Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli cruised to his fifth successive win in a which featured crashes and a purple flag.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton completed second and Pink Bull’s Isack Hadjar accomplished the rostrum.
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Charles Leclerc’s race ended early after a crash within the ultimate nook throughout a restart, as his team-mate Hamilton moved into second within the drivers’ championship.
BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson solutions your newest questions after Monaco.
Why have been so many vehicles caught out within the pit lane for rushing at Monaco? Was the software program in charge? – John
5 drivers have been penalised for exceeding the 60km/h pit-lane rushing restrict in Monaco on Sunday – Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes’ George Russell, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto.
That’s an unusually giant quantity, and of itself it implied one thing odd was happening.
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That impression solely elevated when the margins have been printed. All 5 drivers exceeded the restrict by simply 0.1km/h – although Gasly additionally went 0.4km/h over on one among his two offences.
It appears this was attributable to a mixture of the format of the pit lane and the way in which the restrict is measured.
At each entry and exit, there are white strains defining the quick lane of the pit lane, however there’s additionally room to chop throughout these somewhat – and given F1 is all about exploiting high-quality margins, many drivers have been doing so.
On the identical time, the pit-lane restrict just isn’t measured by a velocity gun, however by a collection of timing loops and the on-car transponders.
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As velocity is a measure of distance divided by time, this opens the door to drivers going over the restrict if they’ll discover a strategy to shorten the space, even when they have been technically on or beneath the restrict always.
This seems to be what has occurred right here.
Mercedes – for one – had instructed their drivers to go broad on the pit-lane entry to keep away from this danger. However Russell clearly managed to set off the restrict anyway.
The problem was mentioned between the groups and governing physique the FIA all weekend.
All of the drivers have been adamant that they had not exceeded the restrict.
As Hamilton put it: “I wasn’t rushing. It is simply the way in which the pit lane is. I’ve performed this pit lane for years.
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“It isn’t like I got here in and did not press the button or one thing like that. Pit-lane limiter is on instantly. And I feel it is simply the road that you just take, which is identical line we have all taken for years, the place you are available in, you sort of reduce a part of the white line.
“I used to be shocked to listen to that I used to be rushing as a result of I wasn’t really above the velocity.
“It is all about, I feel, the space and one thing that we actually have to look into as a result of I heard a lot of individuals bought that right now they usually in all probability weren’t actually rushing. And having to do a stop-and-go, kind of cease and look forward to 5, 10 seconds, no matter individuals bought, it destroys you on a monitor so brief as effectively, your possibilities. So I am grateful that it did not impede me an excessive amount of.”
Because it occurs, Hamilton and Ferrari managed to discover a strategy to negate his penalty across the safety-car interval.
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However Piastri suffered somewhat by way of place, Gasly misplaced a podium place, and Russell noticed a possible third place transformed to no factors in any respect after Mercedes tousled in his safety-car interval pit cease and did not serve the penalty in the best means.
After Alpine requested a proper of evaluate for the rushing infractions, are you able to clarify what that is, the way it works, and does it solely apply to Pierre Gasly’s race or may different drivers profit from this? – Kevin
A proper of evaluate is basically a laborious/fancy means of claiming an attraction.
It is used as a result of sure penalties – akin to pit-lane rushing – will not be topic to attraction. So groups have to make use of a unique mechanism within the guidelines in the event that they think about the penalty unfair.
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A proper of evaluate request is profitable solely in extraordinarily uncommon circumstances.
That is as a result of one among its stipulations is it requires a staff to undergo the FIA proof that was not obtainable on the time the penalty was incurred.
There are two complicating components with that.
One is that it is fairly uncommon for there to truly be new proof. However even when there’s something that could possibly be argued to be new proof, the FIA usually finds a strategy to say that regardless of the staff places ahead as such just isn’t that in any respect.
Typically that is extra credible an argument than others.
Cynics – and there are many these in F1 – usually say that is as a result of the FIA doesn’t wish to admit it’s flawed.
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Regardless of the motive, it underlines why it is so troublesome to win such a case.
On this state of affairs, in idea any verdict applies solely to Gasly, so even when Alpine gained, solely his race outcome would change.
However in fact that might open the door to different groups to complain about what occurred, and their outcome. Which – these cynics would say – is all of the extra motive for the FIA to reject it.
Having began strongly, what has occurred to George Russell’s efficiency this season? Is it merely right down to a future of dangerous luck or is he and/or his staff making errors? – Michael
George Russell’s admission after qualifying that he has been struggling to maximise the Mercedes automobile all season felt like a seminal second within the championship battle.
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Russell pointed to driving model, saying Antonelli had struggled in final yr’s automobile and now
Till then, Russell had regarded for exterior causes to elucidate his troublesome begin to the season.
There have, certainly, been many.
He suffered a gearbox downside after which a front-wing situation in qualifying in China, which can effectively have denied him pole.
The protection-car timing in Japan handed the victory to Antonelli, and vaulted him forward of Russell.
It is a bit of a stretch, nonetheless, to say Russell would have gained in Japan with out that, as a result of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri led the primary stint, and stopped in the identical window as Russell earlier than the security automobile, and Russell did not cross the Australian all race.
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And in Canada, Russell was main when his MGU-Okay did not trigger his retirement.
On the identical time, the rationale Russell’s admission felt necessary is the impression for a while is that he has been struggling to maintain up.
In China, Antonelli had the identical front-wing situation as Russell on his ultimate run – albeit his session was not disrupted in different methods, as Russell’s was – and nonetheless claimed pole.
And after each dropped behind the Ferraris firstly, Antonelli’s race-craft was way more decisive in passing them.
In Japan, Antonelli was on pole, and dropped again solely due to a poor begin. And such was his tempo on medium tyres within the first stint of the race that Mercedes felt he was on the right track to run longer and declare the lead anyway, even with out the security automobile.
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In Miami, there was no argument, Antonelli was merely sooner. And though Russell took pole for the dash and grand prix in Canada, gained the dash and was main the grand prix when he broke down, Antonelli was throughout him in each races and regarded sooner. The future of the win in Montreal was removed from sure when Russell retired.
In a means, Russell’s choice to lastly admit he’s struggling could be a superb factor.
Final yr, Lando Norris was in an identical place at McLaren. Having overwhelmed Piastri convincingly in 2024, and so entered 2025 as favorite, Norris struggled with the traits of the automobile within the early a part of the season.
Sounds acquainted, does not it?
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With assiduous work from Norris himself, and likewise from the staff – each technically by way of making modifications to the automobile, but additionally psychologically in serving to Norris get on high of his state of affairs mentally – he bounced again and gained the title.
Russell is in a troublesome place, 68 factors behind Antonelli, however it’s removed from unrecoverable.
As he put it on Sunday: “I need to get racing now. The season has been disjointed. I nonetheless very a lot imagine in myself and know what I can do. I feel we’re not even 30% of the way in which by means of, however there’s plenty of factors down the drain.
“After I have a look at issues objectively, if issues have been balanced out somewhat bit extra, I nonetheless assume it will have been very, very shut. He is doing a tremendous job, however I feel I might have not less than two extra victories to my title.
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“I nonetheless very a lot imagine in myself. I nonetheless imagine we will be preventing for race wins for the tip of this yr.”
Why did Charles Leclerc re-sign with Ferrari? Certainly he has seen Ferrari kills most drivers’ careers? – Cassia
The sense of this query is on the minds of many in F1 within the context of Charles Leclerc’s contract renewal at Ferrari.
He’s in his eighth season at Maranello and has gained simply eight races. And his low dialog ratio from 27 poles is sort of totally right down to staff failings moderately than driver.
No marvel, then, that the overriding query given Leclerc’s dedication to the staff is: is he losing his profession there?
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In any case, Ferrari haven’t gained a drivers’ championship since 2007, or a constructors’ since 2008, and it is not as in the event that they’ve lacked for drivers – Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Leclerc and now Lewis Hamilton have all did not win a title at Ferrari.
Clearly, the difficulty is the staff.
Leclerc, although, refuses to imagine they cannot change that state of affairs.
“I really like the staff,” he stated in Monaco. “That is fairly apparent from the skin. It has been eight years with the Formulation 1 staff, 10 years with Ferrari as an entire. They have been one of many first individuals to imagine in me and to assist me to get to the place I’m right now, and I imagine within the venture most of all.
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“I feel with Fred [Vasseur] we have now an excellent relationship, and I strongly imagine that he’s the person who will have the ability to deliver Ferrari again to the highest. It has been a superb begin to the season, clearly inferior to what we might need, as a result of we need to goal the world championship, however there’s been plenty of innovation on the automobile.
“We all know the place we’re missing and that is in all probability extra the engine aspect. We have a plan arising and hopefully it should assist us to get again to the place we need to be.
“However why? It is as a result of I really like this staff and since I imagine within the venture, and for these two causes, yeah, that is why we proceed collectively.”
He was requested in Monaco whether or not he would end his profession at Ferrari. He identified that he was solely 28 – “nonetheless younger” – and had loads of time forward of him in F1
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“In the meanwhile that is what feels proper for me and that is the place I need to put all my focus, in making an attempt to win with the staff I really like, that believed in me, that gave me the prospect to be the place I’m right now,” he stated. “That is what felt proper for me.
“After which for the longer term we’ll see. Clearly, I do not know what’s going to life appear like in 5 or 6 or seven or 10 years’ time, nevertheless it’s not the second both to consider it.”
