Monaco GP 2021 Report: Max masters the streets
The Monaco Grand Prix didn’t set the world alight, but it did throw the championship back open. Here’s all that you need to know about what happened in the streets of Monte Carlo.
In a nutshell…
Saturday is often the most important day during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, with overtaking as easy to come by as a British Summer without rain. Remarkably, it was neither a Mercedes nor a Red Bull to take the all-important pole position. Instead, the hometown hero, Charles Leclerc, snatched the pole on his first run and confirmed it when he crashed heavily in his second run. The reg fall that came out meant that nobody else would set a time, and Leclerc had one hand on Sunday's trophy.
It wasn't meant to be, though. Just minutes before the race, Ferrari confirmed that Charles would not compete in the Grand Prix. This left the door open for Max Verstappen to lead away from the lights to flag. Max and Red Bull's biggest rivals, Mercedes, had a nightmare weekend. They couldn't warm up their tyres, meaning the drivers were as confident as Bambi on ice. A flawed strategy for Hamilton didn't help, but a disastrous pit stop where one of Valtteri Bottas' tyres got stuck to the car was the final straw. Bottas didn't finish, and Hamilton struggled home to seventh.
Former McLaren teammates, Norris and Sainz, joined Max on the podium with excellent drives. Sergio Perez made the best of his strategy to get from ninth to fourth position, and Sebastian Vettel was the driver of the day with a solid fifth-place finish.
It wasn't the most exciting race, but it certainly throws open the championship. Bring it on!
Biggest Winner: The Championship
While this race wasn’t one for the ages, it certainly has significant implication for the championship. Max and Red Bull were supreme while others around them crumbled, both deservedly taking control of the championship. Just four points separate Max and Lewis in the points table, and you sense the temperature and tension between the two protagonists rising ever-greater. Red Bull needed to win here and will need to again in Baku due to Mercedes’ traditional strong second half of the season - it’s going to be close, but that’s exactly what we ordered off the menu.
Biggest Loser: Mercedes
Yes, Red Bull were plain quicker Burt Mercedes are usually so good at minimising damage, and this weekend it felt as though they had taken the gun to their own head. It was as bad as it could get for the world champions, which only took home seven points. Bottas’ pit stop was a disaster, and his tyre is probably still attached. At least he had some pace; Hamilton did not and had no confidence in the car. You need belief and track position in Monaco. The early stop strategy ensured that Mercedes and Hamilton had neither. For a team that is so used to winning, wishing for its starting positions of third and seventh to have been the outcome shows all you need to know. Mercedes are the champions, though, and we shouldn’t forget that. They will be back. You can imagine Toto Wolff saying that last sentence in his Austrian accent now.
Moment of the weekend: Leclerc applauding Sainz’s podium
After Charles Leclerc didn’t make the start of his home Grand Prix from pole position, you wouldn’t have blamed him for heading home for a beer or a mope. Instead, though, he returned to the track to applaud his teammate, Carlos Sainz, who finished on the podium, knowing full-well that he could have won on Sunday. A sceptic would say that he only died this because Netflix was filming Ferrari this weekend. However, I believe that it was genuine. Charles is a through and through Ferrari man and showed class in abundance.
Honourable Mention: Sebastian Vettel
Speaking of class, Sebastian Vettel had his mojo back this weekend, and isn't it great to see? The former world champion converted his second top 10 grid position of the year into his first points finish of the season with a mega fifth position. Monaco is only one, quite weird, race, but this could still be something to build on for the driver and team that almost everyone has been worried about since the season's start. Seb is a great driver. It's nice that he reminded the world that he's still got that spark.
Line of the week: Toto Wolff
“Only Tiny Tweaks on the current car with the main focus on 2022".”
Wolff’s comments here are intriguing more than anything. Is he playing mind games with Red Bull, or are Mercedes really that confident? Based on his team’s performance this weekend, Toto may be regretting these laid back words. However, Wolff doesn’t say things a million miles away from the truth, and Mercedes’ pace advantage in Spain suggests that Monaco could be a blip. The championship is open, and the battle is on and off the track, so let’s wait and see.
Monaco was brilliant, beautiful and, predictably, boring. But that’s okay because we’ve got a championship on our hands. Hamilton vs Verstappen is back on. See you in Baku.