Chloe Reynolds
Charles Leclerc finally broke his Monaco curse, taking the home win at one of Formula 1’s oldest and most iconic circuits.
Free Practice One
During Friday’s open free practice, the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton came top of the timesheet whilst McLaren’s Oscar Piastri separated the silver arrows, with George Russell in third.
In a tight circuit with no room for mistakes, most drivers spent the first half of free practice on a mix of hard and medium tyres as they tried to find a rhythm on this demanding track.
Max Verstappen had a tough start to practice as he got close to the barriers at the Swimming Pool. Zhou Guanyu thumped the wall at Sainte Devote and littered debris all over the track, some of which Charles Leclerc later drove over.
Hamilton finished 0.029s clear of Piastri, and home favourite Leclerc made it into the top five. It was a difficult practice for the Alpine team, with Esteban Ocon complaining the car was bouncing and teammate Pierre Gasly in the garage for most of the practice due to a technical issue.
Free Practice Two
Leclerc ended the second practice, the fastest out on track. There were some early concerns for Russell at Mercedes as he reported vibrations through the steering wheel. It was hardly smooth sailing for Verstappen either, as he claimed the Red Bull was also quite jumpy, causing him to finish fourth.
The Monégasque driver’s lap of 1:11.278s remained unbeaten throughout practice, with Hamilton finishing in P2 ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz came in fifth and sixth, respectively, whilst Lance Stroll claimed seventh, and Sergio Perez, Alex Albon and Russell rounded up the top 10.
The Final Free Practice
During the third and final practice of the race weekend, hometown hero Leclerc managed to dominate and stay in pole position ahead of qualifying. Verstappen and Hamilton followed closely behind.
Red Bull had their worst start to a race weekend yet, as the car still had bounce and balance problems. With weather conditions heating up, many drivers quickly headed onto the track.
“Leclerc, having dominated all weekend, continued the streak”
First to go over the limit was Valtteri Bottas, who tapped the wall and brought out the red flags. All drivers were fighting for positions. Leclerc remained on the pole ahead of qualifying, with Verstappen just behind and Hamilton in third.
Qualifying
Leclerc avoided any slip-ups around his home circuit, qualifying in pole position once again. Piastri and his Senna tribute McLaren made it to second position, whilst Verstappen had to settle for sixth after hitting the wall in the final lap. Having claimed every pole position of the season so far this year, the Dutchman’s streak had now come to an end.
Russell and Hamilton came fifth and seventh, respectively, with Yuki Tsunoda and Albon pleasantly surprised as they reached Q3.
A dramatic first qualifying phase meant Alonso and Perez would start in 16th and 18th for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Race Day
This was Leclerc’s third career pole position around the circuit, meaning the pressure was on for him to finally convert it to a home win in Monaco.
The red flag came before the first lap of the iconic street track had even concluded. After a huge collision between Perez and the two Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg, all three drivers retired from the race. Magnussen refused to back down, causing controversy on track once again, the Danish driver having 10 points on his licence already. The damage he caused to the Red Bull was major, but fortunately, all involved walked away unharmed.
“The Monégasque driver held a gap of less than two seconds to Piastri, remaining cool, calm and collected as he managed to hold onto the lead.”
Leclerc, having dominated all weekend, continued the streak when things got back underway, once again leading the pack. Ocon also retired his car before the restart after a heavy hit with teammate Gasly amidst building tensions between the two.
Ocon received a time penalty for his Collison with Gasly, which will be converted to a five-place grid drop in Canada.
As soon as the race restarted, the 16 remaining cars got a clear getaway, with Leclerc leading the pack, closely followed by Piastri, Sainz and Norris.
Breathtaking Moments
“Leclerc crossed the line for an emotional home win in Monaco and his first victory since 2022.”
The margin between the top three remained incredibly close throughout the 78-lap race, and by lap 23, the top four were all running on hard tyres and looked to break further away.
During Lap 34, Sainz started to struggle and questioned whether it was worth pitting, letting Norris move to third. With the gap from Norris to Russell only 17 seconds, Leclerc slowed down to prevent a window opening up for Norris.
The Monégasque driver held a gap of less than two seconds to Piastri, remaining cool, calm and collected as he managed to hold onto the lead.
Stroll clipped the barriers and reported a puncture to one of his tyres. The Canadian driver returned to the pits to change tyres, easily rejoining the race.
Having led the race right from the start, Leclerc crossed the line for an emotional home win in Monaco and his first victory since 2022. Piastri, Sainz and Norris finished in the same order they started; Russell and Verstappen claimed P5 and P6, and Hamilton finished P7.
Tsunoda added some points to his tally by finishing P8, and both Albon and Gasly are now off the mark as they picked up the final points of the weekend in ninth and 10th.
Monaco 2024 was a weekend Charles Leclerc will not forget anytime soon, admitting to the media: “I had tears in my eyes”.
READ NEXT:
-
FA CUP SEMI-FINAL: MANCHESTER UNITED V COVENTRY CITY
-
FORMULA 1: CHINESE GRAND PRIX RECAP 2024
-
FIVE STANDOUT MOMENTS OF THE MANCHESTER MARATHON
Featured image courtesy of LG전자 on Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image licence found here.
