MONACO, May 28 ------ Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc won the restarted Monaco Grand Prix from pole position for his first Formula 1 victory in nearly two years.
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. “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.”
The last 15 laps were the most difficult as the realization of how much winning would mean dawned on him. “I must say I was thinking about my dad,” Leclerc said of his late father. “It was a dream of ours for me to race here and win, so it’s unbelievable.”
Championship leader Max Verstappen started and finished sixth for Red Bull, whose other driver Sergio Perez went out of the race after a big first-lap crash. The crash also took out Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, and caused it to be interrupted by a red flag for 40 minutes. The drivers were not hurt.
The race restarted on Lap 3 of 78 and the drivers pulled away cleanly but slowly, with Leclerc managing his tires on a track notoriously difficult for overtaking. Leclerc finished about 8 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and 9 seconds clear of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. in third. McLaren’s Lando Norris was fourth and Mercedes driver George Russell held off Verstappen to take fifth place.
Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton was seventh, with Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls), Alex Albon (Williams) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine) completing the top 10. It was the same order as the starting grid, reflecting Monaco’s reputation as the hardest track to overtake in F1. “The pace at the beginning was incredibly slow,” Piastri said. “But it’s been a great weekend for the team.”
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.
Source: inquirer.net
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