Monaco promised a surprise this year, with no official strategy predictions coming from Pirelli this time. The starting tyre compounds were a mix as well, with Lawson and Tsunoda on the softest tyres and the rest of the grid on mediums and hards.
Norris locked up into Turn 1 but held onto the lead, despite Leclerc having a faster launch and better acceleration. Antonelli overtook Bortoleto and pushed him wide into the barrier. A yellow flag appeared briefly, changed back to green, and then, illogically, into a Virtual Safety Car. Gasly, Tsunoda, Bearman, and Bortoleto used the VSC period to pit at the end of the lap.
Bearman lost precious seconds in the pits as the team fitted the wrong tyres initially. Still, with a long race ahead, not everything was lost for him. No changes in order followed the restart. Interestingly, Bearman, now at the back of the grid, was lapping seconds faster than the front runners.
Another yellow flag appeared on lap 9 when Gasly crashed into the back of Tsunoda. Debris remained on the track and blocked the pit entry as Gasly limped into the pits and stopped in front of the Williams garage.
Racing Bulls executed interesting team strategy to get Hadjar a free pit stop by slowing down Lawson, creating a gap for Hadjar to rejoin in P8 on softs. Alonso and Ocon reacted next, both rejoining behind Hadjar though.
Hamilton was the first front-runner to pit, gaining a free stop and coming out ahead of Hadjar. Norris pitted the next lap, rejoining in P4, leaving Leclerc in the lead. Bearman and Hadjar had both completed two mandatory pit stops early.
Leclerc boxed on lap 23, but Ferrari’s timing backfired, losing precious seconds to Norris while still rejoining in the same order. Verstappen was the last of the front runners to pit and rejoined in his previous P4, ahead of Hamilton.
At the back, Bearman went over a kerb too aggressively and appeared shaken, losing momentum to Stroll. Lawson, the hero of the early phase for slowing the field, made his first stop on lap 33, followed by Albon one lap later.
In a dull mid-race phase, backmarkers played a key role, delaying top drivers and ignoring a few blue flags then and there. Alonso’s engine gave out on lap 39, but he parked safely in a runoff zone, causing only a brief yellow. Ferrari mechanics emerged with fresh tyres but quickly packed them away—possibly a failed dummy call to bait the leaders into pitting.
Williams executed a brave strategy: Sainz slowed the field, allowing Albon to pit for free. When Albon rejoined on fresh tyres, they swapped again, giving Sainz a clean stop. They agreed to only swap into original order on the last lap.
In Monaco, focus is everything. Piastri brushed the wall and lost time to Verstappen behind. Another shake-up came on lap 49 when Piastri was called in for his second stop, hoping to trigger a chain reaction. Indeed, Leclerc and Norris responded a lap later.
Verstappen took the lead temporarily, but still owed a stop. Meanwhile, Russell — yet to pit — cut the chicane to get in front of Albon. Told to give the position back, he refused, saying he’d prefer the penalty. Race control agreed, handing him a drive-through penalty, a rare and harsh call. Still, Russell emerged ahead of Albon after serving it, proving his gamble partly paid off.
Hamilton made his second stop on lap 58, but wasn’t close enough to threaten the driver ahead. Leclerc, still in podium (and possibly win) contention, entered Norris’ DRS range just as cameras showed his mother cheering him on in his Monaco-themed cap.
The fight at the front intensified. Leclerc pushed hard on Norris, who pleaded with his team to have Piastri speed up to provide support from behind. In the meantime, Antonelli pitted at the back of the field with 3 laps to go.
Verstappen finally pitted on the penultimate lap, completing his second mandatory stop. The clean air allowed Norris to push his hard tyres and escape the Ferrari-McLaren duo behind.
Livetiming glitched at the end as Antonelli — three laps down — crossed the line. Leclerc was frustrated on the radio, but he drove a flawless race, despite falling just short. With both papaya cars on the podium, it was a day to celebrate for them and for Norris especially.