Monaco Grand Prix – The editorial team’s top/flop

The TOP 3

1. Carlos Sainz and Ferrari back on the podium

Behind an imperial Max Verstappen, we finally find a Ferrari at the top of the timesheet. Carlos Sainz superbly built his weekend. Always competitive against the clock, he did not make the slightest mistake.

If on Thursday we could think about an offbeat strategy from the Scuderia, their drivers confirmed on Saturday that we should count on them for the victory.

Only Charles Leclerc’s mistake in qualifying came to sabotage his teammate’s plans. The red cars in pole position, indeed. but the red cars struggling to win the race.

Despite the anger of Saturday afternoon, the Spanish driver managed a strong race and took advantage of Valtteri Bottas’ retirement to momentarily challenge the Red Bull of the winner. Overtaking being “mission impossible” in Monaco, he had to resign himself and settle for a “MissionSecondNow” to the great joy of the Ferrari fans who had traveled in large numbers.

2. Sebastian Vettel, king of strategy

If there is one circuit that promotes drivers’ experience, it’s this one. And Sebastian Vettel proves it once again. The champion, struggling for the past two seasons, is having a really tough start with Aston Martin.

To convince those who doubted his talent, the German driver also delivered a perfect race. After some tests where he immediately felt comfortable, Vettel clinched a very good eighth place in Q3.

Very strong in the race, his consistent and fast pace allows him to delay his pit stop in order to overtake Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly. Taking advantage of Valtteri Bottas’ retirement, he finishes the race in fifth position and earns valuable points for Aston Martin.

He is also voted Driver of the Day, an honor he had not won since last year’s Turkish Grand Prix.

3. Norris in boss size

Lando Norris gains confidence at McLaren. Wearing this beautiful historic livery, the cars from Woking have everything to put on a show in the Principality. Thanks to a masterful qualifying session and an extremely fast lap in Q3, the Englishman places his McLaren in 5th position.

Charles Leclerc’s withdrawal and Bottas’ retirement allow him, after a race without a single mistake, to finish on the podium.

But beyond Norris’ fantastic second podium of the year, it’s the image of this power shift that remains the highlight of the race. Just a stone’s throw from the end, Daniel Ricciardo is shown a blue flag so that his teammate can lap him.

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The Flop 3

1. Mick Schumacher too messy

The boss of the HAAS team had warned his drivers. They must not break any cars this weekend. The American team is struggling with its budget and fears this race, which could be very costly. Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin have been warned, but also reassured. They were supposed to drive cautiously to gain experience.

At first, we were worried about Nikita Mazepin, but the troubles came from the German side. Mick Schumacher crashed his HAAS twice. A first warning in F1 during FP2, then a nice exit at the Casino causing a red flag in FP3.

Beyond the repairs to be carried out, he is jeopardizing his chances of success since he is forfeiting the qualifications.

In the race, he authoritatively overtakes his teammate at Loews right from the start. However, he still finishes his race three laps behind the winner and in last place.

The impulsive Russian driver managed to comply with the “orders” given by his team. This weekend, it’s Mick Schumacher who completely missed his race. An error not to be repeated if he wants to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Alpine and Fernando Alonso fall short

The disillusion came from the Alpine side. The French team has so far had a very good start to the championship, but in Monaco, the first tests proved to be very complicated.

A car that is difficult to maneuver, and lap times that are not very flattering.

It took all of Esteban Ocon’s talent for the French team to leave this Monegasque weekend with two points.

What remains worrying are Fernando Alonso’s underperformance. The Asturias bull was recruited for his experience, his speed, and his leadership qualities. It is clear that since the beginning of the season, he has been struggling, and this race in Monaco has only confirmed this lack of performance.

3. Mercedes and Hamilton powerless!

The situation is serious at Mercedes. As much as we thought the German team was bluffing in free practice, the race turned out to be disastrous for the multiple title champions.

Once again, Valtteri Bottas missed his chance to show that he can play roles other than that of a supporting actor. He could have taken on the role of a leader for a weekend, but if Hamilton isn’t ahead of him, Bottas will always find an opponent to surpass him. On Saturday, in pure performance, he failed to counter Leclerc and Verstappen, and on Sunday during the race, the Dutchman was able to impose his will on the Finn.

He ends his weekend with a technical withdrawal that Mercedes had not accustomed us to.

On his side, Lewis Hamilton remained completely transparent on the track. In each session, his lap times proved to be insufficient to hope for a podium. Worse than that, he openly attacked his engineers. This behavior is not usual for him and proves all his powerlessness to face Red Bull in particular. And if Mercedes’ strategists are usually in great shape, it must be admitted that in Monaco they thought they were on vacation. Nothing worked for Mercedes and the outsiders managed to take advantage of it. The Brackley team is left in second place in the teams’ and drivers’ championship.