Feature
What the teams said – Race day in Monaco
Special Contributor
Becky HartShare
Ferrari
Leclerc made a great start, was able to change his tyres under the red flag and thus was able to run to the finish without having to pit. He had to control his pace, running slowly at times as the tactical battles unfolded, but was unleashed late on to build a sizeable gap and cross the line a very worthy winner. Sainz backed him up with a third place finish, but his was a more fraught afternoon. The Spaniard picked up a puncture battling Piastri at the start, running off and winding up last. But he was reinstated into third thanks to the red flags meaning the order was taken from before that puncture dropped him down the order, and third is where he finished, running out of time to pressurise Piastri ahead into a mistake.
Charles Leclerc, 1st
"I can’t really explain how I feel. The race seemed to go on for ever, but maybe that made it even nicer. Winning here means so much to me, because it’s the race that made me dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver when I was little. So I want to thank the people of Monaco, on the lap of honour I saw so many people on the balconies and I thank all of them for their incredible support.I can’t really explain how I feel. The race seemed to go on for ever, but maybe that made it even nicer. Winning here means so much to me, because it’s the race that made me dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver when I was little. So I want to thank the people of Monaco, on the lap of honour I saw so many people on the balconies and I thank all of them for their incredible support.
"Over the last few laps it was difficult because you start to pray nothing’s going to happen and I could feel the emotion growing in me and I realised I was almost losing concentration on my driving. I was thinking a lot about my father, about everything he did to ensure that I was here today and I was also thinking of Jules. Winning this race was a dream we all had and I dedicate the win to them. We had to do a lot of tyre management, also managing the gap to George (Russell) to make sure the McLarens couldn’t get a free pit stop, so mentally it was quite draining. I have to thank the team for doing an exceptional job over the past few months and for helping me to win this race. I can’t wait to celebrate with all of them and the rest of the team as soon as I get to Maranello."
Carlos Sainz, 3rd
"It was a very tactical race. I had a very good first start off the line, to the point that I was side by side with Oscar (Piastri) into turn 1 and I went for the inside gap. We touched, I got a puncture and I thought that was it. Fortunately for me, the big accident behind meant I could restart from P3 and thankfully everyone was OK. It was a very tactical race. I had a very good first start off the line, to the point that I was side by side with Oscar (Piastri) into turn 1 and I went for the inside gap. We touched, I got a puncture and I thought that was it. Fortunately for me, the big accident behind meant I could restart from P3 and thankfully everyone was OK.
"For the restart we had new Hard tyres and it was just a matter of managing the pace until the end and making sure Lando didn’t have a window to pit. Once this was achieved, I tried to overtake Oscar during the last laps but it’s simply too difficult if you are on the same strategy as the car ahead. I'm very happy for Charles! Winning your home race is something every driver dreams of and it was good to be able to celebrate with him on the podium!"
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal
"It was the perfect weekend and one to remember for Charles, having had a couple of tough races in the past here in Monaco. He was flying from lap 1 in FP1 and he did the perfect job. The race itself was a bit strange because after the red flag, we had to manage 77 laps on the same set of tyres.
"He was always in control of the situation and a couple of times, he asked us if he could push more, but we couldn't give him green light. Carlos also drove a very solid race and played an important part in this win, helping us control the gaps behind, doing a fantastic job for the team. At the moment, we are all pushing very hard, there is a very good dynamic in the whole team with everyone working in the right direction. We mustn’t get carried away, we have to stay focused, but this win is a huge motivation for everyone, at the track and also of course at the factory where everyone has done a great job.
"This was a very special day, you could see the emotion from all the team members around the podium. Now we must already think about doing a good job again, a better one even, in Canada."
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McLaren
Piastri was side by side with Sainz at the start, the two making contact which damaged his floor. But he held the position and was able to drive around that damage to come home and take a well-deserved first rostrum in Monaco. As for Norris, he was engaged in a tactical battle as he tried to eke out enough time over Russell behind to pit for fresh rubber – but it wasn’t to be, and instead he finished fourth, a second off the podium.
Lando Norris, 4th
“A good team result. A lot of points on the board, which is exactly what we wanted. But as we expected, there were no opportunities to move forward, especially after the Red Flag at the beginning. It was unlucky that we got put down to fourth again after the first start, that would have been lovely! But there wasn’t a lot we could do on a day like today. We stayed in there, got good points for the team, and that’s the main thing."
Oscar Piastri, 2nd
"That was a tricky race. The pace at the beginning was incredibly slow. I had half a look before the tunnel but didn’t have a car small enough to fit through the gap. Thanks to the whole team who have worked so hard. It’s been a great weekend all around, and what better place to get a result like that than Monaco. It’s special to achieve a podium in Senna’s colours, too, given his incredible record around these streets.”
Andrea Stella, Team Principal
"Hats off to Ferrari and Charles Leclerc, they’ve been quick all weekend and deserved the victory. For us, well done to the entire team for delivering a fast car, and to the trackside team, for being always on the ball, managing some intense operational moments this weekend – from clearing Lando’s car of debris during Qualifying, to dealing with a difficult Red Flag situation today. It’s an important result here in Monaco, with Oscar scoring an impressive podium and Lando right behind on a circuit that we weren’t certain would suit our car. It’s a lot of points – but also evidence that we can be regular contenders for the podium. We look at the coming races with optimism."
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Mercedes
Mercedes started both drivers on the hards – meaning they had to switch to the mediums in the red flag stoppage. Getting that tyre to the end was a tough ask and led to Russell being a pivotal player in the race strategy. He drove slowly in the early stages, minding his tyres and let the top four pull away, which also brought a potential pit stop for one of those top four into the equation. But when Verstappen behind pitted for fresh rubber, Russell had preserved enough tyre life to defend hard and keep the Red Bull at bay, closing the gap back up for good measure. As for Hamilton, he too pitted as he had a free pit stop in hand, and was right on his team mate’s tail in the closing stages.
Lewis Hamilton, 7th
"There have been plenty of encouraging signs from our performance this weekend. The team has worked so hard to bring updates to the car and we’ve got more to come across the next few races. We have taken a step forward with the car and, if we can continue to make a few more, then we can hopefully get ourselves into the fight with the three teams ahead of us.
"The race today was non-eventful. Everyone was managing their pace after the red flag and ultimately, whatever tyre you were on, you could make it to the end. That took away our options of making forward progress which was frustrating. I’m looking forward to going to Canada and seeing what we can do there."
George Russell, 5th
"That was the best race of our season so far. We had good pace and were able to show that near the end, despite being on 70-lap old Medium tyres. We were closing on the top four at the end and only finished a handful of seconds off P1. There are plenty of positives to take from the weekend as a whole.
"We spent a lot of time this morning going through all the strategy options. When we lined up on the grid, and everyone ahead was on the Medium compound, I was very happy. That looked even better when Carlos (Sainz) stopped on the opening lap. The red flag came out though and made our lives more difficult! I spent the first 30 laps taking it easy and in the end, I was able to keep the tyres in a good place and get to the end. Max (Verstappen) put me under a bit of pressure at the end but it was all pretty controlled."
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
"Overall, we’ve had a positive weekend. We were much closer than we have been in Qualifying so far this year and showed good pace throughout the race. That was despite the first lap red flag which took away many of our strategy options. We opted to switch to the Medium compound tyres under that red flag and both George and Lewis did a good job to manage them throughout. Lewis didn’t need to make a stop, but we were able to box him and secure the point for fastest lap.
"The trajectory is going in the right direction. We’ve understood where we need to improve the balance car and we’re bringing updates to enhance that. We know there will be ups and downs depending on the circuits we go to but overall, I am happy with the development direction. Let’s see how we perform in Canada."
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
"We opted for an alternative strategy by starting both cars on the Hard tyre. There were pros and cons to this; a red flag or Safety Car intervention after the front four had stopped would have provided an opportunity to get both cars on the podium. However, a lap one red flag would prove awkward. This is exactly what befell us as the race got underway.
"We were therefore in a situation where we had to try and get to the end on the Medium tyre. Most cars were doing a fair bit of management, so this was relatively easy to handle in the end. George seemed to have good pace in the closing stages and was able to defend well against Max and it was encouraging to see the improvements we made in our long run since Friday. The stop with Lewis towards the end wasn't necessary from a tyre point of view, but it did give us an opportunity to take an extra point for fastest lap.
"Overall, the weekend was another indication that we are moving in the right direction. We were just 25 milliseconds off P3 in Qualifying, which is an annoying margin to miss out on a likely podium by. That said, a few weeks ago we couldn't even talk about podiums. We'll have both cars on the latest updates in Montreal with a few additional bits on top. We'll keep working hard and hopefully better results are not far away."
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Red Bull
Perez was involved in a big incident on the opening lap, hit from behind by Magnussen’s Haas which sent the Red Bull man into the twin Haas of Hulkenberg. He bounced from one wall to the other, destroying his car but fortunately was able to walk away unhurt. As for Verstappen, he spent the race bottled up behind Russell’s Mercedes. The team opted to pit him to cover off Hamilton behind who had also come in, and with fresh rubber Verstappen closed right up to the back of Russell – but couldn’t find a way through. Sixth was where he started, and in finishing there the Dutchman recorded his worst result in nearly two years.
Max Verstappen, 6th
“Of course, the most important thing is that Checo was okay following his crash. There was a lot of damage to his car, which was very unfortunate, but luckily he was fine. The red flag ultimately meant that our strategy was ruined, so everyone was just managing tyres until the end of the race and the pit stop did not change much either. We had to really slow down a lot to make it to the end of the race and I tried to pass George for two laps but it was extremely difficult. The ride of the car was still not great today and we just didn’t have the pace in qualifying. It ended up being a very boring race for us and not much we could do. It's been a bad weekend for us but the positive is that we know what the weakness is in the car and if we can improve this we should get back a lot of lap time. A season like last year doesn’t happen often and we are realistic; we stay very strong as a team, don’t overreact, analyse the race and go from there.”
Sergio Perez, DNF
“At the start I lost a position to one of the Haas cars and I was coming out of turn one, I couldn’t see Kevin in my mirrors, you can see that from my on board and then the crash happened. I think the move was unnecessary, we sustained a lot of damage and it was a very dangerous incident. I was disappointed it didn’t get investigated, it was an immense crash and my car is completely destroyed. I think it was totally unnecessary at that point of the race and where we were starting on the grid, we should have been starting in a better grid position today to avoid this and my Team and I are sorry for it, but, there was no need for that. It caused a lot of damage to my car and I am okay after the accident; I just got a small graze to my elbow. Safety in F1 has come a very long way and for that I am grateful. It has been a bad weekend for all of us and the whole thing is frustrating but I trust my Team with my car ahead of Canada and I hope we come back very strong.
Christian Horner, Team Principal
"I would say it was a difficult weekend and Monaco is always dictated by qualifying performance, so we faced many challenges going into today. A big congratulations to Charles on his home win, but for us our car never performed at its best here and we need to understand the issues we had on the bumps and kerbs. Very disappointed by the crash on lap one, and I think Magnussen should have given more space. Not only did he damage his car, he also took out our car, but thankfully Checo stepped away from it unhurt, which is the most important thing. We have a lot of data to analyse from this weekend and we’ll be looking at everything hard over the next couple of weeks before Canada.”
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RB
Tsunoda had a good start, kept out of trouble and managed his pace throughout to finish where he started and pick up some good points for the team. RB had benefitted from being able to swap to the hards for the restart, and thus didn’t need to pit again. But Ricciardo lost a place to Alonso at that restart, the Australian unable to get his hard tyres up to temperature. He came home in 12th on a day where his qualifying ultimately proved his downfall.
Daniel Ricciardo, 12th
“After yesterday’s qualifying, I came into today mentally prepared for a race like that. In this case, not qualifying at the front, there’s a highly likely chance that the race here is being dictated by someone else’s pace, and this is how it was. You can always hope that things can change or something can happen in the race, and I think the first start was probably one of the best starts I had this year. But then after the second start, once I saw Alonso in front of me doing all he could to keep his tyres till the end, I realised soon that it would have been hard. I tried to keep pressure on him, but obviously, he’s very experienced, and Monaco is a track that requires such a big mistake to make possible some overtaking. I had two laps of clean air today, where I could push a little bit more and it was definitely enjoyable, but for the rest of the race I had to have a lot of patience. There are certainly some positives to take from this weekend, but at the same time, there’s also some personal disappointment. Looking at the next race, Montréal is a good track that I enjoy, so we’ll try to keep things going better. Charles got his first win here in Monaco today, in the past he’s definitely experienced some highs and lows around this track, so he deserved it and I’m very happy for him.”
Yuki Tsunoda, 8th
“It was a very long race, but I had to respect the strategy that we had planned. I was a little frustrated, but I kept my cool and managed the pace. I think we maximised it; we were managing tyres and pace well, making sure that we were prepared for any situation. I really enjoyed the last few laps because I got told I could push flat out while making sure I wasn’t too greedy and brought the car home. The important thing is that we keep scoring points. As a team, we had a strong race week so it’s very positive. Well done to the team, very well deserved.”
Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance
“And four more points in the basket! Yuki's eighth position in today’s race rewards a strong and intense weekend. He showed a great pace straight from Friday and confirmed today that our package is improving and still leading the midfield runners. Yuki had good starts, drove a consistent race and managed his tyres well in this very particular scenario. After the red flag, we knew the best strategy was to restart on the hard tyre and not stop again. The race was about managing the tyres and the car, which Yuki did very well for 76 laps with the support of his engineers. For Daniel, the race was more difficult, spending all his time in heavy traffic. At the first race start, he had a good getaway but lost position to Stroll in Turn 1, which meant we were 13th for the second starting grid. Then, we lost ground on Alonso at the second start, which is something we will analyse in detail. The rest of the race was on Alonso's gearbox and there wasn't much to do other than keep putting pressure on him. Our target remains to keep improving our car.”
Laurent Mekies, Team Principal
“Firstly, congratulations to Charles Leclerc and to Scuderia Ferrari for Charles’ home race win. He has been deserving it for a long time and he has certainly made a few people happy today!
“During today’s race, the tension was evident in the many strategic games of cat and mouse throughout the order. Drivers and engineers did an excellent job through the 78 laps in terms of what pace to run to manage the tyres. It was always going to be a tricky Saturday and a tricky Sunday around Monaco, and the team executed very strongly. Yuki is really in great form, once again putting us at the front of the midfield on the grid and then sticking to the strategy to bring home some more very valuable championship points. In what was a completely linear race, with nothing changing after the second start, it was always going to be virtually impossible for Daniel to join his team-mate in the points. We still have some work to do to help him deliver the performances of which we know he is capable, so we are looking forward to getting to Canada, the scene of his very first Grand Prix win ten years ago.
“Finally, a big thank you to everyone in Faenza and Bicester. The good string of results we have pocketed in the last few races is the result of their hard work, and it gives us the will to push even harder for the races to come.”
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Williams
Albon made a great start, kept out of trouble and stayed in ninth place throughout the race to pick up his and his team’s first points of the season. While his race was steady, Sargeant’s was in some ways more interesting. He was the only driver not to swap tyres during the red flag, thus guaranteeing he’d need a pit stop. The hope was for a late Safety Car or for other people to struggle on their tyres, but neither occurred and after a brief brush of the walls, the American had to be content with a P15 finish.
Alex Albon, 9th
"Whilst you’d rather have a slightly more exciting race to win points at, I’m still happy. P9 for the team and our first points of the season which means a lot to us. You never want to be pointless, especially for the team's morality, so hopefully this will be a nice kickstart to the season. It was a bit frustrating out there as you could see how much pace Yuki had but he was managing excessively, so it was a very slow and painful race; I was struggling to stay focused. We’ve added small amounts of performance to the car so it’s good to see these upgrades working and that we’re able to stay around a similar pace to our direct competitors."
Logan Sargeant, 15th
"It was a tricky race and looking at a rear wing was pretty much my day. It was uneventful for the most part; I was stuck underneath Fernando and Danny for a long time, and it just started to eat away at the tyres, and I really had nothing left. The rears completely degraded and from there I was hanging on to the tyres. Once I put the new tyre on and got some clear air, I felt good. Alex getting points is a boost for the team and shows a bit of what is to come. Going forward, when both cars have the same spec, we’ll both be able to fight for these opportunities more."
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director
"Scoring your first points of the season is always a great feeling, so we’re happy to take P9. Being in Monaco, the foundations for those points were laid yesterday in Qualifying, so it’s great that we had a car which could deliver across the entire weekend for Alex. Today was a bit of a strange race after the Red Flag restart with most cars trying to go to the end. Alex managed his Hard tyres well as it was key not to grain the front tyres and keep them in the right window. Logan's race was more difficult as he spent most of the time in traffic but once in clean air, he showed some great pace. We’re looking forward to Canada as we had a great race there last year and should be bringing some weight-saving parts."
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Alpine
The two Alpine cars made contact coming through Portier before the tunnel on the opening lap, Ocon optimistically trying to dart down the inside. That contact lifted Ocon’s car clean into the air, and although he made it back to the pits, there was too much damage for him to take the restart. He did apologise for the crash afterwards, as the stewards handed him a five-place grid drop for the next race. As for Gasly, his frustration at that crash waned as the race went on, his car damage not enough to prevent him picking up his first point of the season.
Esteban Ocon, DNF
“I made a mistake today so I apologise to the entire team for the incident and the retirement. In the end, the team scored points as we set out to do and that’s the most important thing for our ambitions. There was too much damage sustained to my car to resume the race despite the best efforts of the team during the red flag stop. We will review everything as a team and come back stronger together. We are all pushing to score points. Mistakes do happen and we move on.”
Pierre Gasly, 10th
“It feels good to score my first point of the season and the team deserves it, considering how much work they have put in during the last couple of weeks to improve our performance. Monaco is a place full of opportunities, especially in Qualifying, which we seized by reaching Q3 for the first time this year. Had we maximised Q3, more points were probably possible. As a team we will review many things. After the red flag, the race was very uneventful and it was just about managing tyres and pace all the way to the chequered flag where, in the end, the outcome is a deserved point for the team.”
Bruno Famin, Team Principal
“Today’s result was largely defined by yesterday’s Qualifying and, as a team, one point is how it has ended up. It’s a bittersweet feeling. We probably did not maximise yesterday’s Qualifying but from where we ended Friday to where we have ended Sunday is clearly a positive outcome. As a team we will review and manage the incident between both cars behind closed doors. We must avoid situations that have the potential to compromise the team.”
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Aston Martin
With both cars on mediums at the restart, Aston Martin knew they’d struggle to make it to the end of the race. Stroll was 11th, Alonso 12th – so the Spaniard backed the pack up to allow his team mate a free pit stop, in the hope to then capitalise on any incidents in the top 10. But on fresh, grippy tyres Stroll overcooked it into the Nouvelle Chicane, puncturing his tyre. The resultant pit stop dropped him down the order, meaning Aston Martin leave a race without points for the first time this year.
Fernando Alonso, 11th
“We were a little bit unlucky at the beginning of the race. We chose the Hard tyre to start the race aiming to go very long in the first stint. With the red flag everyone changed tyres, we did the same but had to fit the Medium and go to the end which was tortuous. It was very difficult to keep the tyres alive. At one point we thought we’d try a different strategy with Lance - a pit stop to attack Gasly, we were out of the points with nothing to lose. It didn't work but generally it was a disappointing weekend. We need to get better for Canada.”
Lance Stroll, 14th
“I think we always expected the race to be about managing the tyres so that was no surprise, especially after the restart. You need a big delta to overtake here so we did what we could with the strategy. I had a gap over Pierre [Gasly] so we pitted for Hard tyres to try and race him in the second half of the grand prix. In the end it didn't work out so we missed out on scoring a point. This weekend was not the easiest and shows we need to find some more pace.”
Mike Krack, Team Principal
“After the red flag on the opening lap there were limited strategy options available today. Starting on the Hard tyres, we switched both cars to the Medium tyres in the hope we could go to the end of the race. Lance had a gap over Gasly so we took the opportunity to fit some Hard tyres to compete for the final point. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. Fernando managed his tyres well, but we finished just outside the top ten. It's been another tough day, compromised by qualifying outside of the points scoring positions on Saturday. Now is the time to regroup as a team, focus on improvements and come back stronger in Canada.”
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Kick Sauber
Not to be for Kick Sauber, with both cars starting so far down the order. Bottas was the first to try something different, diving into the pits after the restart for fresh rubber. Although he pulled off some overtakes, he couldn’t make much headway forward. As for Zhou, he pitted late on for some softs for a tilt at fastest lap, on a day where the team knew points were always out of reach.
Valtteri Bottas, 13th
“I spent most of the race stuck in a train, which definitely wasn’t that fun – if anything, it was pretty slow. Everyone knows how difficult is to overtake around here – we tried to take some opportunities by starting with the hardest compound, but we weren’t lucky with it because of the red flag, while everyone who was on a softer tyre benefitted from it. Still, I had a clean race despite everything, both starts were decent, and I managed to make up a few places – overall, our pace was okay in clean air. Of course, qualifying is decisive here, and we had a tough time yesterday, lacking one-lap pace; normally, though, Monaco is an outlier, and we still learned lots from this weekend, which will be useful as we prepare to get back racing in Montreal in two weeks’ time.”
Zhou Guanyu, 16th
“It’s been a really tame and uneventful afternoon for me. At the first start, I saw the accident with Perez, Magnussen and Hülkenberg just in front of me: it was a sketchy moment and I’m happy to see them all walk away from the shunt. After the restart, everyone got all the way to the end and we were all in the same boat, so there was nothing we could do. Fernando was holding up the whole pack to create a gap for his teammate, which meant we were all in a train with no potential to overtake. Perhaps the race would have been a bit more interesting without the red flag, with different strategies, but it wasn’t the case. Monaco has always been a bit tricky for us, we need to understand why we suffer on layouts like these. We have work to do ahead of us, but we know Montreal will be different.”
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative
“Today was a processionary race with a red flag after lap one, where all drivers except Sargeant decided to change their tyres – ultimately resulting in no more pit stops being expected. We tried our best to allow our drivers to attack the cars in front of them, but at a track like Monaco, where overtaking possibilities are close to zero, positions for most of the field were locked in. We tried a different strategy with Valtteri, who drove an aggressive race, as we pitted him on lap 15 from the medium compound to hard tyres, which allowed him to have a strong pace and overtake Sargeant to secure P13 – the maximum for today. Zhou experienced a more difficult race: he was stuck behind Sargeant until we decided to have him swap position with Valtteri. During the last segment of the race, he lost his position to the Williams under blue flags, before we pitted him onto the soft compound in case of a late Safety Car that didn’t happen. On a positive note: all three of our pit-stops today have been our fastest during the entire season so far. They were fast and consistent – something important as it shows that we can react and improve. Our most important target for the upcoming races is to improve in each and every area to bring us back into the fight for points.”
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Haas
Haas had both cars starting at the back thanks to a technical infringement that saw them disqualified from qualifying. That was bad enough at a track like Monaco where grid position is king, but worse soon followed. Magnussen tried a move on Perez at the start coming up the hill, but the gap closed and he hit the back of the Red Bull, sending Perez careering into Hulkenberg for good measure. Both Haas cars were immediately out of the race, and the team have a big damage bill to contend with as well. Fortunately for the Dane given his penalty point count, the stewards opted not to investigate that.
READ MORE: Perez, Magnussen and Hulkenberg share contrasting views on start pile-up in Monaco
Nico Hulkenberg, DNF
“I’m disappointed and a bit gutted to be honest to be out after 500 meters. It’s obviously far from ideal having both cars out, and I got taken out by an incident which I wasn’t directly involved in. Obviously, it’s quite narrow here going up to Turn 3. It’s a big shame, things were getting too tight there, it was somewhat a racing incident – it maybe looked a bit optimistic from Kevin – but Checo could’ve also seen him and left room, so the outcome is obviously unfortunate.”
Kevin Magnussen, DNF
“I was with my front alongside Perez’s rear from the exit of Turn 1, in the run up to Turn 3. He goes towards the wall, the wall comes back a little bit towards the track, and I had nowhere to go. I don’t know if he didn’t see me, but I can’t just disappear out of the blue, so I made contact with the wall and him at the same time, and we crashed. It’s frustrating and a crash like this has a big cost for the team in terms of spare parts and making new parts, as well as a lot of work for the team, it’s just never good.”
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal
“Starting from P19 and P20, we had an alternative strategy plan to try to get something out of it, but unfortunately our race ended on lap one. It’s been a Sunday to forget and we just have to learn from this weekend and move on, and get a good result in Canada.”
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Pirelli
Mario Isola, Motorsport Director
“First and foremost, congratulations to Charles Leclerc and to Scuderia Ferrari on their win. We can only begin to imagine what it means to Charles to have triumphed on the streets of the city where he grew up!
HIGHLIGHTS: Relive all the race action as Leclerc wins at home following a chaotic start in Monaco
“On the tyre front, the Monaco race doesn’t usually present many options and today, even those few possibilities were practically wiped out by the red flag on the opening lap. In fact, the race being stopped meant that a pit stop was no longer required, as explained previously. We knew that both the Hard and the Medium could go the full distance if managed properly and that’s what almost all the drivers did. Groups were formed according to what compound they were running and within these groups there were some games of cat and mouse, aimed at getting other drivers to make mistakes, but this never really created any overtaking opportunities, or chances to change strategy to mix things up. Those who did pit, did so “for free,” in other words without losing track position. They were then able to push with a clear track ahead for a little while, lapping as much as whole seconds quicker than those who were managing their tyres. But then, once back in traffic, they had to settle for having a close view of the car in front. This explains why the top ten places never changed from the first to the last lap.”
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