The fifth round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship sees the sport travel to Monaco for the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo.
At present, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton lead Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings by 14 points, as he currently sits on 94 from the opening four rounds, meaning that the Dutch driver will realistically have to start winning races soon, or risk being cut adrift from the Brit in the title race.
The Monaco GP didn’t feature in last year’s calendar for the first time since 1954, meaning that the last time they raced at this famous old street circuit was in 2019, where Hamilton edged out Ferrari’s Sebastien Vettel by just over two seconds, with Valtteri Bottas finishing third, whilst the two Red Bulls of Verstappen and Pierre Gasly crossed the line in fourth and fifth place.
Verstappen actually crossed the line in second place, but due to a five-second penalty for an unsafe release to jump Bottas in the pit stops, he finished fourth, meaning that the 23-year-old is yet to earn himself a podium in Monaco.
One of the most notable incidents was a Charles LeClerc spin early on in the race, as he attempted an audacious move on Nico Hulkenberg, as the Ferrari driver looked to fight his way through the field from 16th on the grid, but the Monaco born racer punctured his left rear tyre and caused a puncture of which he didn’t nurse his car back to the pits in a mature fashion, and consequently caused a lot of damage to the floor of the Ferrari, which ultimately lead to his retirement later on.
Verstappen as usual, tried to take the fight to Hamilton, as he desperately needed to get past the Brit to stand any chance of finishing in the podium, which saw the Dutchman make a late lunge into the turn 10 chicane and made contact with Hamilton, but, both cars were able to carry on in normal fashion, which meant that the order of the field stayed the same until the end of the race, when the time penalty was incurred.