Charles Leclerc Wins on Home Turf in Monaco

Charles Leclerc became the first Monegasque winner of the Monaco Grand Prix since 1931s triumph by Louis Chiron. Leclerc led the race from the front after qualifying on pole and never looked back. The race was eventful at the start behind with multiple cars exiting the race after the first two sectors. By the end of lap 1 the race had been red flagged due to a crash between the two Haas cars and Sergio Perez. Additionally, Carlos Sainz also had an off after over running his breaks in sector 1 which ultimately also was attributed to a steering issue.

All Leclerc at the Front

After the race restarted it was all Leclerc at the front of the pack. He was never really threatened given the protections afforded to him from Monaco. It is one of the most difficult track for overtakes and qualifying usually dictates where you will finish in the race. After the race he stated, “

“This year he was much more relaxed from the beginning. From Lap 1 of FP1 he did a fantastic weekend, he was always flying. Even when we had the issue in Q1 with a plastic bag [going] into the front wing and we had to pit, we lost two or three laps in a row with this. But he was able to stay very calm – we could have been out in Q1. He was very in control from the beginning. Today in the race I think that it was perhaps not from an outside point of view the most exciting race of the season, but we knew after the red flag we had to do 76 laps with the same set of tires.

Charles Leclerc Continued with his Post Race Comments on the Win

“No words can explain that. It’s such a difficult race. I think the fact that twice I’ve been starting in pole position and couldn’t quite make it, makes it even better in a way. It means a lot, obviously. It’s the race that made me dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver one day. So yeah, it was a difficult race emotionally because already 15 laps to the end, you’re just hoping that nothing happens. Already the emotions were coming. I have to say that I was thinking to my dad a lot more. It was a dream of ours for me to race here and to win, so it’s unbelievable.”

After the topping the charts in FP3 Charles Leclerc came out in Q3 with a vengeance. After Verstappen topped Q2 it had seemed that he was firing up his tires to finishing Q3 on a flyer. However, Verstappen’s first sector pace on his final lap was sub par and then he made contact with the wall as the clock expired rendering his qualifying over due to lack of time. Leclerc built a gap on his first flying lap that was the benchmark to beat and then he added even more of a cushion towards the end of qualifying. Oscar Piastri finished P2 and Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz finished P3.

Ferrari Triumphs, Red Bull Falls, McLarens Are in the Fight

Ferrari is sitting in a positive position after qualifying with a car on both the first and second row for tomorrow’s 78 laps race. Given that overtaking opportunities at Monaco are rare if the Ferrari’s can avoid mechanical issues and put together a solid pit strategy they should be able to run away at the front.

Red Bull on the other had will have a major uphill climb. Sergio Perez Exited in Q1 finishing 18th fastest. Verstappen dropped down to P6 by the end of the session failing to make the top 5. On the benefitting side were the McLarens who climb ever so close to being the fastest car on grid. Lando Norris finished P4 and Oscar Piastri finished P2 in the session. The McLarens are looking to make a statement in Monaco after a successful outing at the Emilia Romagna GP.

Tsunoda Out Performs Ricciardo…Again

Daniel Ricciardo’s days at Red Bull are numbered. The once Monaco GP winner has struggled to find harmony with his RB and the pressure is building for him to perform. Liam Lawson waits patiently for another shot at getting back to the F1 grid and to make matters worse Ricciardo’s teammate Tsunoda is in a world of his own having out qualified and scored Ricciardo thus far this season. Tsunoda has been a source of consistency for the RB team. He’s consistently in Q3 and scoring points. We don’t know how much longer RB can justify keeping Ricciardo when the on track results just aren’t there. Tsunoda will start P8 the first car from a team outside of the top 4 in the constructors race on the grid. Ricciardo didn’t make it out of Q2 and will start P13.

The 78 lap race kicks off tomorrow. Ricciardo will need some magic if he’s going to score points. The Monaco GP is notorious for being decided during qualifying.

Monaco Qualifying Results

After topping day one of practice home town hero, Monégasque driver Charles Leclerc again topped the tables in FP3. The Ferrari of Leclerc came alive in practice however Ferrari has been in this position before. At Monaco it all comes down to qualifying and the simplest mistake can have major implications for Sunday’s race. Verstappen was 2 tenths off of the pace of Leclerc suggesting that Verstappen may not be as dominant in Monaco as Red Bull had anticipated.

FP3 Results from Monaco

Formula 1 returns this weekend for back to back action this weekend in the legendary city of Monaco. The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the most iconic races on the F1 calendar. A win in Monaco is one of the greatest achievements a driver can attain in the world of motorsport. Given the street circuit’s tight technical topography; only the best drivers can make it the full 78 laps. With just 36 overtakes taking place in last years race qualifying is of the utmost importance.

In this year’s 70th rendition of the race Lando Norris who has found a stroke of confidence and pace is looking to bring the fight to the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. The two are close friends off the track but its very clear that Norris has no reservations when it comes to taking the top spot. Norris said, “I would love it… But I want to win every race, not just Monaco or that kind of thing. We’re focused, we’re in good spirits. Of course, the motivation and the energy is very high from the team, because we’ve had some great results lately. If we keep it up, there’s always a chance.”

When asked if he thought McLaren would have the fastest car on the grid this weekend Norris replied saying: “I have no idea. I have no idea. It’s such a different track to what we’ve had all season, no one can say whether we’re going to be the best or not. I think we have a car that’s competitive and up there, fighting with Red Bull and Ferrari like we’ve shown over the last few weekends. But anything can happen in Monaco, so we’re just kind of keeping our head down as normal, we work as hard as we can, and that’s all I ask for.”

Recent rumors of an exit for young talent Yuki Tsunoda and his current post at RB have surfaced over the last week. Tsunoda is thoguht to be considering his options as Red Bull has not yet made a long term commitment to Tsunoda taking the second seat in the first team camp. However Red Bull’s indecision is leaving Tsunoda considering other options. In an interview with Racing News365 he said, “We’ll see. I think, obviously, especially when I’m in Red Bull, you want to always aim for Red Bull. But if they don’t want me, or they’re not expecting me [to be] into the seat… if I’ve got an interesting offer that could be better than even RB or Red Bull, yeah, I’ll think about it. I also have a big loyalty to Red Bull as without them I wouldn’t be here. And obviously Honda as well. And speaking of Honda, maybe Aston Martin… [as a future option for him].”

Tsunoda has heavily put performed his teammate Daniel Ricciardo whom was seemingly on his way out at RB due to a lack of performance. Tsunoda currently has triple the number of points as Ricciardo however Ricciardo’s name continues to come up in discussion regarding the number 2 seat at Red Bull. Red Bull have a dilemma on their hands. The clock is ticking and this is one case where Red Bull need to be decisive.

While Max Verstappen won yet another race this past weekend at Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The story really sits with McLaren and Lando Norris and their late charge in the Grand Prix. McLaren has shown clear signs of progress over the last few rounds after having emerged from the ashes of a program heading for the bottom of the table just a few years ago. Lando Norris led the way for McLaren in a sensational race that almost saw him best Max Verstappen in the closing laps of the race.

It was clear that Norris had the tire advantage leading into the closing stages of the race. Norris was cutting 3 tenths a lap with just 10 laps to go. Mathematically he should have passed Verstappen by Verstappen had other plans. Verstappen put on a master class in defense never allowing Norris the opportunity to strike. Despite falling short Norris was very happy with the finish. “Another great weekend for the team,” Norris said. “I fought hard right until the very last lap but we just lost out a little bit too much to Max in the beginning. One or two more laps and it would have been beautiful – but just wasn’t meant to be today.

We’ve been competitive all weekend and I think we’re at the point where we’re able to fight Ferrari and Red Bull consistently. We must get used to that – the team is doing a very good job so it’s great that fighting at the front is now business-as-usual. We just need to keep focused on improving. It’s still a surprise to say it’s frustrating to not win, but after last weekend and the improvements we made, it’s what we should start to expect.”

Piastri Also Find Success

Oscar Piastri finished P4 in todays race which means McLaren have solidified themselves as a front runner in the battle for the teams that can bring the battler to Red Bull. McLaren has secured almost double the points of Mercedes this year in what has been a statement and testament to the teams willingness to take a gamble on upgrades which can make or break a car. Andrea Stella, Team principal at McLaren said, “A positive day at Imola and the first time in 2024 McLaren have emerged as the highest-scoring team. P4 for Oscar came from good strategy and good pace, allowing him to gain a place on a day when it was not easy to. P2 for Lando was a very strong result. It was a surprise to be in contention for the victory at the end of the race. It came about as a consequence of how sensitive the tires were today. In the first stint, Max did a better job of managing the Medium and after the stops, Lando did a very good job of managing the Hard, resisting the temptation to overdo it when Leclerc was catching up. It paid off at the end with strong pace and being in the hunt for the victory.

“Everyone at McLaren has worked very hard to make these results possible, and they have my thanks for the upgrades that have arrived over the last few weeks, but also for the commitment, the hard work, and the quality of that work. We need to keep improving the car. If we can do that, we’re going to be in a good position for the future.”

In qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Max Verstappen claimed yet another pole position in what seemingly was a session that would not go his way. Beating out Oscar Piastri who finish FP3 fastest Verstappen edges out pole position by a 0.074s margin. To make matters worse for Piastri, he also received a 3 grid place penalty for impeding earlier in qualifying; negatively impacting Kevin Magnussen. regardless it was a generally successful day for McLaren finishing 2-3 before the penalty.

Paistri had the following words after the penalty. “I’m really happy with the performance today. We were so close to pole on track. I’ve been really comfortable with the car from the moment we put it on track yesterday and I am enjoying my first GP weekend here. We’ve definitely been on the pace all weekend and the confidence is high. It is a shame to lose the front row and having to start from P5 as it’s not the easiest track to overtake on. However, we will try our best to recover some positions and fight to finish on the podium.”

His Teammate Lando Norris stated, “As a team we’ve had a very good day – and a good weekend so far. P3 is not a bad job at all and both of us are within a tenth of pole – tiny, tiny margins. Oscar’s done a great job, and so did Max. It’s going to be a good race tomorrow. It’ll be exciting in the car and hopefully exciting to watch. A lot of it will be down to Turn 1, Lap 1, getting the right strategy, and having good pit stops. We’re close, it’s very exciting and I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

Mercedes Continues to Struggle

Both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton failed to make it into the top 5 in Q3. It’s clear that the McLarens have leapfrogged Mercedes in 2024 performance. Team principal Toto Wolf Had the Following comments, “When you look at the gap to the front, and our closest competitors around us, you can see progress. P6 and P8 are not the positions we want to be. We’ve been saying that for a while, but we can see the advantage others have closing. It takes time to do that, so we must be patient and that’s the reality at the moment.
 
We know we have developments in the pipeline that will improve the balance of the car. Even though our positions today are not good enough, we are pointing in the right direction. Tomorrow, we will be focused on maximizing the package we currently have and aiming to score some decent points.”

Full Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Qualifying

This weekend Formula 1 returns for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari or Imola. The 2024 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix takes place over 63 laps of the 4.909-kilometre long circuit. Lewis Hamilton still holds the lap record, a 1:15.484 which he set back in 2020. Below is the weekend schedule.

Lando Norris broke Max Verstappen’s grasp on grand prix wins in 2024 by making the best of tire strategy in the Miami Grand Prix this afternoon. It all came down to the single pit stop made by Lando that allowed him to pull far enough away that Verstappen couldn’t regain the lead with the number of laps left in the race. The race was largely uneventful with many of the driver complaining about tire choices and surface grip. The drivers all struggled with car setups early in the weekend. They had one advantage with the sprint race to get actual race pace data to fine tune the cars for today’s Grand Prix.

Lando Norris Secures First F1 Win

Lando Norris has finally joined the record books as a Formula 1 race winner. “About time!” Norris said. “What a race. It’s been a long time coming, but finally I’ve managed to do it. I’m so happy for my whole team, I finally delivered for them. A long day, tough race, but finally on top so I’m over the moon. What do I say to them? I’m just proud really. A lot of people doubted me along the way. I’ve made a lot of mistakes over my last five years, my short career, but today we put it all together so this is all for the team. I stuck with McLaren because I could believe in them and I did believe in them. Today proved exactly that.”

Norris benefitted from the safety car that came out when Logan Sargeant crashed out of the Miami Grand Prix. Under the safety car Norris was able to save tire life which played into his hands at the end of the race. By the time the green flag flew there weren’t enough laps left in the race for Verstappen to catch Norris. Verstappen struggled with turning the car; a complaint he had all weekend despite winning the sprint race yesterday. Verstappen still is well in the drivers championship lead after the weekend with Sergio Perez retaining second place after his 4th place finish. He finished behind Charles Leclerc.

Full Miami Grand Prix Results

Magnussen received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision and a 20-second time penalty for entering the pits during a Safety Car period and not changing tires. Stroll received a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Sainz received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.

Max Verstappen continued his win streak this morning after winning the Miami Grand Prix Sprint race. However, the story of the day sits with Daniel Ricciardo and his performance in the race. Ricciardo has struggled to find points finishes this season and that drought finally came to an end today. He started the race P4 maintaining his position from the start. Ricciardo had moments of brilliance at the start of the race when he got passed Sergio Perez briefly. Perez was ultimately able to take the place back but Ricciardo will be hailed for his defense in this race.

Ricciardo held off a surging Carlos Sainz who was in DRS striking range for the entire race. Sainz however couldn’t make it stick in terms of a move for a pass. He settled for P5 in the race. His teammate Charles Leclerc had the pace to split the Red Bulls finishing P2. It was a great points finish for Ferrari who beat out Aston Martin and Mercedes in the sprint. To make matters worse for Mercedes, the German side thought they were going to secure a point with Hamilton’s P8 finish however it was announced at the end of the sprint that Hamilton would receive a time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The penalty dropped Hamilton to P16 and out of the points. Yuki Tsunoda inherited the position which meant a double points finish for RB.

Norris Discusses Turn 1 Crash

By Turn one of the race Norri’s race was over after an over zealous mistake that cost him a chance at points. “I just pushed too hard, as simple as that,” said Norris with a rueful smile after Sprint Qualifying. “The car was feeling very good. Just silly, to be honest. A couple of mistakes in Turn 1 and just a big spiral from there. A shame because the team have done a good job, the upgrades are working, so I’m happy with everything. Just not with one thing!”

Grand Prix qualifying will take place later this afternoon.

Full Sprint Race Results