An underwhelming Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix spectacle on Sunday followed an enthralling qualifying event on Saturday, with a popular winner emerging at the end of the weekend.
Home hero Charles Leclerc led from lights to flag, converting his pace in practice and qualifying, where he took pole, to finally put to bed his long wait for a home victory.
After two pole positions in 2021 and ’22 saw Leclerc come up short, the Monegasque driver fulfilled a childhood dream shared with his late father by taking to the top step of the Monaco GP podium.
Leclerc’s rating won’t come as a surprise this [Motorsport] Week, but how did the field compare at this year’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc: 10
Qualified: P1, Race: P1
Leclerc was the form man heading into qualifying and looked unbeatable after the final two practice sessions. But form means nothing without results. Amid a tricky Q1, Leclerc rose above tension and pressure to deliver an expected pole position. Still, he’d lined up on pole at Monaco twice before with a best result of fourth the only merit to show for it. The pressure and the expectation to deliver on Sunday couldn’t be understated. Still, Leclerc was faultless, managing proceedings from the front with aplomb, fighting nerves and emotion to finally take his first home win and the best of the six victories he has won to date.
Carlos Sainz: 7
Qualified: P3, Race: P3
Carlos Sainz’s weekend got off to a shaky start. As Leclerc got on the pace from the get-go, Sainz was bewildering a step behind his team-mate. After being as much as sixth-tenths off of Leclerc in FP3 and admittedly struggling for confidence with his Ferrari, Sainz turned his weekend around by qualifying in third. He got away lightly with a puncture on the first start on Sunday, but launching from third once again at the restart the Spaniard commendably kept Oscar Piastri honest in second and Lando Norris at bay in fourth to protect Leclerc out in front as much as he could. Sainz’s reward? Another Monaco podium and the satisfaction of securing a team victory.
Oscar Piastri: 8
Qualified P2, Race: P2
All the talk of late at McLaren has been centred largely around Norris and rightly so, given the British driver was a whisker away from sealing back-to-back GP victories at Imola prior to the Monaco GP. However, had the safety car at Miami intervened at a different point and Piastri escaped a grid penalty at Imola, the narrative at McLaren could be very different. The Australian was more than a match not only for Norris, but Ferrari this weekend and backed that up by securing a front-row slot and keeping Leclerc honest throughout a large portion of Sunday’s GP all the while nursing damage sustained via contact with Sainz on the opening lap.
Lando Norris: 7
Qualified P4, Race: P4
Norris’ ascension into a Grand Prix-winning driver has been a pleasure to see for his fans and F1 neutrals alike, but this weekend the plaudits in the McLaren garage belong to Piastri, who was a step ahead -albeit marginally in most instances – of his team-mate in all sessions bar one (in FP2 Piastri didn’t run the soft tyre). Regardless, Norris didn’t have a bad weekend, just not a great one and he performed admirably and like so many in this list, was resigned to finish where he started.
George Russell: 6.5
Qualified P5, Race: P5
Mercedes’ miserable 2024 (see 2023 and 2022 for further information) didn’t look so bad in Monaco. Lewis Hamilton was fastest in FP1 and second fastest in FP2 and third fastest in FP3. However, when the time came to qualify, it was Russell who delivered the maximum potential from the W15 around the streets of Monaco. That maximum potential was 5th, behind Ferrari and McLaren, two teams that were a cut above the rest of the competition in Monaco. 78 laps of bewildering tyre management later, Russell unsurprisingly finished fifth by the time the chequered flag fell. The Management Grand Prix was “one of our best weekends,” said Russell. The Brit even went as far as saying he could have one from P5 starting on the hard tyre, with the front four on mediums, before the Red Flag turned that situation on its head.
Lewis Hamilton: 5
Qualified: P7, Race: P7
Where did all that pace go? Hamilton was a rejuvenated figure throughout practice, featuring in the top three through all sessions, but when it was time to put the Hammer down, the seven-time champion could only manage a glancing blow. In Qualifying, Hamilton’s practice promise failed to deliver and his and Russell’s fortunes swapped around. Hamilton made the extraordinary claim that he expects Russell to outqualify him for the remainder of 2024 and leant into a conspiracy that his car loses one or two-tenths in qualifying. The Mercedes driver appears an unmotivated figure in his final year with the Brackley-based squad and his weekend was summed up via a confusing radio exchange after a botched undercut on Max Verstappen on Lap 51. “Why didn’t you tell me out-lap was critical?” If we’re being critical, Hamilton had a weekend to forget.
Max Verstappen: 6.5
Qualified: P6, Race: P6
Verstappen is human after all. After pushing his Red Bull to the limit during an uncomfortable Friday and Saturday, the reigning champion made a mistake. Unheard of! Verstappen had been critical of the RB20’s capricious behaviour over Monaco’s bumps and in a bid to drag it into a lofty qualifying position the Dutchman tagged the outside wall at Turn 1 on his final quali push-lap. That related Verstappen to sixth on the starting grid and that was all she wrote. Verstappen’s highlight of the weekend was his comical radio messaging to engineer Gianpiero Lambiasse: “F*** me this is boring, should’ve brought a pillow.”
Sergio Perez: 3
Qualified: P16, Race: DNF
Another year has rolled around and once again Sergio Perez looks to have converted early season promise into a worrying patch of form now that F1 has reached Europe. Two weekends in a row Red Bull has struggled, but whilst Verstappen was able to win at Imola and get a handful of points at Monaco, Perez missed Q3 for the second weekend in a row. To make matters worse, the Mexican went out of qualifying at the first hurdle, posting the 18th fastest time. Things weren’t looking good for the former Monaco GP winner and they got worse at lights out. Starting 16th after Haas was disqualified from qualifying, Perez was the victim of Kevin Magnussen’s eagerness on the run-up Beau Rivage on Lap 1, sending him into retirement and landing Red Bull with a hefty repair bill. Although the crash wasn’t his fault, it’s no secret that qualifying poorly makes you susceptible to first-lap carnage and a Q1 exit has made Red Bull’s position atop the Constructors’ standings look shaky for the first time in a long time.
Yuki Tsunoda: 8
Qualified: P8, Race: P8
Yuki Tsunoda continues to get the most out of his RB machine, The Japanese driver finished in Q3 for the sixth time in 2024 at Monaco and that was enough to seal him an eighth-place finish on Sunday. Bar his blip in China, Tsunoda is delivering on the promise shown throughout his short F1 career in what is his fourth season and appears a much more mature driver following his Bahrain outburst.
Daniel Ricciardo: 5
Qualified: P12, Race: P12
After showing steady improvement in Miami and Imola, Daniel Ricciardo suffered a setback in Monaco in comparison to team-mate Tsunoda. The dream of a Red Bull return is likely over for the Australian and the task must be to continually match his Japanese team-mate. Alas, in Monaco, Ricciardo couldn’t live up to that task. Whereas Tsunoda advanced to Q3, Ricciardo struggled with tyre warm-up and started 12th once the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg was disqualified. Once again, Ricciardo will be searching for answers in his bid for consistency.
Alex Albon: 8
Qualified: P9, Race: P9
Hooray, Williams is off the mark! The Grove-based outfit became the ninth team this season to pick up points and once again, the task fell on Alex Albon’s measured shoulders. Albon believes in the Williams project despite the team getting off to a shaky start in 2024. In Monaco, the FW46 looked the best it has all year and with the likes of Perez and Fernando Alonso out in Q1, there was an opportunity for an underdog to get into the top-10 shootout. As ever, when given the opportunity to perform, Albon delivered for Williams and converted ninth on the grid to ninth at the chequered flag.
Logan Sargeant: 4
Qualified: P15, Race: P15
No, Logan Sargeant didn’t escape Q1. His 15th-place result in qualifying is due to the two Haas cars ahead of him being disqualified. Heading into the weekend, Sargeant said he was “extremely” close to proving his worth to Williams amid threat he might lose his seat. Part of that is getting close to Albon. But, Albon made Q3 and Sargeant posted the 17th fastest time in Qualifying. Yes, he didn’t have the same spec FW46 as Albon, but how long left does the American have to prove himself?
Pierre Gasly: 7
Qualified: P10, Race: P10
Alpine’s season has been dire so far, but like Albon at Williams, Pierre Gasly capitalised on other’s misfortune to put his Alpine into the top-10 in qualifying. After surviving a Lap 1 crash with team-mate Esteban Ocon, the Frenchman nursed his medium tyres from lights out on the Lap 3 restart to the end, to claim his first point of the season. Whilst one Alpne driver lost his cool in the heat of the moment, Gasly maintained his and delivered what his team desperately needed of him.
Esteban Ocon: 1
Qualfied: P11, Race: DNF
Ocon gets a point for hauling his Alpine to 11th in qualifying on Saturday. He’d score more if it wasn’t for his rash manoeuver on the opening lap during Sunday’s GP, which could have ended his entire team’s race early. The number one rule in motor racing is don’t hit your team-mate, but how many times have we seen this before? Ocon is a capable and firm GP racer, but his Achilles heel is that he seemingly can’t quit when he sees a car with the same livery as his. A move inside into a closing gap at Turn 8 ahead of the Monaco tunnel on Lap 1 on your team-mate is not the ideal way to set up for the next 77 and a half laps. Team Principal Bruno Famin was furious and Ocon was apologetic. But if Gasly’s reckoning that the pre-race briefing suggested the car behind was tasked with protecting the one ahead was truthful, then Ocon’s blunder is even more egregious than it first seemed. The one-time GP winner will have time to ponder that ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, where he will serve a five-place grid penalty.
Fernando Alonso: 6
Qualified: P14, Race: P11
After qualifying on the front row at Monaco in 2023, a combination of traffic and an underperforming car related Fernando Alonso to a Q1 exit in qualifying with the 16th fastest time. The Spaniard was promoted to 14th after the double Haas DSQ and unlike many drivers in Monaco, didn’t finish where he started. Alonso kept his nose clean and played the strategy game well to help team-mate Lance Stroll (to no avail) and was rewarded with 11th place on Sunday as a result. By no means a good weekend by Alonso’s lofty standards, but after the misery of Saturday, finishing one place out of the points on Sunday was a moderately decent recovery.
Lance Stroll: 4
Qualified: P13, Race: P14
As long as Lance Stroll fills a seat in the Aston Martin lineup, the team will be fighting with one arm behind its back. A moment of rarity saw Stroll out-qualify Alonso, escaping Q1 to finish dead last in Q2, promoted to 13th after Haas’ technical blunder (non-compliant DRS if you’re still wondering). However, after Alonso worked hard to build a buffer to give Stroll a free pit-stop during Sunday’s GP and a slim chance to pursue Gasly with fresher tyres and steal a point, the Canadian squandered the opportunity. Stroll clipped the wall at the chicane on his fresh rubber and any chance at a point was gone as he returned to the pits with a puncture. Still, with soft tyres on in his final stint, at least Stroll put on some overtaking manoeuvres for the fans to see.
Valtteri Bottas: 6
Qualified: P17, Race: P13
Sauber struggled in Monaco. The Hinwil-based outfit clearly had the least competitive package, proven by Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu posting the two slowest times in qualifying. Bottas made the best of a bad deal in the Grand Prix, starting on the hard tyres and then switching to the mediums for the restart. After pitting early to go back to hards, the Finn was able to pick his way through to finish 13th. Given the lack of speed provided to him through his car, 13th isn’t a bad result whatsoever.
Zhou Guanyu: 4
Qualified: P18, Race: P16
Sauber struggled this past weekend and Zhou Guanyu never looked comfortable hustling an uncompetitive car around the streets of Monaco. The Chinese driver was a step behind his team-mate for the majority of proceedings. After being the slowest qualifier and the last across the line in the race, Zhou will mark this year’s Monaco GP as one to forget.
Nico Hulkenberg: 6
Qualified: DSQ, Race: DNF
Nico Hulkenberg did what was required of him in qualifying in delivering a handy 12th-place result, likely the best the Haas package could have achieved on Saturday, but the German’s efforts were undone when both the team’s cars were disqualified from qualifying for non-compliant DRS. Starting from the back of the field, Hulkenberg was a passenger when his team-mate Magnussen came together with Perez and his race ended on Lap 1.
Kevin Magnussen: 3
Qualified: DSQ, Race: DNF
Out-matched by Hulkenberg in qualifying and eager to move up the order from the back of the grid following the Haas disqualification, Magnussen’s forward style of racing got the better of him. Refusing to yield up Beau Rivage, the Dane collected Perez’s right rear wheel and ended his, the Mexican’s and Hulkenberg’s races in spectacular fashion. With two penalty points separating him from a race ban, Magnussen was lucky to escape Monaco without the incident being investigated by the race stewards.
