- Lando Norris held off the rest of the field from pole to win in Monaco
- Home favourite Charles Leclerc had to make do with second place
Lando Norris won a strategy-stilted Monaco Grand Prix for the first time to slash his world championship deficit to just three points.
The McLaren driver was in charge of the 78-lap race around Formula One’s most famous streets, having taken pole position on Saturday.
He locked up at the first corner of the race but otherwise kept his composure superbly to claim his second win of the season and first since the opening round in Melbourne.
‘Monaco, baby,’ yelled Norris. ‘We won Monaco. It’s a dream. Well done guys, unbelievable job, an amazing weekend.’
Charles Leclerc, who kept Norris honest for lap after lap at the end, started and finished second on his home track for Ferrari, with championship leader Oscar Piastri third for McLaren.
Despite a new rule demanding two pit stops, the top four, completed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, remained in the order in which they lined up on the grid.
Lando Norris held off the rest of the field from pole to win in Monaco for the first time
Monegasque Charles Leclerc could not win his home race for the second successive year
Verstappen stayed out long on his second stint in the hope of a safety car coming out while he was leading.
It did not materialise – but his tactic was worth trying and he hung on superbly well on old rubber, before coming in with just a lap remaining.
He had been backing Norris into Leclerc, but the Briton did not budge or yield. A big win for him by three seconds in the end.
Lewis Hamilton finished fifth, up two places – though no overtakes were needed to make up the ground. He finished 51 seconds back from Leclerc in the other Ferrari.
A terrible day for Mercedes. They stayed out on their original hard tyres longer than anyone else – by miles.
Russell was handed a drive-through penalty for cutting the chicane to pass Albon before stopping on laps 64 and 70 on his way to 11th place.
Isack Hadjar had a mightily impressive race as he came home in sixth place
His team-mate Kimi Antonelli finished 18th and last after his delayed stops.
The race was somewhat disjointed because of the strategy experiment, and much criticism of it could follow in the debrief.
The Williams cars of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, for example, backed up the field to allow them ‘free’ stops – stops, at least, without losing ground.
By the halfway point, all but the top seven cars had been lapped.
