Lando Norris secured his first Monaco Grand Prix victory after surviving an early scare and withstanding a dramatic finish, though the race is likely to be remembered for controversial slow-driving strategies in the midfield.
Norris finished ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. This marks his first win since the season opener in Melbourne and puts him just three points behind Piastri in the drivers’ championship standings.
The triumph, however, was overshadowed by negative tactics employed by several teams. In an attempt to make the traditionally processional Monaco race more exciting, a new rule requiring two pit stops per driver was introduced. But instead of creating strategic variety, the change encouraged teams to deliberately slow one car to benefit another.
Teams like Racing Bulls and Williams used the tactic by having one driver significantly reduce their pace, allowing their teammate to pit and rejoin the race ahead of rivals. With overtaking nearly impossible on Monaco’s tight circuit, this method effectively controlled the pack’s pace.
Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson notably eased off early in the race to help teammate Isack Hadjar complete both stops and secure sixth place. Lawson, who finished eighth, later benefitted from Williams deploying the same strategy with drivers Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.
Although Sainz earned a point by finishing 10th, he expressed his frustration with the race’s tactical manipulation. “It is definitely something I don’t like to do and I don’t like seeing,” he told Sky Sports. “Lawson did it first… the only way for us to finish in the points was to do the same.”
Mercedes’ George Russell revealed that his team also considered the tactic but lacked the opportunity to implement it.
Former world champion Jenson Button acknowledged F1’s efforts to liven up the Monaco GP but criticized the unintended consequences of the new rule. “When teams were going six seconds a lap slower to back up the field, it looked ridiculous,” he said on Sky.
The impact was evident — only the top five finishers (Norris, Leclerc, Piastri, Max Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton) remained on the lead lap.
At the front, Norris nearly crashed on the first turn after locking up his tyres into Sainte-Devote, but he avoided the barrier and maintained his lead. In the post-race cooldown room, Piastri told him, “Mate, I thought you were in the wall hard at turn one. I saw smoke everywhere.”
Aside from that moment, Norris drove flawlessly to take the win. Verstappen led until the final lap while delaying his second stop in hopes of a late safety car, but was forced to pit, allowing Norris, Leclerc, and Piastri to close in for a close finish. Norris capped his win by setting the fastest lap on the final circuit.
Piastri now leads Norris by three points as they head into next weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
