Monaco Recap: Emotional home race win for Leclerc while first lap chaos compromises Perez's championship chances
28 May 2024Drama and destruction marked the opening lap of the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and both Haas drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, crashed out spectacularly on the run up Beau Rivage. With the smash resulting in a race restart, poleman Charles Leclerc finally managed to make it to the top step of the podium at his home race for the first time in his F1 career. Following behind was McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz in third.
Here's all the highlights and what we learned from the race in Monaco.
Leclerc finally finds victory at home
Charles Leclerc’s long-awaited win in Monaco finally arrived as the Monegasque driver led the race from start to finish. The 26-year-old is the first driver born in Monaco to win the Grand Prix there in 93 years and his win in the Principality ends a run of 39 races without standing on the top step of the podium.
“First of all, it’s my home Grand Prix,” said Leclerc, when asked why this win was so important. “And second, I’ve had two opportunities in the past that I’ve lost because of things that weren’t really in my control. It’s extremely difficult to manage those moments.
“You don’t really know if you’re going to get another opportunity to win this race and its such a difficult race to win.
“This is the race that made me dream of wanting to be a Formula One driver one day and it’s a race that I used to watch with my dad, who has done absolutely everything to get me to where I am today.”
First lap chaos causes double Haas DNF and puts Perez championship in jeopardy
“He clearly wasn’t leaving space,” argued Kevin Magnussen after the race, which saw him, his teammate Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez crash out after a three-car collision on the run up Beau Rivage. “I thought he would… [Perez} just squeezed me into the wall.”
Naturally, the Red Bull driver saw things differently after Magnussen unsuccessfully tried to pass him on the inside, causing the collision that then tagged his Haas teammate Hulkenberg just seconds into the race. “If you saw my onboard, at no point do you see Kevin’s car,” he said after the event that saw the race restarted. “Not even close to being alongside me.
“There was just simply no room for both cars and at some point he had to realise that.”
Despite Magnussen being on the brink of landing a race ban, the Danish driver didn’t hold back in Monaco. Miraculously, no penalties were issued by the FIA, meaning Magnussen swerves his looming race ban for another round.
Before Monaco, Perez was the best placed driver to prevent Verstappen from marching on to his third World Championship title but, after the Mexican’s disastrous race, his chances look compromised.
More success for McLaren in Monaco
Another podium for McLaren in Monaco, albeit from Oscar Piastri this time, sees McLaren’s fine form continue into 2024. The Australian driver had a strong weekend, starting the race second behind home race hero Charles Leclerc. Despite a valiant effort, Piastri’s pace didn’t match to Leclerc’s fine form, which saw the Monegasque driver finish seven seconds ahead.
“It’s been a great weekend from start to finish and nice to finally get a result on the board,” said Piastri after the race. “I feel like the last few weeks we’ve been very strong but with no results to show.
“Today is a great result for everyone involved. I tried my best to try and sneak past but it was just too difficult.”
Two places behind Piastri was his teammate, Lando Norris, who finished fourth. With both drivers racking up a total of 30 points for the Papaya team between them, the team sits third in the teams’ standings with 184 points behind Red Bull and Ferrari, with 276 and 252 points respectively.
Monaco qualifying drama drops Verstappen off the podium
While qualifying didn’t work out well for Max Verstsappen, it did prove to be the most entertaining part of the race weekend.
From Perez’s bouncing his Red Bull into the Sainte Devote barriers in Q1 and Hamilton’s difficulties in that sector, to Verstappen’s remarkable drive to trump Alonso’s time, it was brilliant to watch battles unfold in the Principality and proves the Monaco race can still pack a punch when it comes to entertainment.
First hints of a 2024 title fight revealed
With Verstappen rounding out Monaco in sixth, far from his usual podium standing, and Leclerc finishing first, there’s a hint that a 2024 drivers’ title fight could materialise between the two drivers after Monaco. Despite that, Verstappen is still in the lead with 161 points, meaning Leclerc still needs to overcome a 31-point gap between him and the Dutchman. With all expectations that Red Bull will be back to strength in Canada, Leclerc and Ferrari will need to work hard to alter their championship chances.
