The track shouldn’t do that.
The problem was a new area of asphalt that apparently was not in good condition and began to deteriorate under the car tires. First, we had a safety car when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin understeered into the barrier on lap 60, then a red flag, suspending the race, when he passed Leclerc’s Ferrari on lap 65. Leclerc blamed bad brakes in his car from the accident, but the fact that his left front wheel was covered in broken pieces of asphalt seems a more likely cause of his terminal understeer.
Since 2004, more than 70 percent of Monaco Grands Prix have been won from pole.
Credit: Luca Barsali/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Since 2004, more than 70 percent of Monaco Grands Prix have been won from pole.
Credit: Luca Barsali/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Once race organizers were satisfied that the problem would not worsen, the race resumed with another stopped start. It seems that Mercedes’ bad starts are a thing of the past; In Canada and now in Monaco, Antonelli has repeatedly gone off the line without losing positions, something that happened all too often during the first four Grands Prix of the year. Once again, he came out in clear air and finished the race 6.2 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who took his tenth podium in Monaco, equaling Ayrton Senna’s record.
Hamilton is also now second in the championship; George Russell sits in third place after finishing the points as a result of a penalty which saw him finish 12th. Russell was one of several drivers (including Hamilton) who received pit penalties for speeding in pit lane. The problem? Drivers take a slightly different line to the pit lane to avoid the Cadillac pit box.
While its cars did not exceed the 60 km/h limit in the pit lane, F1 uses timing loops integrated into the track and transponders in the cars to determine pit speeds and avoid the Cadillac box. created a shorter route that led to penalties for several drivers, some for as little as 0.1 km/h over the limit. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly probably felt more aggrieved: he had managed to overtake Lando Norris’s McLaren early in the race and was in third place at the end, before his penalty time demoted him to seventh place.
