Fans woke up on Sunday for the race with Leclerc on pole and the Ferrari of his teammate, Carlos Sainz in P3. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri joined Leclerc on the front row, vying for his first grand prix win at this historic circuit. The second McLaren of Lando Norris and George Russell of Mercedes rounded out the top five.
Lap one saw a great start from Leclerc, with Piastri and Sainz following closely behind. During the battle for second on the opening lap, Sainz pulled to the side of the track following an issue with his car after contact with Piastri in the first corner. He triggered a yellow flag in the first two sectors which was immediately followed by a red flag.
The red flag was due to a large crash between both Haas cars and the Red Bull of Sergio Perez. In this temporary stop in the race, Sainz limped back to the pits having kept his car running. There was also a smaller incident between the two Alpine cars just before the red flag came out, causing Esteban Ocon retired from the race.
The race resumed again at 15:44 local time, reverting to grid order for the restart. This meant that Sainz began the race again in P3. The restart was clean and uneventful, with Leclerc getting away from Piastri and Sainz.
From the first lap of the restart, Leclerc began to pull away from his competitors. The chase ensued with Piastri on the tail of Leclerc, however for much of the race he was unable to catch the Ferrari.
Battles took place lower in the racing order, including between Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the race for fifth place. As well as this, the RB of Yuki Tsunoda spent the Grand Prix fending off the Williams of Alex Albon as they fought for eighth position.
After 78 laps, Charles Leclerc drove exceptionally well to win his home race – a very popular win throughout the paddock and principality. Driver of the day was awarded to Leclerc as well, while Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes achieved the fastest lap of the race, gaining an additional championship point for himself.
Written by Alexandra.
Featured Image Credit: RacingNews365
The Fastest Sector 