Monaco GP: Leclerc cruises to dream home win
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc made a boyhood dream come true on Sunday, becoming the first home winner of Formula One's Monaco Grand Prix since Louis Chiron in 1931.
It was also the 26-year-old's first podium appearance in Monaco in six attempts, following two standing starts from pole position in a race that was halted when a fifth of the field was eliminated on the first lap.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished second, 7.1 seconds back after 78 laps without a chance to overtake on a street circuit that frequently produces processional races, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz third.
"It means a lot," said Leclerc, who screamed over the radio as he took a chequered flag waved by France football forward Kylian Mbappe in front of a raucous crowd and Prince Albert gave a royal thumbs up.
"It's the race that made me dream of becoming a Formula One driver one day."
Max Verstappen, Red Bull's championship leader and 2023 Monaco winner, started and finished sixth, the triple world champion's third loss in eight races this season.
Lando Norris of McLaren finished fourth, with Mercedes' George Russell finishing fifth.
Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, finished seventh with a bonus point for fastest lap, and Yuki Tsunoda eighth for Red Bull-owned RB.
Alex Albon scored Williams' first points of the season in ninth place, and Pierre Gasly took the final one for Alpine despite a first-lap collision with teammate Esteban Ocon, whose race was ended immediately.
Leclerc's lights-to-flag victory, his first since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, reduced Verstappen's championship lead to 31 points from 48.
Ferrari are now just 24 points behind Red Bull in the constructors' standings.
Leclerc had previously started from pole in Monaco in 2021 and 2022, but failed to convert his massive advantage into a top-three finish on the metal-fenced streets he had grown up on.
On a bright and sunny afternoon, with the weight of expectation heavier than ever, he finally got to live his dream, as Ferrari won only its third race in the Mediterranean principality this century.
"Tonight is going to be a big night," he told his team on the cooling-down lap.
"No words can explain that," he added later, before Prince Albert joined in the podium celebrations by spraying his own bottle of fizz.
"It's such a difficult race; I think the fact twice I've been starting on pole position and we couldn't quite make it makes it even better in a way."
The red flags that appeared following a massive crash involving Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Haas tail-enders Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen caused a delay as fences were repaired and debris was cleared.
The stoppage allowed teams to change tyres, eliminating the need for additional pitstops that could have disrupted the order, and also saved Sainz.
The Spaniard had run wide and stopped in Casino Square after colliding with Piastri, resulting in a puncture, but he was able to return to the pits and restart in third place.
"It was a tight one and a very bad feeling in lap one which very quickly turned into a really good feeling after getting reinstated in P3," he said.
"I'm incredibly happy to see Charles win on his home Grand Prix," he added. "To be able to share this podium with him in P3 is great for the whole team, and it feels like we're getting stronger and stronger."
When the race resumed, Leclerc deliberately slowed the field to save his tyres and prevent a large gap from opening up behind him which would have allowed rivals to pit for fresh and faster rubber.
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