the sixth of the 26-year-old driver’s career and the first in almost two years.
McLaren, who started from the second grid, was second Oscar Piastri, for whom the podium place is the first in the current season. The top three was completed by Carlos Sainz, who was quite lucky.
The Spaniard, who started from grid three, suffered a flat tire on the opening lap and drifted far away. Fortunately for Sainz, Red Bull Sergio Perez and Haas Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg crashed, with which the race was stopped.
Since the race had not started properly, the restart was started in the original order. Thus, Sainz could breathe a sigh of relief and he was able to start again from grid three.
Disappointed Sauber in yesterday’s qualifying Valtteri Bottas managed to rise from the 19th square to the 13th place. Teammate Zhou Guanyu was the last to finish, i.e. 16th.
The weekend was a disappointment for World Series leader Red Bull For Max Verstappen, which was only sixth, as in time trials. His lead over Leclerc, who is second in the World Series, narrowed to 31 points.
Red Bull’s Perez, who has already failed in qualifying and only left the 18th grid, is in a difficult situation. In the World Championship points, both Norris and Sainz overtook Perez, whose ranking is only fifth.