Lando Norris delivered a faultless performance on Sunday to take a hard-earned victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, turning pole position into his second win of the season — and slashing Oscar Piastri’s championship lead to just three points.
In a race dominated by tyre tactics and tight margins rather than overtakes, Norris kept his cool amid early pressure from Charles Leclerc and multiple Virtual Safety Car periods. Despite a hefty lock-up into Turn 1 and being briefly relegated down the order during pit cycles, the McLaren star executed the two-stop strategy to perfection and inherited the lead just one lap from the end.
Max Verstappen looked poised to steal the win after running an alternate, long-stint strategy that saw him hold track position deep into the race. But the Red Bull driver blinked too late — forced to pit for his mandatory second stop with just one tour to go, dropping him to fourth and off the podium entirely.
Leclerc, who had the Principality firmly behind him, pushed hard in the opening stages and again late in the race when Verstappen bunched the front-runners in a tactical gamble. But the Ferrari man couldn’t find a way past Norris or Piastri and had to settle for second place.
Piastri’s quiet but efficient drive ensured a third-place finish and enough points to retain his narrow championship lead — but only just.
Further back, Lewis Hamilton recovered to fifth after his qualifying penalty for impeding Verstappen left him with work to do. It was a relatively uneventful run for the seven-time champion, who found himself in no man’s land for most of the afternoon.
Rookie sensation Isack Hadjar once again impressed with a P6 finish in his Racing Bulls machine, comfortably ahead of Haas’ Esteban Ocon and team mate Liam Lawson. Williams capped off a superb weekend with both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz in the points, though it came at the expense of George Russell.
The Mercedes man was slapped with a drive-through penalty for a clumsy and illegal pass on Albon, ending a frustrating day that saw him fail to break into the top ten.
Haas’s Ollie Bearman made solid ground from his grid penalty, crossing the line 12th, with Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto behind him. Bortoleto had earlier bounced off the barriers at Portier after a clumsy skirmish with Kimi Antonelli, but recovered to finish just ahead of a trailing Lance Stroll.
Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the finishers, while Antonelli limped home last after a painfully late pit strategy from Mercedes. Fernando Alonso retired with engine issues, and Pierre Gasly exited after a coming-together with Tsunoda in the tunnel — the Alpine garage no doubt left with more questions than answers.
All eyes now turn to Canada, where the championship fight tightens and the psychological battle between McLaren’s star duo heats up even further.
