Christian Horner: "I would say it was a difficult weekend and Monaco is always dictated by qualifying performance, so we faced many challenges going into today. A big congratulations to Charles on his home win, but for us our car never performed at its best here and we need to understand the issues we had on the bumps and kerbs. Very disappointed by the crash on lap one, and I think Magnussen should have given more space. Not only did he damage his car, he also took out our car, but thankfully Checo stepped away from it unhurt, which is the most important thing. We have a lot of data to analyse from this weekend and we'll be looking at everything hard over the next couple of weeks before Canada."
George Russell finished P5 with Lewis Hamilton P7 in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix. Lining up P5 and P7 respectively, the team opted for an alternative strategy with both drivers starting on the Hard compound tyre.
The four drivers ahead of George all started on the Medium tyre with Verstappen, in between our duo, also on the Hard compound. That offered the opportunity to run long into the race and explore any opportunities that may present themselves further into the Grand Prix. That strategy was negated though as a first-lap incident brought out the red flag; that afforded those ahead the opportunity to switch their Medium tyres for the Hard compound and run to the end.
The team opted to switch both George and Lewis to the Medium tyres under that red flag too, with George managing well to take them 77 laps to the end of the race. Lewis, with the opportunity of a free pit stop, switched to a second set of Hard tyres on Lap 51 and utilised them to claim the fastest lap point. George came under pressure in the closing stages from Max Verstappen, also on new Hard tyres, but resisted well to take P5 with Lewis P7.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO: Overall, we've had a positive weekend. We were much closer than we have been in Qualifying so far this year and showed good pace throughout the race. That was despite the first lap red flag which took away many of our strategy options. We opted to switch to the Medium compound tyres under that red flag and both George and Lewis did a good job to manage them throughout. Lewis didn't need to make a stop, but we were able to box him and secure the point for fastest lap.
The trajectory is going in the right direction. We've understood where we need to improve the balance car and we're bringing updates to enhance that. We know there will be ups and downs depending on the circuits we go to but overall, I am happy with the development direction. Let's see how we perform in Canada.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: We opted for an alternative strategy by starting both cars on the Hard tyre. There were pros and cons to this; a red flag or Safety Car intervention after the front four had stopped would have provided an opportunity to get both cars on the podium. However, a lap one red flag would prove awkward. This is exactly what befell us as the race got underway.
We were therefore in a situation where we had to try and get to the end on the Medium tyre. Most cars were doing a fair bit of management, so this was relatively easy to handle in the end. George seemed to have good pace in the closing stages and was able to defend well against Max and it was encouraging to see the improvements we made in our long run since Friday. The stop with Lewis towards the end wasn't necessary from a tyre point of view, but it did give us an opportunity to take an extra point for fastest lap.
Overall, the weekend was another indication that we are moving in the right direction. We were just 25 milliseconds off P3 in Qualifying, which is an annoying margin to miss out on a likely podium by. That said, a few weeks ago we couldn't even talk about podiums. We'll have both cars on the latest updates in Montreal with a few additional bits on top. We'll keep working hard and hopefully better results are not far away.
Charles Leclerc has finally shaken off his Monaco taboo, winning his home race at his sixth attempt. It was an extremely tactical race, which the team executed perfectly, with Charles leading from start to finish. Completing a memorable day, as Scuderia Ferrari HP took its tenth win on the streets of the Principality, was a third place for Carlos Sainz, which now puts the team 24 points behind Red Bull, the leaders in the Constructors' classification. Charles has also closed the gap to Drivers' leader Max Verstappen to 31 points. He is the 37th driver to win on the streets of Monaco. He is also the first Monegasque to do so since the start of the Formula 1 Drivers' World Championship in 1950, although Louis Chiron, also a Monegasque won here 93 years ago, well before the creation of the World Championship. Leclerc is also the seventh Ferrari driver to win here.
Today's race was even more tactical than usual because of the red flag on the opening lap. Charles and Carlos lined up on Medium tyres and the Spaniard got away well enough to come alongside Oscar Piastri at the first corner. However, they touched and Sainz ended up with a puncture that dropped him down the order. At the same time, there was a huge crash in the midfield, fortunately without injury, involving the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez in the Red Bull. With the track blocked, the race was red flagged and because that happened before the end of the opening lap, it meant that Sainz was able to restart from his original grid position. It also meant that there would be no need for the obligatory pit stop if drivers took the second start on a different compound to the first one. Thus the team put both drivers on the Hard tyre with the aim of then going all the way to the chequered flag.
There were no surprises at the restart with Charles leading from Piastri, Carlos and Lando Norris in the other McLaren. From then on, it was a race without the need for pit stops, with Charles and Carlos looking after their tyres and preventing Norris, at the back of this group running Hard tyres, from building up enough of a lead over the fifth placed driver that he would be able to make a pit stop without losing track position. Charles and Carlos were therefore constantly given target times to hit and the race became a long countdown without any surprises all the way to the flag, with Leclerc the winner and Sainz third. After the race, the team rushed to hug the drivers near the podium to the accompaniment of the klaxons from the yachts in the harbour. The party is likely to go on all night in Monaco!
Fred Vasseur: It was the perfect weekend and one to remember for Charles, having had a couple of tough races in the past here in Monaco. He was flying from lap 1 in FP1 and he did the perfect job. The race itself was a bit strange because after the red flag, we had to manage 77 laps on the same set of tyres.
He was always in control of the situation and a couple of times, he asked us if he could push more, but we couldn't give him green light. Carlos also drove a very solid race and played an important part in this win, helping us control the gaps behind, doing a fantastic job for the team.
At the moment, we are all pushing very hard, there is a very good dynamic in the whole team with everyone working in the right direction. We mustn't get carried away, we have to stay focused, but this win is a huge motivation for everyone, at the track and also of course at the factory where everyone has done a great job.
This was a very special day, you could see the emotion from all the team members around the podium. Now we must already think about doing a good job again, a better one even, in Canada.
Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "Hats off to Ferrari and Charles Leclerc, they've been quick all weekend and deserved the victory. For us, well done to the entire team for delivering a fast car, and to the trackside team, for being always on the ball, managing some intense operational moments this weekend - from clearing Lando's car of debris during Qualifying, to dealing with a difficult Red Flag situation today. It's an important result here in Monaco, with Oscar scoring an impressive podium and Lando right behind on a circuit that we weren't certain would suit our car. It's a lot of points - but also evidence that we can be regular contenders for the podium. We look at the coming races with optimism."
Mike Krack, Team Principal: "After the red flag on the opening lap there were limited strategy options available today. Starting on the Hard tyres, we switched both cars to the Medium tyres in the hope we could go to the end of the race. Lance had a gap over Gasly so we took the opportunity to fit some Hard tyres to compete for the final point. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. Fernando managed his tyres well, but we finished just outside the top ten. It's been another tough day, compromised by qualifying outside of the points scoring positions on Saturday. Now is the time to regroup as a team, focus on improvements and come back stronger in Canada."
Bruno Famin, Team Principal: "Today's result was largely defined by yesterday's Qualifying and, as a team, one point is how it has ended up. It's a bittersweet feeling. We probably did not maximise yesterday's Qualifying but from where we ended Friday to where we have ended Sunday is clearly a positive outcome. As a team we will review and manage the incident between both cars behind closed doors. We must avoid situations that have the potential to compromise the team."
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director: Scoring your first points of the season is always a great feeling, so we're happy to take P9. Being in Monaco, the foundations for those points were laid yesterday in Qualifying, so it's great that we had a car which could deliver across the entire weekend for Alex. Today was a bit of a strange race after the Red Flag restart with most cars trying to go to the end. Alex managed his Hard tyres well as it was key not to grain the front tyres and keep them in the right window. Logan's race was more difficult as he spent most of the time in traffic but once in clean air, he showed some great pace. We're looking forward to Canada as we had a great race there last year and should be bringing some weight-saving parts.
Guillaume Dezoteux (Head of Vehicle Performance): "And four more points in the basket! Yuki's eighth position in today's race rewards a strong and intense weekend. He showed a great pace straight from Friday and confirmed today that our package is improving and still leading the midfield runners. Yuki had good starts, drove a consistent race and managed his tyres well in this very particular scenario. After the red flag, we knew the best strategy was to restart on the hard tyre and not stop again. The race was about managing the tyres and the car, which Yuki did very well for 76 laps with the support of his engineers. For Daniel, the race was more difficult, spending all his time in heavy traffic. At the first race start, he had a good getaway but lost position to Stroll in Turn 1, which meant we were 13th for the second starting grid. Then, we lost ground on Alonso at the second start, which is something we will analyse in detail. The rest of the race was on Alonso's gearbox and there wasn't much to do other than keep putting pressure on him. Our target remains to keep improving our car."
Laurent Mekies (Team Principal): "Firstly, congratulations to Charles Leclerc and to Scuderia Ferrari for Charles' home race win. He has been deserving it for a long time and he has certainly made a few people happy today!
"During today's race, the tension was evident in the many strategic games of cat and mouse throughout the order. Drivers and engineers did an excellent job through the 78 laps in terms of what pace to run to manage the tyres. It was always going to be a tricky Saturday and a tricky Sunday around Monaco, and the team executed very strongly. Yuki is really in great form, once again putting us at the front of the midfield on the grid and then sticking to the strategy to bring home some more very valuable championship points. In what was a completely linear race, with nothing changing after the second start, it was always going to be virtually impossible for Daniel to join his team-mate in the points. We still have some work to do to help him deliver the performances of which we know he is capable, so we are looking forward to getting to Canada, the scene of his very first Grand Prix win ten years ago.
"Finally, a big thank you to everyone in Faenza and Bicester. The good string of results we have pocketed in the last few races is the result of their hard work, and it gives us the will to push even harder for the races to come."
Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber made up ground, but ultimately couldn't score points, in a tight Monaco Grand Prix that did not see any shaking up of the qualifying order. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, starting from the second-last row, kept their noses clean during the first lap, which was halted by a red flag. In the subsequent restart, the team implemented an aggressive strategy with Valtteri, but the lack of any other incidents - no Safety Cars, no different pit-stop strategies - meant the possible progress was limited, and our duo ended their otherwise flawless races in P13 with Valtteri and P16 with Zhou.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "Today was a processionary race with a red flag after lap one, where all drivers except Sargeant decided to change their tyres - ultimately resulting in no more pit stops being expected. We tried our best to allow our drivers to attack the cars in front of them, but at a track like Monaco, where overtaking possibilities are close to zero, positions for most of the field were locked in. We tried a different strategy with Valtteri, who drove an aggressive race, as we pitted him on lap 15 from the medium compound to hard tyres, which allowed him to have a strong pace and overtake Sargeant to secure P13 - the maximum for today. Zhou experienced a more difficult race: he was stuck behind Sargeant until we decided to have him swap position with Valtteri. During the last segment of the race, he lost his position to the Williams under blue flags, before we pitted him onto the soft compound in case of a late Safety Car that didn't happen. On a positive note: all three of our pit-stops today have been our fastest during the entire season so far. They were fast and consistent - something important as it shows that we can react and improve. Our most important target for the upcoming races is to improve in each and every area to bring us back into the fight for points."
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team suffered an early double retirement at the Monaco Grand Prix, Round 8 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, held Sunday at the Circuit de Monaco.
Nico Hulkenberg started from 19th on the grid, with Kevin Magnussen 20th, after the two VF-24s were excluded from qualifying due to a technical non-conformity regarding the DRS flap.
Hulkenberg took the start on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires, with Magnussen on White hard tires, but both were eliminated on the run along Beau Rivage on the opening lap.
Magnussen made contact with Red Bull Racing's Sergio Perez while Hulkenberg was also caught up in the incident. Magnussen and Hulkenberg were both forced to retire from the race due to the damage sustained in the collision.
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "Starting from P19 and P20, we had an alternative strategy plan to try to get something out of it, but unfortunately our race ended on lap one. It's been a Sunday to forget and we just have to learn from this weekend and move on, and get a good result in Canada."
It's been a perfect weekend for Charles Leclerc who has finally shaken off his Monaco jinx. He had been quickest in Friday free practice and in qualifying on Saturday and today, the Monegasque won his home race for the first time, to secure his sixth Formula 1 victory, his previous win dating back to the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix. This was the Maranello team's 245th win, the tenth in this race.
Alongside Charles on the podium were Oscar Piastri, second for McLaren, thus equalling his previous best result at last year's Qatar GP and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who had already finished twice on the podium in Monaco, with two second places in 2021 and 2022.
For the start, the drivers were split almost equally between the nine who had opted to run the first stint on the Medium, namely Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, Piastri, Albon, Ricciardo, Tsunoda, Zhou and Hulkenberg and the remaining eleven who went with the Hard, those being Perez, Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Stroll, Alonso, Ocon, Gasly, Sargeant, Bottas and Magnussen. However, the red flag on the opening lap following a collision between Perez and both Haas drivers, meant that all remaining drivers were therefore absolved of the need to make a pit stop to use two different compounds. Ocon was also unable to take the restart after colliding with his team-mate. It meant that those who had started on the C3 switched to the C4 and vice versa, all of them capable of getting to the chequered flag without stopping. The only exception was Sargeant who kept the same set of Hards that he had used for the first start. There were some pit stops but these only occurred when windows opened in the traffic, so that they could be completed without losing track position. Those who took advantage of this scenario were, in order, Bottas, Stroll, Hamilton, Verstappen and Sargeant, who went from Medium to Hard and Zhou, who switched from Hard to Soft. The only driver to make two stops was Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, but only because he sustained a puncture after hitting the barrier.
Mario Isola: "First and foremost, congratulations to Charles Leclerc and to Scuderia Ferrari on their win. We can only begin to imagine what it means to Charles to have triumphed on the streets of the city where he grew up!
"On the tyre front, the Monaco race doesn't usually present many options and today, even those few possibilities were practically wiped out by the red flag on the opening lap. In fact, the race being stopped meant that a pit stop was no longer required, as explained previously. We knew that both the Hard and the Medium could go the full distance if managed properly and that's what almost all the drivers did. Groups were formed according to what compound they were running and within these groups there were some games of cat and mouse, aimed at getting other drivers to make mistakes, but this never really created any overtaking opportunities, or chances to change strategy to mix things up. Those who did pit, did so "for free," in other words without losing track position. They were then able to push with a clear track ahead for a little while, lapping as much as whole seconds quicker than those who were managing their tyres. But then, once back in traffic, they had to settle for having a close view of the car in front. This explains why the top ten places never changed from the first to the last lap."
