Today's Monaco Grand Prix ended up as a pretty dull procession. Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc took pole position at his home race, with championship leader Max Verstappen only able to qualify sixth. Max's team mate, Sergio Perez, was knocked out in the first qualifying session, but started in 16th after the two Haas cars were moved to the back of the grid due to a technical penalty.
The two Haas cars and the Red Bull of Perez were all involved in a crash on the first lap which brought out a red flag. Alpine's Esteban Ocon was also out on the first lap after a collision with his team mate, Pierre Gasly.
Since the red flag allowed all the teams to make their mandatory tire change, most of the race was just about tire management as none of the leaders needed to build a gap for a pit stop. Further down the field there were a few gaps and pit stops, but for the first time I can remember, the top ten finished in the same order they started. Charles Leclerc won his first Monaco Grand Prix for Ferrari with his team mate Carlos Sainz Jr in third. Splitting them was McLaren's Oscar Piastri in second. Off of the podium were McLaren's Lando Norris in fourth, Mercedes' George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in fifth and seventh, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in sixth.
Carlos Sainz Jr was probably the luckiest driver after a small coming together at the start took him out with a puncture on the first lap, but he was allowed to take the restart in third (his original starting position).
Monaco is a unique track on the F1 calendar with its tight, historic street circuit, but pit stops, crashes and weather usually give us a more exiting race. Let's hope that the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks will give us more entertainment and maybe even another different winner.
You can watch the highlights here.