Ferrari’s Driver Charles Leclerc wins F1 Monaco GP race after 1st-lap crash takes out Parez and 2 other cars.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc won the restarted Monaco Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday for his first Formula 1 victory in nearly two years.
The local boy wins his home grand prix for the first time, leading from start to finish. He did not put a foot wrong.
Photo Courtsey : Sky Sports(http://skysports.com)
Leclerc was on pole for the third time in four years, but had previously never finished on the podium at his home race. His first win since Austria in July 2022 took his career tally to six, all with Ferrari.
“Tonight’s going to be a big night,” he told his team over the radio.
A Monaco victory felt extra special for him, having grown up in a flat overlooking the start-finish line watching cars zooming past below.
“No words can explain that. It was the race that made me want to be a Formula 1 driver one day,” the 26-year-old Leclerc said. “Seeing so many of my friends on the balcony, so many people I know. It means a huge amount to me.”
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4. Lando Norris, McLaren
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
7. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
8. Yuki Tsunoda, RB
9. Alex Albon, Williams
10. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Perez was eliminated by kelvin Magnussen trying to poke his nose into a gap on the run up the hill before Massenet, with their crash wreckage then swinging across the track and taking out Nico Hulkenberg as he tried to come by from just behind.
All of the drama came at the start.
Perez’s right rear wheel was clipped by the front left tire of Magnussen behind him and put Perez into the crash barrier. Perez’s car almost split in half and also sent Hulkenberg’s Haas spinning as he followed behind.
A red flag came out with debris littering the track to allow Perez’s mangled Red Bull to be cleared away by a crane. The Mexican driver walked back accompanied by two race marshals. His team said he did not need medical checks.
Then, two Alpines tangled near the tunnel with Esteban Ocon’s front nose sending teammate Pierre Gasly’s car up in the air. With other cars just behind and the tunnel approaching, a serious accident was avoided. Ocon will serve a five-place grid penalty at the next race, the Canada GP on June 9.
“Today’s incident was my fault,“ Ocon said. “The gap was too small in the end.”
Governing body FIA ordered a standing restart with Leclerc in pole ahead of Piastri and Sainz going from third, despite puncturing moments after the start. He was trying to pass Piastri and had to use a run-off area at Casino Square.
All three smashed cars continued sliding across the track and into the barriers at Massenet, with debris and wreckage strewn across the track.
Before he climbed out of his crashed SF-24, Hulkenberg witheringly called the incident “unnecessary”.
The stewards have decreed that the crash does not merit further investigation and so although Magnussen is already on the verge a race ban with 10 penalty points on his superlicence, he will not face an automatic ban for the next race in Canada.