After a year off, the only year without a Monaco GP other than 1954, this race felt so nostalgic. The track looks exactly the same as it did throughout my childhood, as it did in all the VT of races from the olden days. The jewel in F1's crown sparkled brighter this year as a beacon of hope that the world restarts life post-covid, even watched from a lousy Level 3 postcode.
The main talking point before lights out was whether LeClerc's gearbox was definitely undamaged from the Qualifying incident. Ferrari Team Principal Bennoto assured everyone as much as he could that they were as certain as they could be that it did not need replacing (and thus giving LeClerc a grid penalty). He seemed to be pretty much ignored by everyone. As it turned out, the gearbox failed on the way from the pitlane to the grid. Ferrari rolled the die (despite insisting that they were not gambling) and lost everything at the casino that is Monte Carlo. The pundits did a 180 and starting insisting it was probably a software problem, having willed him out of the race, they were willing him back in and back to the fairy tale.
As the mechanics struggled to fix the stricken car, the FIA-Team radio made a new appearance and we're all enjoying this new feature. Ferrari confirmed a pit lane start for the home track prince. Verstappen therefore got his pole and Bottas second. Sainz and Norris behind them, given an extra boost. In the end the damage was terminal and the dream for LeClerc finally fizzled out. His team mate Sainz went on to drive an anonymous, heads-down race and finish second.
Bottas got a good launch at the start but Verstappen had firmly, nay aggressively, pointed his car across the track to cut off any ambitions he had to lead the race. We then watched the drivers manage their tires and try not to clip the wall. For 30 laps. Then Hamilton pitted. With no incident. He got back out on track ahead of Giovanizzi. Breaking News. 2.2 second stop for Hamilton. This opened the floodgates. Bottas came in right after Hamilton and never came out again. Like many a particularly amateur DIY aficionado, the nut would not come off the tire.
Hamilton was cross to come out of the pits still behind Gasly's Alpha Tauri, then Vettel came out of the pits and something happened, we don't know what as the editor cut to a replay of Stroll doing a corner badly. At this point, it was business as usual for Lewis, world champion moaning.
For once, Red Bull pulled an excellent strategy out of the bag, whereas it's usually Mercedes who master the tactics. Perez came from the back of the Q3 set up to 4th after the first (and usually only) pitstops. A position he held until the flag fell, despite putting up a good chase after Norris.
Another sad moment of the race was Norris waving at his new teammate Ricciardo as he lapped him. Karma came back to bite him as his tires started to give way, leaving him vulnerable to losing his podium place. He was able to keep his track position, no surprise given the circuit.
Ten laps from the end, Hamilton came in for new tires to get the point for fastest lap, at 7th he wasn't far from being outside the top 10 and able to claim it. (Once again, I state vehemently that I think this caveat sucks.)
Just outside the top ten point-scorers were world champion, Raikkonen, former Monaco winner Ricciardo and twice world champion Alonso. How the mighty have fallen.
When Verstappen crossed the line to win the race, he also took the lead in the world championship. A might moment for him and career defining. A nice young podium, signally exciting racing for years to come.
And no safety car!
What I want for every race is basically a wider Monaco. No room for error. Heartstopping laps. A short lap keeping the cars together. But with overtaking. But no DRS. This is what I want.
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