The FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2024 marked the start of one of motorsport’s most enjoyable weekends of the year, with the iconic Indianapolis 500 taking place later in the afternoon. But first, it was a 78-lap race through the unforgiving streets of Monaco. It was very much a race of tyre preservation as an early crash eliminated the need for any pit strategy.
Charles Leclerc got away well from pole position, as did Oscar Piastri. Carlos Sainz had a slightly faster start from P3 on the grid, placing himself on the inside of Piastri in the first corner. But it’s hard to fit two cars in Sainte Devote and the duo had the slightest touch, giving Sainz a puncture. He parked in the runoff at turn four but was saved from retirement by the red flag.
The red flag was flown for a huge crash involving Sergio Perez and the two Haas cars in Beau Rivage. Looking to recover positions after being disqualified from qualifying, Kevin Magnussen attempted to go for a gap on the right side of the Red Bull, but the gap disappeared on the twisty climb. Perez was slammed into the barriers, causing an astonishing amount of damage to his car. Nico Hulkenberg was collected by the carnage, also ending his race. The incident was deemed a racing incident, which is lucky for Magnussen, who will spend the season at risk of a race ban having already collected 10 penalty points this season.
This was not the only drama to occur on the opening lap. Esteban Ocon tried an aggressive move on the inside of Portier on this teammate but ran wide. Ocon’s Alpine bounced high in the air when his rear tyre climbed over Pierre Gasly’s front tyre. This caused lots of frustration for Gasly. Ocon’s car was brought into the garage during the red flag but was not able to take the restart. The stewards awarded Ocon a ten-second penalty for causing a collision, which will potentially be converted into a grid penalty at the next race.
The red flag was a lengthy stoppage to replace a section of the damaged barrier at Beau Rivage. Critically, all drivers who started the race on the medium compound tyres changed to the hard tyres to avoid making a pit stop later in the race. However, the drivers who started on the hard compound strategy for the alternate strategy had to swap to medium tyres, requiring more conservation to make it the race distance.
After 40 minutes, the race resumed with a second standing start. With so little of the opening lap run, the grid was reset back to the starting grid, minus the cars no longer in the race. Leclerc got way well again from pole position. Piastri had a good launch from the front row of the grid but had nowhere to go in Sainte Devote and had to slip in behind the leading Ferrari.
Early on, Mercedes took a cautious approach to the race, aiming to ensure the medium tyres on George Russell’s car would survive for the race distance. They instructed him to crawl around the circuit, creating a significant gap to the top four very early into the race.
Another driver who spent his race slowing down the rest of the field was Fernando Alonso, who was looking to create a gap for Lance Stroll to take a free pit stop and challenge for the final points-scoring position. Stroll pitted on lap 43 for a new set of hard tyres and began his pursuit of Gasly ahead. But it was all for nothing, as he clipped the barrier at the entry to the Nouvelle Chicane, puncturing his rear tyre. He limped back to the pit lane for a set of soft tyres but rejoined the race in the last position, but did provide some overtaking action on the faster tyres.
Mercedes put themselves under pressure in the closing stages of the race. Hamilton took a free pit stop thanks to a large gap to Yuki Tsunoda, but this freed up Max Verstappen to also take a free pit stop. This put Russell under threat near the end of the race on old tyres. Within ten laps, Verstappen found himself all over the back of the leading Mercedes, but it’s notoriously difficult to overtake around the circuit in the modern era and Russell was able to keep Verstappen at bay.
It may not have been the most thrilling Monaco Grand Prix, but it was certainly a historic day for Charles Leclerc, who took victory in front of his home crowd. He has become the first Monegasque driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix since Louis Chiron in 1931. Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz stood alongside Leclerc on the podium.
Next up, motorsport fans can tune into America for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 later today. Formula One will return to action in Canada for the Canadian Grand Prix on the weekend of June 9.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 78 | 2:23:15.554 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 78 | +7.152 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 78 | +7.585 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 78 | +8.650 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 78 | +13.309 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 78 | +13.853 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 78 | +14.908 | 7 |  | |
| 8 | 77 | +1 Lap | 4 | ||
| 9 | 77 | +1 Lap | 2 | ||
| 10 | 77 | +1 Lap | 1 | ||
| 11 | 76 | +2 Laps | |||
| 12 | 76 | +2 Laps | |||
| 13 | 76 | +2 Laps | |||
| 14 | 76 | +2 Laps | |||
| 15 | 76 | +2 Laps | |||
| 16 | 76 | +2 Laps | |||
| DNF | 0 | ||||
| DNF | 0 | ||||
| DNF | 0 | ||||
| DNF | 0 |
