Verstappen Takes Championship Lead With Monaco Win

Calum Gill 16:14 23/05/2021

Max Verstappen has taken the lead of the world championship for the first time following a lights-to-flag victory in the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Dutchman led away from effective pole after original polesitter Charles Leclerc encountered gearbox issues on his installation lap to the grid. The agony was clear for all to see, as the Ferrari driver lost his best chance yet of home glory. He is still yet to finish a Monaco Grand Prix in his career.

The race itself was a pretty stagnant affair, with little on track action to shout about. Valtteri Bottas failed to finish the race after trouble in the pitstop for him and Mercedes, where the front right wheel would not come off of car no. 77. Lewis Hamilton lost out massively in the pitstops, losing position to both Sergio Perez in the Red Bull and Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel.

Carlos Sainz took his first podium for Ferrari as McLaren's Lando Norris held off Perez to hold onto third place. Vettel was fifth, while Pierre Gasly drove a solid race to come home in 6th position, ahead of a frustrated Hamilton, who will certainly not be happy with some of Mercedes' strategic calls. Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin was 8th, with Alpine's Esteban Ocon 9th. Antonio Giovinazzi brought his Alfa-Romeo home in tenth to score his and the team's first points this season.

-Full weekend results

But Verstappen in his Red Bull was the star of the show as he now leads a single-seater championship for the first time.

Max Verstappen leads the pack away on lap 1 of the Monaco Grand Prix. 

Verstappen was disappointed to miss out on pole position on Saturday, feeling he was on target to beat Leclerc's time on his final lap before the Ferrari driver crashed and brought the session to an end. Ferrari inspected Leclerc's car after the accident and again on Sunday morning and came to the conclusion that they did not need to change the gearbox, which meant he left the pits expecting to take up his place at the front of the grid for his home race.

But in the tunnel on his way to the grid, Leclerc came on the radio to say he was having gearbox problems. He pulled into the pits and before long Ferrari had concluded they could not repair the car, saying that they had discovered a problem with the driveshaft.

His retirement gave Verstappen a clear run into the first corner and, after fending off an attack from Bottas off the grid, the Red Bull driver moved into a lead he was never to lose.

Further down the field

Kimi Raikkonen finished just behind teammate Giovinazzi in 11th, while Daniel Ricciardo was 12th in the other McLaren. Fernando Alonso in the Alpine recovered well to come home 13th after starting 17th, with George Russell 14th in the Williams, and his teammate Nicholas Latifi in 15th position. AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda had yet another pointless race; he has not scored points since the opener in Bahrain. The two Haas cars brought up the rear, with Nikita Mazepin finishing ahead of Mick Schumacher.

2021 Monaco Grand Prix Full Classification