Analysis of the Monaco Grand Prix, brought to you by Bahrain International Circuit
F1 arrived in the glamour of Monaco with its latest superstar, Italian Kimi Antoneili, on the back of four straight wins.
With the unique challenge of the Monte Carlo circuit, where experience really does count and the smallest of errors are penalised heavily, many believed that it could be the time for experience to shine, perhaps even some Lewis Hamilton magic.
Indeed, throughout the early practice session both Hamilton and his teammate Leclerc at his home race looked to be strong.
The Ferraris had topped the first two practice sessions and had been marginally pipped by Antonelli in the third session.
However, they went into Saturday’s qualifying full of confidence, with a bank of experience and a combined four wins between them in The Principality.
Only four drivers have had more success than Hamilton around this circuit.
As has often been said, qualifying is more crucial in Monaco than any other venue on the calendar. Overtaking is hard and track position is key.
Over the last 20 years, over 70% of the races have been won from pole in Monaco.
That fact no doubt adds to the pressure of the most challenging qualifying lap of the season.
Remarkably, it was Antonelli, despite only his second race at Monaco, who delivered what was described by many pundits as a “magical” lap to take pole, just a fraction ahead of Verstappen.
He became the youngest-ever pole sitter in Monaco.
As for Verstappen, he outperformed what on paper his car could achieve, to sit alongside him on the front row.
The two Ferraris took the second row on the grid, ready to pounce on any errors ahead of them at the start, whilst Hadjar in the other Red Bull and Russell in the Mercedes took the third row.
The two McLarens, who had been struggling by their standards for much of the weekend, completed the top eight.
On the face of it, tyre strategy is quite straightforward in Monaco.
The combination of slow corner speeds, low grip and the shorter race distance (Monaco runs to 206km, compared to the standard 305km everywhere else), lends itself well to a one-stop strategy.
However, the timing of that single stop would be key, with teams keeping an eye on the high likelihood of a safety car, plus trying to find gaps around the circuit where cars can come out of the pits into ‘clean air’.
As the race got underway, it was a disastrous start for Verstappen, who had an engine issue and despite an initial recovery his problem was terminal and he retired at the end of the first lap.
Meanwhile, Antonelli got off the line without incident, as did the Ferraris.
The race settled down largely without drama and after 20 laps Antonelli had built a 5.5 second lead.
Further back, Norris had been taken by Gasly at the start, whilst Russell couldn’t overtake Hadjar ahead of him.
As is the way in Monaco, this created bottlenecks and gaps. By lap 26, that gap at the front had grown to 10 seconds, with Hadjar 25 seconds behind the pair of Ferraris in second and third.
Hamilton was the first of the pit stops amongst the lead pack on lap 29, who was so far ahead of Hadjar in fourth that he maintained third position when he emerged from the pits. Russell then came in on lap 32, with Hadjar the following lap.
That enabled Russell to overtake with a net fourth position, considering those ahead who hadn’t stopped.
Leclerc came in on lap 36, with the race leader Antonelli the following lap.
With Norris floating around in 8th behind Gasly for over 40 laps, matters got worse as an engine issue identified earlier in the race turned out to be terminal and he retired from the race on lap 47. That became the second race in a row he has retired with a mechanical issue.
Piastri was the last of the top 10 to pit on lap 49 and filtered back in sixth place, leaving Antonelli way up front with a 22-second lead, ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc, followed by Russell and Hadjar.
On lap 61, the race really heated up as Lance Stroll crashed into the barrier causing a safety car, leading to most cars taking the opportunity for a pit stop.
The race got underway again on lap 66, but Leclerc went into the barrier on resumption in the same place, in almost a carbon copy of Stroll. This brought another safety car out.
From both of these incidents there was some concern of some broken up track and so a red flag was waved. The race was stopped and everyone came into the pits.
Prior to the restart, Russell had been given a drive through penalty – worth about 20 seconds – for not serving a prior penalty correctly.
This effectively put him out of the points, another huge dent in his championship hopes.
On resumption, Antonelli kept his cool and led off at the front with Hamilton just behind and that is how the race finished.
Gasly was third but had accumulated two penalties which moved him to seventh, promoting Hadjar to third and Piastri fourth.
The Racing Bulls of Lawson and Lindblad were fifth and sixth, with Albon, Ocon and Perez completing the top ten.
Despite the carnage behind him, it will be Antonelli who will take the headlines, becoming the youngest-ever winner at Monaco, yet again showing his star quality and talent, cementing his position as the championship favourite.
F1 is straight back to action this weekend, with the teams already on their way to Barcelona. It will be the first of two trips to Spain this year, with Madrid set to debut on the calendar in September.
* Laurence Jones is senior manager, Marketing and Communications, Bahrain International Circuit
l.jones@bic.com.bh
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