Charles Leclerc wins most boring race in history for F1 fans, most nerve-wracking for Ferrari fans | Monaco GP review. The 2024 F1 Monaco Grand Prix turned into a tactical, nerve-wracking race.

The emotions, or rather the fears, were experienced on the first lap, before the red flag. Then the Monaco Grand Prix turned into a tactical, nerve-wracking race, where any mistake could be costly. Charles Leclerc was perfect: he started in the lead from pole position and, although always in sight of Oscar Piastri, never feared an attack. In the final laps, when the obsessive communications from the Ferrari pit wall ceased, he unleashed his right foot, easily pulling away from the McLaren. The Monegasque driver is a prophet in his own land, defeating any curse. He wins in Monaco, secures the sixth victory of his Formula 1 career, and ushers in a new era with a competitive Ferrari.

The liberating scream on the radio in his post-race team message and the subsequent tears of joy freed Charles. The Scuderia has found its champion who needed to break through and regain the confidence that pushes a star. The boats in the harbor sounded their horns, paying a long audible tribute to the winner. It was the most boring Monaco Grand Prix in history, but it was also the most nerve-wracking for Ferrari fans.

Ferrari’s success was completed by the excellent third place of Carlos Sainz behind the unshakable Oscar Piastri. In truth, the Spaniard tried to pull alongside Oscar Piastri’s McLaren at Saint Devote at the first start, as the Australian did not get off to a fast start, and he held tough on the outside: one of Oscar Piastri’s wheels touched the Spaniard’s Ferrari, causing a puncture to the left front tire. The Ferrari driver stopped outside the Casino after a lock-up. He restarted to return to the pits after the red flag was shown. Carlos got away with a flat tire, while Oscar Piastri suffered damage to the floor that the team tried to repair in the pits.

Thanks to the chaos at the back of the pack, Carlos Sainz was able to return to the pit lane and restart in his grid position thanks to the excellent work of the sporting director, Diego Ioverno, who convinced the FIA stewards. The Spaniard, avoiding further trouble, consolidated third place, keeping Lando Norris at bay, who finished off the podium with the second McLaren. Ferrari showed a sign of its maturity: it may seem strange, but the Scuderia is second in the Constructors’ Championship, 24 points behind Red Bull, while Charles Leclerc is second in the Drivers’ standings, 31 points behind Max Verstappen, who was forced to finish only in sixth place with the RB20.

McLaren won at Imola, Ferrari in the Principality. It is a changed Formula 1 that offers new emotions. Because even Oscar Piastri’s second place must be rightly honored: the young Australian was a bulldog until he brushed a wall and, rightly, eased off. It was strange to hear Monaco’s anthem at the end of the Monte Carlo race. It seemed like a historic day not just for Ferrari.

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George Russell finished fifth with the Mercedes equipped with the prototype wing. The Englishman was tactical: restarting on medium tires, he managed to find a race pace that allowed him to finish the race without a pit stop, while Max Verstappen, sixth, and Lewis Hamilton, seventh behind him, saw a window open to make a stop and switch to hard tires without losing positions. The two world champions competed for the fastest lap: Lewis won it with 1’14″165, the last driver on the lead lap.

Yuki Tsunoda also celebrates, finishing eighth with Racing Bulls, ahead of Alexander Albon with Williams and Pierre Gasly with Alpine. The Grove team leaves only Sauber with zero points in the Constructors’ standings. The other team that collected nothing but damage is Haas.

Kevin Magnussen, if there were any sporting justice, should not go to Canada. The Dane made yet another kamikaze maneuver of his career and triggered a nasty accident on the Massenet climb right after the start: Kevin, on the right side of the track, tried to go around the outside of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, brushed the barrier with his right rear. The result? The front left of the VF-24 touched the Mexican’s rear, sending him spinning and unable to avoid the other Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, which also spun. Checo was pushed into the barriers by Magnussen’s Haas. The Red Bull disintegrated against the barriers and came back onto the track, followed by Kevin Magnussen’s Haas, which collided with Nico Hulkenberg’s other VF-24. This bad accident, which was not investigated by the FIA, caused the red flag.

Charles Leclerc had a clear goal for this Sunday afternoon: putting an end to the bad luck and finally fulfilling a lifelong dream, that of winning with the red car in Monte Carlo once and for all.

Now let’s take a detailed look at how events unfolded for the Maranello team in Monaco:

The Ferrari drivers are in their cars. The concentration is extremely high and everything is meticulously taken care of. The tires chosen for the start are the yellow-banded Pirellis. A single burnout for the Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz as they line up on the starting grid. Sainz complains about the slowness of the formation lap. The Spaniard has an excellent clutch release, enough to pull alongside Piastri on the climb to the Casino. Unfortunately, there is a small contact between the two and the Spaniard’s left front tire is punctured. The Spaniard goes long in turn 4 and although he resumes in sixteenth position.

Meanwhile, a major accident unfolds at the back, involving Perez and the two Haas cars. The point is always the same: the straight leading to the Casino. Fortunately, despite the strong impact with the barriers, especially for Perez, everything is fine. Naturally, the red flag comes out, necessary to give the marshals time to clean up the track and restore initial conditions. According to sporting rules, having not completed the first lap, Carlos theoretically can reposition himself in the third slot without losing positions. Race control announces that the second start will be a standing one.

The cars are back on the grid and set off for the installation. Ferrari and McLaren mount the Hard tires, while the two Mercedes and Verstappen opt for the Medium to differentiate their strategy. This time the start goes smoothly. The front runners maintain their positions. On lap two, Bozzi reminds them of the “slow intro” to implement on the tires. Charles’s engineer refers to managing the compounds in the early laps of the stint to preserve the tire’s life. The first ten laps show the usual Monaco train, despite the possible use of DRS. Piastri tries to stay glued to the rear of car number 16.

Leclerc seems a bit bored. On the radio, the Monegasque asks for various information, including the state of the front saturation, which appears to be very good. Bozzi also asks him to push a bit more to create a gap on Russell. They discuss turn 5 again because in this bend the front-end temperature reaches the maximum allowed. Therefore, this factor must be managed carefully to avoid excessive tire wear. Carlos follows Piastri closely and realizes that his pace could be superior. He questions his engineer about this.

Adami confirms that Leclerc is managing the tires, which is confirmed two laps later by Bryan himself, as he opens on the radio and suggests tire management in turns 12 and 14. Moreover, he adds that traction in turn 4 should be gentler to avoid overstressing the tires. The race is as boring as expected. Sainz entertains himself by asking about the work plan Charles is implementing, which is explained to him in detail. The Monegasque also asks for an update on the Spaniard’s tires, which is essentially the same.

Bozzi informs them that the pit stop window should be built on Russell. The Ferrari driver asks for clarification because he didn’t understand if he needs to go faster to open the gap on the Mercedes driver. Bryan clarifies things and suggests the pace Leclerc should not drop below: 1.18.8. Considering that the race in Monte Carlo is all about strategy, we can mention an interesting theory from Piastri. The Australian believes Ferrari is not trying to open the delta on Norris because if the Englishman were to pit early, he wouldn’t be able to attempt the undercut on Sainz due to traffic from George.

More radio communication, Bozzi suggests different brake balances and simultaneously reminds about managing turn 5. The same goes for Sainz, where Adami reminds him not to overdo it with traction in the second sector. The Ferrari pit wall also reminds both drivers to be careful of micro lock-ups in turn 5. With 30 laps remaining in the Grand Prix, the lead positions do not change and the sleepy atmosphere continues to take over the spectators. It must be said that McLaren is starting to get restless. The team’s drivers are behind the two Ferraris and want to overtake them.

However, this operation does not seem possible. Additionally, Carlos Sainz has implemented the plan to slow down Norris and eliminate his chance to perform an undercut with an early pit stop. For this reason, 20 laps from the end, the Spaniard is almost six seconds behind his teammate. The strategy is valid and working. Adami reminds the Spaniard to maintain a five-second gap on Piastri. Meanwhile, McLaren is studying their strategy, hoping for a possible Safety Car, just as Leclerc starts to push, managing to open a significant gap on Piastri, while Sainz sticks to Oscar but cannot pass him.

With the race down to just 10 laps, then 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 until the checkered flag, Ferrari and Charles Leclerc finally triumph in Monaco. The dream comes true after several attempts because the red car made no mistakes. Carlos Sainz completes the podium, finishing third behind Oscar Piastri. The celebration begins for the Maranello team, a well-deserved party.