THE CROWN JEWEL!!

 MONACO GRAND PRIX 2025

photo credit: motorsport.com

LANDO is back!!!

Lando Norris has proved all the haters wrong!! He won the Monaco Grand Prix. Norris has shown everyone that he is not playing second fiddle to Oscar, he is here to win the championship. He put out a brilliant lap in qualifying ahead of the Monegasque, Charles Leclerc on his second run on the same tire to take pole. As it is known in Monaco, if a driver gets pole, they are likely to win and that's what happened. There was pressure on him throughout the race by Charles but he was just fast enough to keep Charles behind and win in the end, which is what matters. 

Currently  Norris is only 3 points behind Oscar, so there is a possibility that he might lead the championship at the end of the next race. Overall, a very good result  for McLaren with them finishing P1 and P3, taking away 40 points. Honestly, this was the maximum Oscar could do as Charles was just flying throughout the weekend so P3 was the best result for him. 

McLaren are now 172 points ahead of Mercedes in 2nd in just 8 RACES, if their dominance carries on this way throughout the season they might break Red Bull's record of most points scored in a season.

Ferrari were just on fire this weekend. In a week's time they turned around their car to go from nowhere in terms of pace to front running pace. Charles Leclerc topped all practice sessions and was looking the most likely to be on pole until Norris got it on his final lap. Also, Hamilton qualified P4, one of his best results this season until he got a 3 place grid penalty for impeding Max which was somewhat unfair as considered by fans as Lewis was wrongly informed by his team, yet it hampered his starting position and in the end his race. Not the tifosi nor the team themselves could have ever hoped to finish P2 and P5 in the end after the qualifying pace in Imola. This race Ferrari's strategy was also sublime with Hamilton overcutting Isack Hadjar and Alonso which would be impossible to do on track by overtaking.

Just a fanastic weekend for Ferrari in the end! All the Tifosi will be hoping for them to continue this form.

Red Bull seem to just not be on McLaren's pace week in week out. In terms of pace they are just there but McLaren always seem to have that extra bit when required. Max seems to be outperforming the car in all aspects. He qualifies quite ahead, quite a lot on pole but just due to the sheer lack of pace he is somehow always a bit behind McLaren's as also seen this weekend. He qualified P5 but started P4 and there is where he finished. He did not pit until the last few laps hoping for a red flag which would have guaranteed him the win but luck was not in his favor and had to settle for P4. 

Yuki Tsunoda was a talking point to by many critics. Tsunoda just does not seem to be near Max at all. He turns up on Friday's being very close to Verstappen in the practices and in qualifying he just seems to lack pace and be nowhere. In Monaco too he got knocked out in Q2 and scored no points at the end of the race. On the contrast, the sister Red Bull team, VCaRB had both of their drivers finish in the points, which speaks volumes about how Tsunoda just is not fast enough and might have just been the wrong choice by Red Bull. To further enhance this stand, Tsunoda qualified and finished behind Liam Lawson the driver he replaced at Red Bull and is behind Isack Hadjar on the points table which is really disappointing to say the least.

Mercedes had the worst race they have had this whole season with both cars out in Q2, Antonelli due to his crash at the end of Q1 which secured his place in Q2 but the damage was too severe to wheel the car back to the pits. At the start of Q2 George had to retire as his car came to a halt due to loss of electrical power. In the race, like Max they were hoping for a safety car or a red flag but that just never came. George Russell got so annoyed that he cut the chicane and overtook Albon and did not give the place back and was ready to take the penalty which shows the frustration drivers get due to the lack of overtaking opportunities in Monaco.  In the end this hampered him and well George finished P11 and Kimi P18 last of all finishers

This race especially, the top 5 were in a race of their own, having lapped all the grid behind them quite a few by 2 laps and some even 3. It was all due to the team game played by VCaRB first which Williams followed later. In it, the driver behind their teammate drove at a set lap pace of a time that was almost 5 seconds that was slower than possible which gave the teammate a free pit stop, using this both VCaRB and Williams were able to secure points as no car behind them could overtake them due to the sheer nature of Monaco being so tight that no overtakes are possible.  In the end VCarb finished in P6 and P8 securing good points for them. It was Isack's best ever finish and Liam's first points of the season. Overall, a very good result for VCaRB.

Williams took the last 2 points places finishing in P9 and P10. Carlos was mainly in the points due to the unexpected retirement of Fernando Alonso. Overall, a decent race for them, showing that they can score points constantly no matter the circuit and no matter the conditions. '

As for Aston Martin, their luck was not by their side. Stroll just lacked pace and Alonso's retirement due to engine failure was just unfortunate. Due to which he is still pointless this season, making this his worst ever start to a season in his career which spans over 2 decades at this point.  

For Alpine, well.... they just had no pace in the car. Both drivers were slow throughout the weekend and to make matters worse, Pierre Gasly in the first few laps of the race collided into the rear of the car of Yuki Tsunoda ending his race then and there and also ending his race finishing streak in Monaco.

Sauber looked promising until they were not. They had potential to score points this weekend but the luck, pace and strategy just was not by their side hence both drivers finishing the race well outside the points. 

Pirelli had try to mix up things by adding 2 stops to increase chaos and make the race interesting due to differing strategies, but the team game played by VCaRB and Williams just put everyone out of contention and the lead pack and the midfield pack were in two different races due to the train of cars formed behind first Lawson, then Carlos and in the end Albon, making the race monotonous and predictable and as for the drivers irritating as they had to stay behind the same one car as they could not make the overtakes happen.

In the end Monaco was Monaco, less to no overtakes and well the finishing almost similar to the order they started. They tried to improve the race but nothing happened yet it was a bit better than last years as the battle between Lando, Charles, Max and Oscar kept it interesting till the end. Especially, the battle for the lead between Charles and Lando was the main highlight of the race. But as stated before Monaco results will always be decided on a Saturday and the races will be less fun for the viewers than other races but that is Monaco, the one off special race of the season that people enjoy actually and remember year after year but criticize it no matter what.

Next week we head to the circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain which is a very high speed and technical track which is power and setup dependent where the car makes a greater difference than the driver. We will wait and see who will win there, it can be anyone as Monaco being a one off track has very varied results due to it being so different that the results cannot be taken as a benchmark for the next race. 

Yet, we will see whether there is a shake up in order... will McLaren still continue dominating like the last 8 races or will Ferrari somehow be fast like Monaco or will Max put up his stunning performances and win where he won his first ever grand prix or can Mercedes make a come back.

 Only time will....