Even though Monaco is often lambasted for producing a poor racing spectacle, this year it delivered a classic that had overtakes and jeopardy mixed in for the leaders. Remarkably there was no Safety Car during the race despite the downpour which caused chaos on track, as drivers had to contend with slippery conditions in one sector and it being dry for the rest of the lap. No major crashes and only a few front wing endplates broken, you could say that all the drivers earned their pay checks in the principality. RacingNews365.com takes a look at the winners and losers from the race.
Winner - Max Verstappen
It might have been another Max Verstappen victory, but his pole effort coupled with the judgement in the tricky conditions during the mid-race downpour was a perfect showcase of why he is a two-time Formula 1 World Champion. You have to risk it all for the Monaco pole and Verstappen knew he needed to get it if he wanted to continue Red Bull's unbeaten run of wins so far this season. His race management skills were exhibited once again when he judged the conditions perfectly during the tricky stages when rain hit the track. The extra lap to assess the conditions ensured that he was on the right tyre at the right time. What did Verstappen say? "It's super nice to win it [Monaco]. It is also super nice to win it in the way we did today, with the weather and everything, to stay calm and bring it home. And yeah a lot of points for the team as well. So it's great."
Winner - Esteban Ocon
It's quite possible that Esteban Ocon could have started from the front row had Alpine gambled with his position in qualifying. The team elected to play it safe due to the risk of a red flag, but their patience paid off when Charles Leclerc was handed a grid penalty for an obvious block on Lando Norris. Ocon did well to manage the pace to Carlos Sainz in the race, then latterly Lewis Hamilton when they made the switch to Intermediates. A well earned podium in what has been a troubled start to the year for Alpine. What did Ocon say? "Esty Besty’s on the podium, baby! Yeah, I mean we've done it"
Winner - Mercedes
Although it wasn't an ideal weekend for Mercedes bringing a major car upgrade (and subsequently having most of it exposed by the Monaco marshals), they still managed to finish ahead of Ferrari. Sure the team in Scarlet Red returned to their bad habits this weekend, with a few driver errors thrown in from Sainz and Leclerc. But Mercedes took their chance and jump ahead of them in the Constructors' Championship. What did Wolff say? "We were in the mix with Aston Martin and Ferrari on a positive note, maybe encouraging because we've never really been that good around here."
Loser - Lance Stroll
It was not the most coveted race for Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin. At a time when the team needed critical tyre information, he was busy crashing into the barriers at Lowes and Portier. He had many other misadventures before that with the barriers around Monaco, so it was unsurprising to see a shot of him out of the car having retired from the race in mysterious circumstances. He's not had many bad performances, but any more like this will likely jeopardise Aston Martin's position as second in the Constructors' Championship. What did Stroll say? "Had some issues with the car where I couldn't slow down, so I hit the wall a few times."
Loser - Sergio Pérez
While Verstappen was busy lapping the field and producing stellar laps up front, Sergio Pérez was getting caught up in silly accidents. The Mexican was on course for a good strategy when he pitted early and attempted to go to the end, but he got too impatient when sitting in the traffic at the rear of the field. It's a long season but this non-points finish could end up being the moment that the title challenge was lost for Perez. What did Perez say? "I have to move on, learn from it. I cannot afford another zero [points] in the championship."
Loser - Charles Leclerc
For once the error in qualifying was not a product of the 'Lecurse' that Charles Leclerc has around Monaco. His frustration with putting in a slow lap caused him to lapse while going through the tunnel, while the team was unaware and led to a flustered exchange on the team radio when Lando Norris approached at speed. The grid drop was deserved and he was largely on the missing list during the race, getting outclassed by both Mercedes drivers as Ferrari made a strategy blunder. What did Leclerc say? "After the penalty yesterday that is where everything went wrong."
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