Alex Jacques hit the nail on the head when he said, “The grandstands that Charles Leclerc saw built as a kid growing up now rise for him.” He has finally done it. The proud Monegasque has finally won his home race, the Monaco Grand Prix, in what was a cinematic weekend, not just for the sport but for the entire sovereign.
In a track dominated by Red Bull Racing for the past five years, a scarlet Ferrari has once again reclaimed the title in Monaco, the first since Sebastian Vettel in 2017.
Charles Leclerc, the man of the hour, becomes the first-ever Monegasque driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix in the world championship era and the first since Louis Chiron claimed glory in 1931.
What a way to flip the script for Leclerc, who carried the cross of garnering 23 races completed from pole but garnering just five wins, one of the worst pole-to-win ratio in the sport at 20.84 per cent.
On the grand scheme of things, Leclerc and the rest of Ferrari have been mega this season. The Monegasque driver now has five podium finishes in the first eight races, while his running mate, Carlos Sainz, finished third in Monaco and has yet to finish outside the top five so far this season.
Is the shift of power in Formula 1 finally happening? At the time of writing, Ferrari had closed the gap to just 24 points behind Red Bull, who had an abysmal weekend, but more on that later on.
As for the driver standings, Max Verstappen still leads the pack with 169 points, but Charles Leclerc is emerging as the closest rival to the Dutchman, boasting 138 points, while Norris and Sainz are third and fourth, respectively.
It was a proud day for Monegasques as Charles Leclerc won the most significant race of his career, while Ferrari overall garnered fantastic Monaco Grand Prix 2024 results. Vamos!
What’s the Monaco Grand Prix without drama?
Drama ensued right from the launch, as Carlos Sainz suffered a puncture after the first turn of the very first lap, forcing the Spaniard to retire.
A few turns later, a red flag was waved due to a huge crash involving Sergio Perez, Nico Hülkenberg, and Kevin Magnussen, which brought the race to a temporary halt. Fortunately, all drivers walked out of the crash on their own two feet.
The first lap of the race saw four cars out of the race, and just when this SBOTOP writer thought that the race had seen enough crashes, a few minutes later, still in the first lap, Esteban Ocon snagged his teammate’s car into Portier, causing yet another red flag.
Another red flag, another restart, but this time, the restart featured the return of Carlos Sainz, who was reinstated in P3, a huge let-off for both the Spanish driver and Ferrari as a whole.
Red Bull’s weekend collapse
For the first time in a long time, Red Bull were a non-factor in a race. A series of unfortunate events forced the defending champions to garner just eight total points.
Verstappen, who won the 2023 edition of the Monaco Grand Prix, started and finished the race in P6 after a headscratcher of a qualifying, while his teammate Sergio Perez was forced to retire in the first lap after a big crash.
Red Bull and Verstappen were once again the pre-race Monaco Grand Prix 2024 odds favourites despite the looming threat of Ferrari and McLaren. It’ll be interesting to see what the odds will look like for the next race now that Red Bull’s rivals are closing in.
After years of supremacy, the 2024 season boasts a legitimate constructors’ and drivers’ title race. It may be a hard pill to swallow for Red Bull fans, but I personally believe that this competitive showing is nothing but good for the sport.
Another week, another McLaren Podium
It’s undeniable that it was Ferrari’s weekend, but we have to give McLaren their flowers as well, especially to the sophomore Oscar Piastri.
Monaco marks the fourth consecutive race that features McLaren on the podium, while most of the appearances are by their No. 1 driver, Lando Norris, the Monaco Grand Prix, however, was all Oscar Piastri.
The budding Aussie was a cut above the rest all throughout the weekend. The McLaren driver showed a strong drive during qualifying and ended up with a front-row start on race day. Piastri started and ended the race in second place, fending off the likes of more experienced drivers like Carlos Sainz and teammate Lando Norris while constantly putting the pressure on race leader Leclerc right from lap 1!
It’s turning out to be a dream season for McLaren, but they have a long journey ahead of them, as both Red Bull and Ferrari are still in their way. It won’t be an easy season, to say the least, but it’s not impossible.
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