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Motorsport

F1 Monaco GP: Lando Norris masters tactical race to win

Lando Norris Oscar Piastri Max Verstappen Charles Leclerc McLaren Mercedes George Russell Isack Hadjar Pierre Gasly F1 Monaco GP

McLaren's Lando Norris has won the F1's 2025 Monaco Grand Prix, holding off Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri after a tactically cagey race.

In a race that was turned into an odd game of chess by a one-off mandate to use three sets of tyres, and therefore make two pitstops, Norris avoided the spectre of unfortunately timed neutralisations to convert his pole into his second win of the season.

Leclerc and Piastri joined him on the podium, with Verstappen fourth after banking on a late red flag to no avail.

At the start Norris locked up his tyres to keep the lead from Leclerc into Turn 1's Ste Devote, while Piastri stayed ahead of Verstappen after the Dutchman sniffed around the outside.

At the rear Gabriel Bortoleto found the wall on the exit of Portier after duelling with Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the Brazilian Sauber driver continuing but not before triggering a virtual safety car.

The leaders stayed out, but the yellow flag emboldened Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly and Oliver Bearman to make an early first pitstop. Gasly's efforts to make an alternate strategy work shattered into the back of Tsunoda's Red Bull at the Nouvelle Chicane, with Gasly reporting "no brakes" as he smashed up his front-left corner, with Tsunoda fortunate to escape damage.

On three wheels Gasly made his way back to the pits to retire, with a local double yellow flag for a piece of Alpine front wing. Piastri dodged the piece of wing which gave Verstappen a chance to stick his nose alongside, but much to the Dutchman's chagrin Piastri promptly closed the door in the fight for third.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls Team (Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images)

Midfielders trigger first round of stops

Liam Lawson created a buffer for fifth-place starting team-mate Isack Hadjar, who then made a cheap pitstop for softs, only losing two positions thanks to his team-mate's rear gunning.

The front of the midfield pitting changed the dynamic of the race, with the leaders now no longer being able to afford cruising around. Norris and company immediately upped the pace by several seconds per lap to keep their pitstop gap intact.

Hamilton was able to jump Hadjar, who soon boxed a second time for hard tyres so he could go to the end.

Norris was the first of the lead group to blink, pitting on lap 20 for hard Pirellis. Piastri followed him in on the next lap to undercut Leclerc but the Monegasque responded on the next tour to keep position.

A couple of tense laps followed for the McLarens as Verstappen was released into free air, hoping for some sort of safety car as he lacked the outright pace to threaten the papaya cars. But the race stayed green until the Dutchman made his first stop on lap 29, re-emerging where he started in fourth.

Norris carried on in the lead with a six second gap to Leclerc and another handful of seconds on Piastri and Verstappen, with Hamilton the biggest mover at the halfway point from seventh to fifth.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images via Getty Images)

Verstappen's late pitstop heaps pressure on Norris

The race order was frozen until the second and final round of pitstops provided the next chance for some jeopardy.

Piastri moved first on lap 49, which triggered a reaction from Leclerc's Ferrari pitcrew on the following tour, and Norris on lap 51. Meanwhile, Verstappen stuck to his plan by staying out, upping the pace and hoping for a safety car once more.

Norris and Leclerc soon closed the gap to Verstappen, which meant the only hope for Red Bull had left was a red flag for a free tyre change. With Hamilton also pitting, Verstappen was under no pressure to take his final stop before the very end.

Verstappen's slow pace backed Norris into the jaws of Leclerc and Piastri, which made Norris' final dozen of laps fairly uncomfortable.

But the world champion's second pitstop with one lap to go finally allowed Norris back past to claim his second win of the season ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, with Verstappen and Hamilton in the top five.

Hadjar finished an excellent sixth thanks to Lawson's early teamwork and Racing Bull's savvy strategy. Esteban Ocon's Haas team also perfectly planned the Frenchman's two pitstops to finish seventh, while Lawson was rewarded for his efforts with eighth.

Williams duo Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz took the final points, which was also the result of the pair backing up the chasing Mercedes cars.

Both Russell and Antonelli were unable to make their way into the points after qualifying outside the top 10, gambling on chaos by delaying their two pitstops after those of their rivals.

George Russell, Mercedes (Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images via Getty Images)

Frustrated with Albon's blocking, Russell decided to pass the Williams by cutting the chicane, intentionally taking a time penalty instead of giving the position back. But the race stewards responded by handing Russell a drive-through instead of a time penalty to thwart his cunning plan.

Alonso lost out on his first points of the season by retiring with suspected power unit issue, gracefully parking his Aston Martin behind the wall at Rascasse to avoid any disruption to the race.

In the championship Norris closes the gap to points leader Piastri to just three points. Verstappen lost three points to the Australian and heads to next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona 25 points behind.

F1 Monaco GP - Race results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	L. Norris McLaren	4	78	-			2	25		McLaren	Mercedes
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	78	+3.131 3.131	3.131		2	18		Ferrari	Ferrari
3	O. Piastri McLaren	81	78	+3.658 3.658	0.527		2	15		McLaren	Mercedes
4	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	78	+20.572 20.572	16.914		2	12		Red Bull	Red Bull
5	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	78	+51.387 51.387	30.815		2	10		Ferrari	Ferrari
6	I. Hadjar Racing Bulls	6	77	1 lap			2	8		RB	Honda
7	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	77	1 lap			2	6		Haas	Ferrari
8	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	77	1 lap			2	4		RB	Honda
9	A. Albon Williams	23	76	2 laps			2	2		Williams	Mercedes
10	C. Sainz Williams	55	76	2 laps			2	1		Williams	Mercedes
11	G. Russell Mercedes	63	76	2 laps			3			Mercedes	Mercedes
12	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	76	2 laps			2			Haas	Ferrari
13	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	76	2 laps			2			Alpine	Renault
14	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5	76	2 laps			3			Sauber	Ferrari
15	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	76	2 laps			2			Aston Martin	Mercedes
16	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27	76	2 laps			2			Sauber	Ferrari
17	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22	76	2 laps			2			Red Bull	Red Bull
18	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	75	3 laps			2			Mercedes	Mercedes
dnf	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	36	42 laps			1		Power Unit	Aston Martin	Mercedes
dnf	P. Gasly Alpine	10	7	71 laps			2		Brakes	Alpine	Renault
View full results