Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Thank goodness.
George Russell has pitted and has come out ahead of Isack Hadjar. It’s worth keeping a close eye on Ferrari’s strategy over the next few laps.
With Hamilton’s five-second penalty – the Italian team may choose to switch with Leclerc, to give the Monagasque a chance of chasing the Mercedes.
We have just reached lap 30/78 and Oscar Piastri is still stuck in sixth, having climbed one place.
With George Russell stuck behind the Red Bull, Piastri has a chance to capitalise on Mercedes’ handicapped pace.
However, the papaya team appear to be struggling with pace themselves.
Ferrari pitted Lewis Hamilton earlier and placed the seven-time world champion on hard tyres.
Update: We’ve just heard Lewis Hamilton has been given a five-second penalty for speeding in the pits. This could hugely influence the podium standings. Hewill need to finish five seconds ahead of his teammate to keep second place.
Isack Hadjar is still in fourth, with a beamoaning Russell still stuck in fifth behind him. The Red Bull driver appears to be having issues with his engine and worries with power.
He manages to fend off an overtake attempt by Russell and maintain his place. But Russell will be getting restless and another overtake will surely come soon.
George Russell is currently stuck behind the last remaining Red Bull car on track – Isack Hadjar.
Now I know what you’re thinking. That Mercedes car is wayyyyyy faster than the Red Bull right? Correct, but Monaco’s street circuit is so tight and narrow, overtaking is near impossible.
It means drivers can be stuck behind cars for an extended period of time.
As F1 commentators point out, that’s the way Monaco has always been. However, it can make it a frustrating experience for drivers and a tad dull for fans.
We are not even halfway through the season, but if you were Kimi Antonelli, you’d be feeling pretty chuffed on your championship prospects.
Antonelli leads the drivers’ championship by 43 points. His closest rival and competitor is his own teammate George Russell. The British driver has suffered a few mishaps earlier in the season and is currently racing in fifth place in Monaco, stuck behind Red Bull’s Hadjar.
It’s Lap 12 and Antonelli has built a healthy 4.5ish second lead to Lewis Hamilton in second place, with Charles Leclerc in third.
Aussie Oscar Piastri has climbed one place but is still stuck in sixth. Mercedes driver George Russell is in fifth and has a very healthy lead.
As I mentioned before, overtaking is very tricky in Monaco, so it’s unlikely we will see much movement during those tight turns.
The race is also the shortest circuit on the calendar.
One of my favourite parts of watching an F1 race is listening to snippets of the driver’s radio.
For example, we just heard that Lando Norris basically dobbed George Russell in for a potential false start, notifying his race mechanics that Russell appeared to be out of his grid box.
We also just heard a snippet from Max Verstappen’s radio after his car stalled. I can’t repeat it here but it contained a lot of words starting with the letter ‘f’.
Max Verstappen is no longer in this race. After qualifying on the front row and hoping to steal Kimi Antonelli’s thunder, the Dutchman will settle for zero points.
He headed straight to the pits and the mechanics retired the car. This is Verstappen’s eighth retirement in his entire career.
Meanwhile, after a strong start,Kimi Antonelli leads the race with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc behind.
George Russell is fifth and Oscar Piastri is up to sixth.
Lights out and we are racing!
Oh dear. Max Verstapen has not moved. He has completely stalled and is stationary as F1 cars speed past him. The Red Bull champion looked like he was having some issues during the formation lap.
After a few seconds, Verstappen manages to start the car, but he has plummeted to last place.
McLaren are showcasing special livery today, to celebrate their 1,000th grand prix.
