Formula 1 2024: Monaco Grand Prix

Track Insights:
The Monaco Grand Prix track, renowned for its glamor and prestige, has a rich history dating back to 1929. The street circuit winds through the picturesque streets of Monte Carlo, challenging drivers with tight corners and elevation changes. Over the years, the track has hosted some of the most iconic moments in Formula One history, solidifying its status as one of the most demanding and coveted races on the calendar. From legendary drivers like Ayrton Senna to the modern-day heroes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, the Monaco Grand Prix track continues to captivate fans and drivers alike with its unparalleled beauty and unforgiving nature.

This track sees drivers go through another set of 19 curves, corners and chicanes. It is also home to the slowest hairpin turn on the F1 calendar. There is 1 DRS zone and a lap length of 3.337km. Drivers are tasked with navigating this notoriously narrow and unforgiving circuit 78 times for a total of 260.286km.

Starting Grid:
Pole Position: Charles Leclerc: Ferrari
P2: Oscar Piastri-Leclerc: Mclaren
P3: Carlos Sainz: Ferrari
P4: Lando Norris: Mclaren
P5: George Russell: Mercedes
P6: Max Verstappen: Red Bull
P7: Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes
P8: Yuki Tsunoda: VCRB
P9: Alex Albon: Williams
P10: Pierre Gasly: Alpine
P11: Esteban Ocon: Alpine
P12: Niko Hulkenburg: HAAS (DSQ)
P13: Daniel Ricardo: VCRB
P14: Lance Stroll: Aston Martin
P15: Kevin Magnussen: HAAS (DSQ)
P16: Fernando Alonso: Aston Martin
P17: Logan Sargeant: Williams
P18: Sergio Perez: Red Bull
P19: Valtteri Bottas: Sauber
P20: Zhou Guanyu: Sauber

Race Highlights:
I’ll start off before the race even starts- Red Bull is struggling without Newey. They came into this weekend knowing it wasn’t going to go well but with the reigning world champ sitting in P6 and his teammate at P18- it is looking like the championship is not going to be as easily won this year. And thank god for it. It also seems like the RB schedules weren’t synced and they had no simulator drivers available this weekend as they were driving in F2 and FE. Ferrari, Mclaren and even Mercedes looked great in qualifying with a front row lockout from the Leclerc family (if you know, you know). Post qualifying, both HAAS were disqualified and will start from the back of the pack due to failed inspections and “illegal” rear wing modifications.

With all that out of the way- let’s get to the race. It can really be split into two parts. Lap 1 and laps 2-78. Outside of the first lap, the race was really quite uneventful. There was for sure one overtake on the track but that was really it. The top 10 from qualifying finished the race in that exact same order. The interest in this race (at least for me) was the tire management strategies. Each team got a free pitstop after the first lap due to a red flag- we’ll get into that momentarily- and all cars except one performed their mandatory tire compound change at this time and as expected, most went the last 77 laps on those tires.

So what happened in the first lap that set it apart from the rest of the race you ask? Well i’m glad you did. We’ll start with turn 1. As the lights went out the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz made a valiant effort to improve his track position by overtaking Mclaren’s Oscar Piastri but ended up making contact with him instead and sustaining a puncture to his left front tire that looked like it would take him out of the race before it really even started. But when I tell you that he had someone or something watching out for him, he got the greatest bit of luck when on turn 2, the HAAS of Kevin Magnussen went to overtake Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and not only took himself out, he sent the Red Bull into the wall, shattering it into pieces, when trying to stay out of the way of the debris, his teammate Niko Hulkenburg was taken out as well. To put it plainly, before the end of the first lap, both HAAS, a Red Bull and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon were out of the race. Now I know what you’re thinking, where did the Alpine come from? You were expecting me to say Ferrari? Like I said, Sainz’s Ferrari was a lucky car. He was able to get it back to the pits under it’s own power and therefore, when the race restarted 45 minutes later, he was able to restart as well. Now to answer your original question- the Alpine of Esteban Ocon. Let’s just say, as he and his teammate were about to enter the tunnel, he tried to see if his car could fly. Spoiler alert, not only does it not fly, it will take you out of the race and possibly jeopardize your position on the team- we’ll take a look at team dynamics in a later post.

Anyways- we solider on. So like I said earlier, the Monaco track has a mandatory tire requirement. This means that teams are reauired to use two different types of tire compounds. This usually translates to a mandatory pit stop requirement. But the red flag allowed the teams to change their tires after just the first lap and that fulfilled the requirements for everyone except Logan Sargaent who stayed on his original compounds. So with the tire changes, the expectation- and reality for most cars were that they rode those tires to the end of the race. For the most part, once the race restarted it was relatively boring if i’m being honest. There may have been some minimal fighting in the back but it didn’t make a particular difference. In the end, the hometown hero, Charles Leclerc took home the victory- which if you didn’t shed a tear, are you even an F1 fan? He is the first Monegasque to win the Monaco Grand Prix and he earned every bit of it. His win combined with Carlos’s P3 puts Ferrari and Mclaren (who finished P2 and P4) within striking distance of Max Verstappen and Red Bull.

Podium:
1st: Charles Leclerc: Ferrari(25)
2nd: Oscar Piastri: Mclaren (18)
3rd: Carlos Sainz: Ferrari (15)