Lando Norris Wins Monaco Grand Prix
McLaren’s Lando Norris celebrated a fantastic win at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, May 25. Starting from pole position, he converted that advantage into his second victory of the season, narrowing the gap to championship leader Oscar Piastri to just three points.
The narrow streets of Monte Carlo presented challenges for overtaking, but Norris delivered a strong performance. He fended off challenges from teammate Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, marking McLaren’s first Monaco win since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
“This is what I dreamed of as a kid. I’ve achieved one of my dreams,” Norris remarked, having led most of the race which included two required pit stops.
Leclerc finished in second place in front of his home crowd, with Piastri coming in third and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in fourth, all finishing in the same order as they started.
Although the new two-stop tire rule added some strategy to the race, it didn’t significantly alter the usual finishing order. Verstappen waited until the second to last lap for his final pit stop, hoping for a safety car that didn’t materialize.
“Very exciting. I was on the edge of my seat every lap,” Verstappen said with a hint of sarcasm. “Maybe next year I should do four stops. I could have done four stops today and still finished fourth.”
Norris did experience a brief lock-up at the race’s start but maintained his composure throughout. As he crossed the finish line, he cheered over the team radio, “Monaco baby!”
This victory, his second of the 2025 season after winning in Australia, is another significant achievement for Norris and strengthens McLaren’s position in the constructors’ standings, increasing their lead over Mercedes to 172 points, with Red Bull four points behind.
Tough Day for Mercedes
Mercedes faced another difficult race. George Russell received a drive-through penalty and finished in 11th place, while rookie Kimi Antonelli struggled, ending in 18th as the last classified finisher. “Ultimately, qualifying 14th and 15th, there was nothing you could do,” Russell said.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton managed to secure fifth place, gaining two spots after a penalty in qualifying. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar finished sixth, followed by Haas’s Esteban Ocon in seventh, and Liam Lawson scored his first points of the season in eighth for Racing Bulls. Williams wrapped up the top 10 with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz.
Race Highlights
The race had very few overtakes. A virtual safety car was deployed on the first lap when Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto hit the tire wall at Portier but returned without serious damage. Antonelli’s pass on Bortoleto, likely the only clean overtake of the day, stood out, alongside Russell’s penalty-inducing move on Albon.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly had to retire early after colliding with Yuki Tsunoda at the exit of the tunnel, blaming brake failure for the crash. He narrowly avoided his teammate Franco Colapinto while limping to the pits. Later, Fernando Alonso also had to retire on lap 38 with a smoking Aston Martin, extending a frustrating scoreless streak.
Published By: Kingshuk Kusari
Published On: May 26, 2025
