Charles Leclerc took victory around the streets of Monaco on Sunday, from Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz Jr, allowing Scuderia Ferrari to close the gap at the top of the constructors standings to Oracle Red Bull Racing.
It was a day of mixed fortunes for many, with seven of the ten teams scoring points around the Principality. Pierre Gasly scored his first points of the season, as did Williams Racing with Alex Albon ending the day in ninth, just behind the Visa Cash App RB of Yuki Tsunoda.
Read what the team principals had to say after the race, including Fred Vasseur and Christian Horner:
Fred Vasseur — Team Principal — Scuderia Ferrari HP
“It was the perfect weekend and one to remember for Charles, having had a couple of tough races in the past here in Monaco. He was flying from lap 1 in FP1 and he did the perfect job. The race itself was a bit strange because after the red flag, we had to manage 77 laps on the same set of tyres.
“He was always in control of the situation and a couple of times, he asked us if he could push more, but we couldn’t give him green light. Carlos also drove a very solid race and played an important part in this win, helping us control the gaps behind, doing a fantastic job for the team.
“At the moment, we are all pushing very hard, there is a very good dynamic in the whole team with everyone working in the right direction. We mustn’t get carried away, we have to stay focused, but this win is a huge motivation for everyone, at the track and also of course at the factory where everyone has done a great job.
“This was a very special day, you could see the emotion from all the team members around the podium. Now we must already think about doing a good job again, a better one even, in Canada.”
Andrea Stella — Team Principal — McLaren F1 Team
“Hats off to Ferrari and Charles Leclerc, they’ve been quick all weekend and deserved the victory. For us, well done to the entire team for delivering a fast car, and to the trackside team, for being always on the ball, managing some intense operational moments this weekend – from clearing Lando’s car of debris during Qualifying, to dealing with a difficult Red Flag situation today.
“It’s an important result here in Monaco, with Oscar scoring an impressive podium and Lando right behind on a circuit that we weren’t certain would suit our car. It’s a lot of points – but also evidence that we can be regular contenders for the podium. We look at the coming races with optimism.”
Toto Wolff – Team Principal and CEO – Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
“Overall, we’ve had a positive weekend. We were much closer than we have been in Qualifying so far this year and showed good pace throughout the race. That was despite the first lap red flag which took away many of our strategy options.
“We opted to switch to the Medium compound tyres under that red flag and both George and Lewis did a good job to manage them throughout. Lewis didn’t need to make a stop, but we were able to box him and secure the point for fastest lap.
“The trajectory is going in the right direction. We’ve understood where we need to improve the balance car and we’re bringing updates to enhance that. We know there will be ups and downs depending on the circuits we go to but overall, I am happy with the development direction. Let’s see how we perform in Canada.”
Christian Horner – Team Principal and CEO – Oracle Red Bull Racing
“I would say it was a difficult weekend and Monaco is always dictated by qualifying performance, so we faced many challenges going into today. A big congratulations to Charles on his home win, but for us our car never performed at its best here and we need to understand the issues we had on the bumps and kerbs.
“Very disappointed by the crash on lap one, and I think Magnussen should have given more space. Not only did he damage his car, he also took out our car, but thankfully Checo stepped away from it unhurt, which is the most important thing. We have a lot of data to analyse from this weekend and we’ll be looking at everything hard over the next couple of weeks before Canada.”
Laurent Mekies – Team Principal – Visa Cash App RB
“Firstly, congratulations to Charles Leclerc and to Scuderia Ferrari for Charles’ home race win. He has been deserving it for a long time and he has certainly made a few people happy today!
“During today’s race, the tension was evident in the many strategic games of cat and mouse throughout the order. Drivers and engineers did an excellent job through the 78 laps in terms of what pace to run to manage the tyres. It was always going to be a tricky Saturday and a tricky Sunday around Monaco, and the team executed very strongly.
“Yuki is really in great form, once again putting us at the front of the midfield on the grid and then sticking to the strategy to bring home some more very valuable championship points.
“In what was a completely linear race, with nothing changing after the second start, it was always going to be virtually impossible for Daniel to join his team-mate in the points. We still have some work to do to help him deliver the performances of which we know he is capable, so we are looking forward to getting to Canada, the scene of his very first Grand Prix win ten years ago.
“Finally, a big thank you to everyone in Faenza and Bicester. The good string of results we have pocketed in the last few races is the result of their hard work, and it gives us the will to push even harder for the races to come.”
Sven Smeets – Sporting Director – Williams Racing
“Scoring your first points of the season is always a great feeling, so we’re happy to take P9. Being in Monaco, the foundations for those points were laid yesterday in Qualifying, so it’s great that we had a car which could deliver across the entire weekend for Alex.
“Today was a bit of a strange race after the Red Flag restart with most cars trying to go to the end. Alex managed his Hard tyres well as it was key not to grain the front tyres and keep them in the right window.
“Logan’s race was more difficult as he spent most of the time in traffic but once in clean air, he showed some great pace. We’re looking forward to Canada as we had a great race there last year and should be bringing some weight-saving parts.”
Bruno Famin – Team Principal – BWT Alpine F1 Team
“Today’s result was largely defined by yesterday’s Qualifying and, as a team, one point is how it has ended up. It’s a bittersweet feeling. We probably did not maximise yesterday’s Qualifying but from where we ended Friday to where we have ended Sunday is clearly a positive outcome.
“As a team we will review and manage the incident between both cars behind closed doors. We must avoid situations that have the potential to compromise the team.”
Mike Krack – Team Principal – Aston Martin Armaco F1 Team
“After the red flag on the opening lap there were limited strategy options available today. Starting on the Hard tyres, we switched both cars to the Medium tyres in the hope we could go to the end of the race.
“Lance had a gap over Gasly so we took the opportunity to fit some Hard tyres to compete for the final point. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. Fernando managed his tyres well, but we finished just outside the top ten.
“It’s been another tough day, compromised by qualifying outside of the points scoring positions on Saturday. Now is the time to regroup as a team, focus on improvements and come back stronger in Canada.”
Alessandro Alunni Bravi – Team Representative – Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber
“Today was a processionary race with a red flag after lap one, where all drivers except Sargeant decided to change their tyres – ultimately resulting in no more pit stops being expected. We tried our best to allow our drivers to attack the cars in front of them, but at a track like Monaco, where overtaking possibilities are close to zero, positions for most of the field were locked in.
“We tried a different strategy with Valtteri, who drove an aggressive race, as we pitted him on lap 15 from the medium compound to hard tyres, which allowed him to have a strong pace and overtake Sargeant to secure P13 – the maximum for today. Zhou experienced a more difficult race: he was stuck behind Sargeant until we decided to have him swap position with Valtteri.
“During the last segment of the race, he lost his position to the Williams under blue flags, before we pitted him onto the soft compound in case of a late Safety Car that didn’t happen. On a positive note: all three of our pit-stops today have been our fastest during the entire season so far.
“They were fast and consistent – something important as it shows that we can react and improve. Our most important target for the upcoming races is to improve in each and every area to bring us back into the fight for points.”
Ayao Komatsu — Team Principal — Haas F1 Team
“Starting from P19 and P20, we had an alternative strategy plan to try to get something out of it, but unfortunately our race ended on lap one. It’s been a Sunday to forget and we just have to learn from this weekend and move on, and get a good result in Canada.”
