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Formula 1
Monaco GP
F1 Monaco GP Live Commentary and Updates – Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2024 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.
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Max Verstappen's streak of F1 pole positions ended at eight as Charles Leclerc secured his position at the front of the grid for his some grand prix on the Monaco streets.
Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris completed a Ferrari-McLaren lockout of the front two rows with George Russell fifth, ahead of Red Bull driver Verstappen. Both Haas drivers were disqualified from qualifying for a rear wing irregularity and will start from back.
The Monaco GP starts at 2:00pm BST (3:00pm local time).
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Stroll has closed in on Bottas, who remains stuck in the queue behind Alonso and Ricciardo. Can the soft tyres come to his aid again?
Verstappen is within DRS range of Russell, the fight for fifth is on.
All the leaders have upped their pace into the 1m16s as the fuel loads burn off, but, as a result, it is as you were between the front four.
Hamilton now sets the fastest lap as he trails Verstappen by around 7s. He was disgruntled upon seeing the Dutchman rejoin ahead following his own stop, asking "why didn't you tell me outlap was critical?"
"Mate, battery. No-one is watching it again," Verstappen complains over team radio. He wants to be armed with all tools to attack Russell, as he closes to within two seconds of him.
Pit stop
Sargeant was visibly squirming around on his ageing hards, with Zhou crawling all over the back of him. The American now pits from 15th for a set of mediums.
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"If Lando puts on a new medium then Charles is also in danger," Sainz tells Ferrari over team radio.
Into the final 20 laps and Sainz has dropped to 4.2s off Piastri as he focuses on keeping Norris behind him.
Stroll has put the soft tyre to use by passing Zhou and Sargeant, climbing to 14th. The moves were done in quick succession into the Chicane and on the exit of Ste Devote. Can he now hunt down Bottas?
Having spent the first portion of the race driving slowly to allow Stroll to pit ahead of him - before the Canadian hit the wall at the chicane - Alonso now has clear road between him and Gasly. Could the veteran Spaniard yet save the day for Aston Martin and close down the final point?
Verstappen is two seconds per lap faster than Russell so is flying up to the rear of Russell with 22 laps to go. Verstappen is 10.5s back and bringing Hamilton along for the ride.
Albon certainly hasn't given up in his quest to pressure Tsunoda into a mistake. The Williams man remains right on the tail of the RB driver in their battle for eighth, having both been lapped by the top four.
Norris closes right up to the rear of Sainz, who was stuck behind traffic, but he cannot find a way by.
It means Russell has lost the chance for a free stop without being undercut by Verstappen. Meanwhile, he has dropped to over 20s off Norris, so it could open the chance for the McLaren to stop.
We didn't catch how it happened, but Bottas found a way through on Zhou and now takes another place with a good move down the inside of Sargeant into Mirabeau. That's P13 now for the Finn.
Russell opts not to pit in reaction to Verstappen and Hamilton.
Pit stop
Verstappen pits in response to Hamilton's stop to protect his sixth place. What will Russell do from fifth?
Red Bull's pit crew looks set to respond for Verstappen.
Pit stop
Hamilton makes use of his 45s advantage over Tsunoda and comes in for hard tyres without losing a place.
Crash
Replays show Stroll clipped the wall with his left-rear entering the chicane, and it punctured almost instantly. A small error with major consequences has likely cost him any chance of points.
On go a set of softs as Stroll rejoins last. Sighs of relief all round at Alpine.
Pit stop
But Stroll isn't closing any more! He has a left-rear puncture and is crawling back to the pits.
Stroll has been lapped by the leaders after his stop, but is still closing on Gasly ahead. The gap is now 12s and reducing by the lap as he puts his fresh hards to use.
Leclerc and race engineer Bryan Bozzi have a light back and forth to stop the Monegasque from revealing his full potential pace and the margin he has to it.
Tsunoda is now 35s behind Hamilton and maintaining a consistent pace in the high 1m20s bracket. It begs the question of whether he is driving to a number RB believes will ensure he doesn't have to stop again and retains his current position, rather than eyeing a late challenge on Hamilton by keeping something in reserve.
What Leclerc is actually doing is trying to match Russell's lap time to keep the gap closed for a pitstop for the three drivers right behind him. The leader trying to copy the lap times of the driver in fifth. Yep.
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Ocon has had his say on the first lap crash on social media, and takes full blame.
Stroll returning ahead of the Alonso train wasn't the outcome Gasly wanted to see. It surely won't be long now before Stroll comes looming in his mirrors and we truly will have a fight on our hands for tenth spot.
Leclerc ups his pace to a high 1m17s before immediately returning to the low 1m18s. A car going faster, not in this race.
Stroll becomes the second driver to give up on the mediums they switched to under the safety car and returns to the hards. He rejoins without losing a spot, still ahead of Alonso in P11. Job well done by the Spaniard in opening up the gap for his team-mate.
Now the leaders have gone by, it's as you were in the battle for P12. Alonso is slightly off-line allowing Norris through in Casino Square, giving Ricciardo a sniff that the Aston Martin driver quickly closes off.
This delay in trying to lap the back of the field is closing the gap between Norris and Russell and therefore stopping that pitstop window from opening. Even by F1 standards, this is an odd race.
While nobody appears close to making a move, worthy of note is that Stroll has closed right in on Gasly, who remains tenth in the sole Alpine. Just half a second between the two medium-shod runners last time by.
More jeopardy, as Leclerc heads the leaders to lap the backmarkers, starting with Bottas, who is the rear of a five-car train led by Alonso.
Due to that pitstop window between Norris and Russell, Leclerc is told to drive slower by Ferrari to stop opening the gap. But Leclerc is worried of going too slow and suffering understeer as his tyres drop out of a performance window.
If the intention on Tsunoda's part was to start closing the gap that has built up to Hamilton, he's not doing much about it as the Mercedes remains 22s up the road on tyres that should be much less durable than the RB's.
As we approach mid-race distance (I know) Leclerc still leads Piastri by 1.3s, while the gap between Norris and Russell is 17.4s, but needs to be around 21s for that pitstop window to open for the top four.
Albon to his credit has not given up in his efforts to get through on Tsunoda. They were split by just 0.3s at the line last time by.
If you are into your tyre strategy talk, this is the race for you. Piastri is the latest on the act, hypothesising Sainz's gap to Russell with a pitstop window close to opening.
Tsunoda set his best lap of the race last time around. Has he decided that the gap to Hamilton, at 22s last time by, had got big enough and now is the time to up the pace?
By: Autosport Staff
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