Monaco – Francophone Review: Another Home Withdrawal for Leclerc!
As in 2018, the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix was not favorable for Charles Leclerc: the local driver was the only one to retire! Pierre Gasly fared better with his fifth place and the point for the fastest lap in the race. Ninth at the finish, Romain Grosjean was finally classified tenth after a penalty.
Pierre Gasly: 5th (8th on the grid)
For the first time this season, Pierre Gasly was the best French-speaking driver in the race! The result of his fifth place and Charles Leclerc’s retirement: penalized three grid positions after obstructing Grosjean in qualifying, the Norman still started in eighth position.
To make matters worse, his start to the race was set to be very complicated. Having passed Kvyat but stuck in seventh position behind a small train led by a very slow Daniel Ricciardo, Gasly seemed unable to ever reach the top 5, despite good tire management according to his statements.
Luck was on his side thanks to the deployment of the Safety Car on the 11th lap. Gaining two places with the stops of Ricciardo and Magnussen, he took advantage of their slower pace in traffic to open up a sufficient gap. On soft tires since the start, Gasly stopped on the 26th lap. Luck was definitely on his side: Sainz emerged just behind him during his own pit stop. Once all the drivers returned to their boxes, Sainz, Kvyat, Albon and finally Grosjean, the 2016 GP2 champion was… fifth!
Possessing then 28 seconds of advance over the Spaniard, Gasly stopped one last time at the end of the race to attempt the point for the fastest lap in the race. Challenge successful, with a time of 1’14’279, just a few thousandths off the circuit’s race record set in 2018 by Daniel Ricciardo. “On the fastest lap, I was a bit at the limit, but I could have gone even faster,” the Frenchman indicates with a smile, repeating his performance after his success in China.
This fifth place thus represents the best finish for the driver with number 10 since he joined the Austrian team at the beginning of the season. Clearly, Gasly continues his progress in 2019!
« It was sheer pleasure to drive fast in Monaco with a car that goes fast! I finished less than 10 seconds from the winner, so we can be satisfied. Honestly, it’s a positive race, and I hope we can replicate this kind of performance on another track. »
« There are still plenty of little things to finalize to achieve a good result. But it’s going in the right direction! »
Lap 62 and Pierre comes into the pits 🇫🇷 He puts on a set of soft tyres and keeps P5 👊 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/Iwydu88ejV
— Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) May 26, 2019
Romain Grosjean: 10th (13th on the grid)
Another frustrating weekend for the Haas driver, who leaves with the point for 10th place. His final position is still more satisfying than his expectations. Hampered in qualifying by Pierre Gasly, who started only 13th, Grosjean’s race was not a smooth one. Having endured a very daring overtake by Charles Leclerc at the Rascasse on the 7th lap, he regained his position after the Monegasque clashed with Nico Hülkenberg’s Renault. “If I hadn’t opened up, it would have ended like Hülkenberg. I knew he wasn’t going to open up, knowing the guy,” the former Lotus driver admitted in the interview zone.
Stuck behind Albon, Grosjean battled with the Toro Rosso for a good part of the race, wearing out his Pirelli tires. Freed from the Thai driver on the 39th lap, he encountered him again on the 49th lap, after his own pit stop. Unfortunately for him, Grosjean received a penalty upon exiting for crossing the yellow line, after defending his position against Sainz’s McLaren. This penalty relegated him behind Ricciardo’s Renault… by a tenth: frustrating!
“I’m a bit fed up with this series…” the Frenchman complained. “This penalty is harsh. I saw the images, pff… the team says we can’t fight against it, but there’s still a part of the wheel touching the yellow line…”
« I was looking in my mirrors to see where Ricciardo was. While looking, I moved a bit too much to the left than I wanted… »
🏁 falls at the #MonacoGP. We finish:
P10 @RGrosjean 🇫🇷 (1pt) *5sec penalty
P12 @KevinMagnussen 🇩🇰@LewisHamilton takes the 🏆#HaasF1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/hGw3MvpuLM— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) May 26, 2019
Charles Leclerc: retirement (15th on the grid)
Since Formula 2, Charles Leclerc has been cursed on his home soil. After his collision with Hartley in 2018, the Monegasque was determined to shine this weekend and perhaps even secure a podium. Unfortunately for him, his team shot themselves in the foot after his mistake in qualifying.
15th on the grid, the little prince of the Scuderia didn’t give up and started a series of overtakes. Getting past Kimi Räikkönen and Lando Norris at the start, he faced difficulties overtaking Grosjean and Hülkenberg, with bad consequences: the rear wheel of his red car hit the barriers, causing a puncture and damaging its floor. He then tried to rejoin the race but was hindered by the traffic jam caused by Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Kubica. The car was too damaged to continue anyway: Leclerc retired on lap 16.
It’s not been an easy day. I made the same overtake on Romain, maybe I was a bit more to the side for the one with Nico, I also had a bit less space. Unfortunately, it’s a weekend to forget except for the support I received here, which warmed my heart. We’ll bounce back in Montreal.
« From where we started, we had to take risks. After that, maybe I went a bit too far… »
The margins are so fine around this place#MonacoGP 🇲🇨 #F1 pic.twitter.com/N8T0iw9mJT
— Formula 1 (@F1) 26 mai 2019
With Alexandre Lepère
