Papaya on the Podium: A Monaco Grand Prix Recap

The Monaco Grand Prix is the most iconic race in Formula One. Held since 1929, its prestige is evident in every piece of media that has ever covered this race. The backdrop of the sunny French Riviera, as the cars zip through the narrow streets of Monte Carlo, is so breathtaking that you can feel the glamour seeping through the screen. Yes, it is only one of the twenty-four races of the season, but it is one of the coveted victories of the season. Here’s a recap to bring you up to speed: 

Qualifying

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc seemed poised to secure pole position for his home race… until McLaren’s Lando Norris’ breathtaking lap knocked him into P2. Fellow papaya driver Oscar Piastri qualified in third place. Right behind them was initially Lewis Hamilton in P4… Until the FIA Stewards issued a three-place penalty for impeding Verstappen during the session. I’ll be honest here - the penalty announcement was painful to read. 

The peak chaotic moment of the session was George Russell’s car slowing while on a lap. By the time the car had completely stopped, the Mercedes driver was able to pull over the vehicle in the tunnel. The red flag naturally came out. Instead of the usual machinery, the marshals had to physically push the car from the tunnel, rather than using the usual machinery to remove it from the track safely. 

Of course, Russell wasn’t the only Mercedes driver to be dealt a bout of bad luck. Kimi Antonelli found himself hitting the barrier. Big yikes for the team, but at least Toto didn’t smash his headphones this time. 

The Race 

Lando Norris won the Monaco Grand Prix for the first time. Charles Leclerc, who won last year, came in second. Oscar Piastri came in third, sealing yet another major win for McLaren. It’s an unsurprising outcome given that this was the qualifying trio that started the trio, and they were within the top five the whole race. Leclerc was understandably eager to win his home race for the second time, but simply didn’t have the pace to keep up with Norris. 

Verstappen and Hamilton came in fourth and fifth, respectively. In a notoriously narrow circuit like Monaco, the outcome of Qualifying often determines the result of the race before it even starts. And despite the newly mandatory two-pit requirement (exclusive to the Monaco GP), the limitations of the circuit, given the current car sizes (which are changing in 2026), guaranteed nothing but an otherwise predictable race. Another thing to consider in both Verstappen and Hamilton’s cases was that they didn’t have the pace compared to the McLaren drivers, one of whom might just join them in the exclusive club of World Champions. 

The spiciest bit of the race was the on-track tension between Williams and Mercedes. Let me start by stating that both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz had a significantly better Qualifying, finishing P10 and P11, compared to George Russell and Kimi Antonelli’s unfortunate P14 and P15. As the race progressed, both Williams drivers were ahead of both Mercedes drivers, effectively holding them up and preventing overtaking. Albon notably held up George Russell to ensure that Sainz could pit with a minimized chance of dropping several positions. Russell went on the radio to complain about Albon’s slowed and defensive driving. He grew so frustrated with the hold-up that he intentionally went off track to overtake the Thai driver. The FIA Stewards handed Russell a drive-through penalty for the move. 

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz finished in the points at P9 and P10. Meanwhile, George Russell and Kimi Antonelli finished outside at P11 and P18 - a big win for Williams (all things considered) and a disappointing outcome for Mercedes. 

Intentionally driving slowly to defend against a driver to help a teammate during a race defensively isn’t against the rules… Purposefully going off-track out of sheer pettiness to gain an advantage is. Russell was allowed to feel frustrated, but he wasn’t entitled to violate racing rules because he was feeling inconvenienced by what was ultimately racing tactics. This will undoubtedly be a talking point in the press conferences for the Spanish Grand Prix and could have an impact on the racing rulebook in the future unless the FIA Stewards merely shrug at Albon’s move. 

Points As Of Now

Oscar Piastri is still leading the Drivers’ Championship at 161 points while Lando Norris follows behind at 158 points, giving them a three-point difference that could easily swap the two around depending on the outcome of the Spanish Grand Prix. Max Verstappen is a bit behind the papaya drivers at 136 points. Everything continues to be up in the air for Piastri and Norris. Unless they both failed to secure top results in the next round, Verstappen might have to get comfortable with being number three for a while. 

McLaren continues to be well ahead of the other teams in the Constructors’ Championship at 319 points. Here’s where things get interesting: Mercedes is in second place at 147 points, Red Bull is in third at 143 points, and Ferrari is in fourth at 142 points. Williams remains in fifth place at 54 points. What will be interesting to watch next is not McLaren reasserting dominance, but the fight for second place: Mercedes vs. Red Bull vs. Ferrari. My prediction is that unless Yuki Tsunoda (who finished P17) can suddenly match Verstappen’s pace, this will be more of a battle between Mercedes and Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Let me remind you once again that this was only Round 8 of the 2025 season. We have six months to go until the dust settles and the winners are determined. In the meantime, we head to Spain. Vamos!