MONTE CARLO, MONACO – McLaren’s Lando Norris takes home his first Monaco Grand Prix win and third victory of the season ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Monaco also saw dramatic scenes from Formula 2 and Formula 3 races.
Formula 3
The Sprint Race had Formula 3 drivers take to the Circuit de Monaco track to mark the fourth round of the championship. Pole sitter Alessandro Giusti had a slow start off the line, falling back three places for Hitech’s Martinius Stenshorne and the two ART drivers Laurens van Hoepen and Tukka Taponen to recover. Title contender Noah Stromsted made contact with Brad Benavides and dropped down to 24th place due to his damaged front wing and tire puncture. After 23 laps, Stenshorne comfortably took the Sprint Race victory, with Hoepen and Taponen completing the podium in P2 and P3.
The Feature Race saw Campos driver Nikola Tsolov win his fifth race in Formula 3, a historical record for the series. Tsolov was able to maintain a healthy lead of his competitors, despite two safety cars which evened the playing field. Rodin driver Roman Bilinski placed closely behind in second and Campos teammate Mari Boya finished off the podium in third.
Formula 2
Formula 2 also had their fourth race weekend at the Circuit de Monaco, beginning with the Sprint Race. DAMS Lucas Oil driver Kush Maini became the first Indian driver to win a Formula 2 race in Monaco, with a dominant performance from start to finish. Maini held off fellow Alpine Academy talent Gabriele Minì, who finished second for PREMA Racing. Luke Browning inherited third for Hitech TGR after a time penalty for Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad.
The Formula 2 Feature Race saw a dramatic opening, with a detrimental collision between pole sitter Alexander Dunne and ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins in the opening lap. Five drivers were additionally caught up in the incident, forcing a total seven drivers to retire due to critical damages. The rest of the race was just as dramatic, with one Virtual Safety Car and one full Safety Car along with drivers taking their mandatory pit stops across the grid. In the end, American Jak Crawford took his second win of the season ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli. Arvid Lindblad had crossed the line in third but was handed a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pitlane, promoting Sebastián Montoya onto the podium for the first time in his F2 career.
Formula 2 and Formula 3 will race again in the coming weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Formula 1
Lando Norris converted pole position into victory during Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, surviving a massive lock-up at the first corner before working through Virtual Safety Car phases, spells of traffic and the mandated two pit-stop rule. Monégasque Charles Leclerc continuously applied pressure to the McLaren but ultimately settled for second. Oscar Piastri rounded off the podium, narrowing the gap in the drivers’ standings to three points ahead of his McLaren teammate.
Max Verstappen on the alternative strategy held P1 until the penultimate lap where he then needed to complete his second required pit stop. Finishing behind in fifth was Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, making up a couple of spots following his postQualifying penalty for impeding. Rookie Isack Hadjar placed sixth, his best finish of the season, over Haas’ Esteban Ocon and teammate Liam Lawson. The Williams duo grabbed the last of the points with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz in P9 and P10, denying the Mercedes of George Russell.
The final round of the triple-header takes Formula 1 to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix next week.
