Lando Norris held off local favourite Charles Leclerc to win a tense Monaco Grand Prix and claim a vital first win since the season opener.
Norris had controlled the race from pole position but was squeezed into a nail-biting finale when reigning world champion Max Verstappen stayed out until the final lap of the race.
A new rule for this year mandated two pit-stops but Verstappen’s decision to wait until the latest opportunity to make his stop allowed Leclerc to close the gap to Norris in the final stint.
It was a much needed victory for Norris, moving him to within three points of McLaren teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri, who finished third.
Preseason title favourite Norris had won the Australian Grand Prix in March but had since relinquished the championship lead to Piastri, who has won four times since.
“Monaco baby, yeah baby!” Norris said over the radio after finishing the race.
Leclerc had to settle for second, unable to replicate his popular win of 12 months ago, while Piastri rounded out the podium places in third position.
Verstappen’s late stop meant he dropped down to fourth position — his huge gap to Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton is what had allowed him to stay out so late.
While some had expected “chaos” from the new rules, the Safety Car or red flag is appeared to have needed never materialised.
The processional spectacle of the race will lead to inevitable questions over whether the rule change was a successful experiment or not.
Hamilton finished fifth, ahead of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, who appeared at one stage to be a contender for a shock podium after making two quick pit stops in quick succession thanks to teammate Liam Lawson backing the field up.
However, reality quickly set in, although sixth will be a big result for the Red Bull sister team.
Esteban Ocon delivered a storming drive for Haas to finish in seventh, having qualified a brilliant 10th on Saturday afternoon.
Williams drives Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz rounded out the points-paying positions in ninth and tenth, although both provided a lot of the drama and controversy which took place in the lower half of the order.
With Lawson slowing the field down ahead, Albon and Sainz also backed up the pack massively, knowing a handful of points were on offer with everyone else behind mandated to do the same number of stops.
Their driving irked Mercedes’ George Russell, who repeatedly complained at how slowly Sainz was driving.
“This isn’t how I like to go racing but that’s what the rules have created,” Williams boss James Vowles told Sky Sports F1 during the broadcast. “I don’t know what it’s like to watch at home, but from my position this is a difficult afternoon.”
Russell eventually got by after illegally cutting the Nouvelle Chicane.
“Had to avoid a collision with Albon slammed on the brakes,” Russell told his team afterwards. When told he needed to give the position back, Russell said: “I’ll take the penalty. He’s driving erratically”.
But the five-second time penalty he was likely expecting was in fact a drive-through penalty, meaning a slow drive through the pit-lane or a 20-second time penalty applied post-race. When told what the stewards had decided, Russell said: “To be honest… I’m not gonna speak”.
Russell still finished 11th, with Haas driver Oliver Bearman rising from last to 12th, perhaps giving a shred of positivity about the benefit of the new rules.
Fernando Alonso, who labeled himself the “unluckiest driver in the world” last week in Imola, continued his scoreless season when his Aston Martin car running while running in a very promising sixth position.
Pierre Gasly was the only other retirement after an early collision with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Gasly had driven into the back of the Red Bull on approach to the Nouvelle Chicane, destroying his left suspension.
He was able to three-wheel it to the pits, where Alpine retired the car. The drivers appeared to have different opinions over who was to blame.
After the collision, Tsunoda said: “Is he an idiot? What he’s doing?” However, Gasly pointed the blame squarely back at the Red Bull driver.
“I didn’t expect Yuki to move under braking,” Gasly said. “I was pretty close and for me he was braking very early.”
The incident was under investigation when the race finished, meaning Tsunoda and Gasly will visit the stewards to see if a penalty is forthcoming.
By ESPN
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