The new rules change did not liven up the race, but the first Monaco Grand Prix winner created the Statement F1 Drive.
Although ultimately determined by team tactics, traffic and overtaking, some Gambles were unable to drop out in a slightly more interesting race than they did 12 months ago.
The biggest winners and losers of Monte Carlo are:
Winner – Randorris
Rand Norris remained calm, calm and assembled despite the potential dangers surrounding the forced two-stop rule and slow pressure from home hero Charles Leclair to secure his first victory on the streets of Monaco.
This was a very important weekend for Norris. In the second event, teammate Oscar Piastri was able to eat more to McLaren’s teammate’s championship lead.
Importantly, for Norris, Piastri’s recent momentum streak has halted. The second victory of the season would not have come at a better time for Norris, who could answer his critics and bring back his advantages in the title race next weekend with repeated results at Barcelona.
Rand Norris
Loser – Mercedes
For Mercedes, it’s a rare and extremely frustrating weekend.
Mercedes’ Grand Prix was effectively ruined by the disastrous qualifying results in George Russell and Kimian Toneli in 14th and 15th place on the grid, making the Silver Arrows strategy a case of staying wherever possible.
Mercedes had little to lose in the end, considering both drivers started out outside the point. So, by chance, it means throwing everything in red, hoping for a safety car or a red flag with timing, but neither of them came.
Winner – Ferrari
Ferrari would have been taking P2 and P5 in Monaco before the action began.
However, Leclerc appeared as a beat-beat-beat guy until the final lap of qualifying, and did his best to try his second straight win on his home street. He might, it wasn’t, it wasn’t, Monegasque is frustrated that he has to settle for the second.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was one of the few drivers to help Ferrari get a solid point distance by undercutting Fernando Alonso and jumping over Isaac Hajar during a pit stop and jumping Isaac Hajar at the fifth pit stop.
Leclerc celebrates the home podium
Loser – Oscar Piastri
Over the past two weeks, Piastri saw his championship lead fall from 16 to 3 points after a succession of defeats with McLaren’s teammate Norris.
Piastri will be disappointed that he wasted important points in third place with a car that can both pole and win. The Australian had some characteristically crude moments that he would like to put behind him immediately throughout the weekend.
It is appealing to see how Piastri reacts in Barcelona to prevent this mini’s retreat from getting bigger.
Winner – Racing Bulls
Another great weekend for Hajar, and a pretty great weekend for teammates Liam Lawson and all the Racing Bulls teams.
The French youth Hadger continues to shine in his rookie Formula 1 season with his best notch on his impressive drive of taking P6 so far.
At double points, the Racing Bulls jump ahead of Aston Martin to jump to 7th place in the Constructors Championship.
Loser – Fernando Alonso
Alonso must be wondering when his luck will change.
After the great qualifiers that started the P6 left him (thanks to Hamilton’s grid penalty), the two-time world champion looked destined to score his first point in 2025 on a track that is nearly impossible to pass.
Despite losing ground to Hamilton after the first round of pit stops, Alonso had a good look at the top 10 finish on the course.
The self-titled “The Unlucky Driver of Formula 1” certainly lives on it now.
Fernando Alonso
Winner – Esteban Ocon
It was a great weekend on the Asteban Ocon side of Haas Garage.
The Frenchman changed his Q3 look to a seventh place finish, overcoming his rookie teammates comprehensively in both qualifying and racing.
The six points earned guaranteed Haas would outperform the Race Bulls in P6 in the Constructors Championship, but Ocon currently has 20 points (14 more than Oliver Bearman), making him ninth in the driver’s ranking.
Loser – Horned Yuki
It was a pair of bruising weekends with few signs of progress from Yuki Tsunoda in Red Bull.
Japanese racers were always scheduled to have a tough afternoon after failing to reach the third quarter in Monte Carlo’s extremely important qualifying round.
Tsunoda finished the last of the four Red Bull drivers, but it certainly under pressure if this kind of inactive performance continues in the upcoming round.
Winner – Williams
Williams got both cars at the point of the fourth race
It wasn’t pretty, but Williams’ strategy worked perfectly for the British team as Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz took turns backing up Russell and Antonelli Mercedes, securing the team’s fourth straight double-point finish in the ninth and 10th place.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolf revealed that after the race Williams’ counterpart James Vols apologised for his team’s tactics, but Williams was pleased with the outcome.
Loser – Pierre Guthry
A truly miserable Monaco Grand Prix weekend for Alpine and Pierre Guthrie. The race lasted just nine laps before retreating the tsunami Red Bull after a horrific braking issue at Nouvel Chicane.
Pierre Guthry
