If you ever needed proof that Formula 1 is less a sport and more a high-stakes casino, look no further than the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix. The Principality, with its yachts, diamonds, and the faint whiff of burnt clutch, once again reminded us that in Monte Carlo, the house always wins—and sometimes, just sometimes, so do the drivers. But for every champagne-soaked hero, there’s a paddock full of losers nursing their wounds and wondering how Lady Luck managed to slip through their carbon-fibre fingers. Let’s deal the cards and see who hit the jackpot, and who left the table empty-handed.
Lando Norris: The Man Who Broke the Bank
There are wins, and then there are Monaco wins. For Lando Norris, this was the one he’d been waiting for—a lights-to-flag masterclass that finally silenced the doubters and, perhaps more importantly, his own inner critic. The McLaren driver, who’d spent the early part of the season in the shadow of his teammate Oscar Piastri, delivered a performance that was as precise as a roulette wheel and twice as nerve-wracking.
Norris started from pole, survived a lock-up into Ste Devote, and then managed the race with the cool detachment of a croupier dealing cards to millionaires. The new two-stop rule, designed to inject chaos into the procession, did little to faze him. He kept Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari at bay, even as the Monegasque closed in during the final laps, and crossed the line just over three seconds clear.
Lando Norris stayed cool, calm and collected despite the potential jeopardy surrounding the mandatory two-stop rule, and late pressure from home hero Charles Leclerc, to secure a first win on the streets on Monaco. This was a hugely important weekend for Norris.
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For Norris, this was not just another victory. It was his first at Monaco, a circuit where he’d previously managed a best of third (2021), and only his fifth career win. But more than that, it was a statement: the title fight with Piastri is back on, with just three points separating the McLaren duo as they head to Barcelona.
Watch a sharp recap here: The Winners And Losers From The 2025 F1 Monaco Grand Prix (YouTube)
Charles Leclerc: The Prince Without a Crown
If ever there was a man destined to win Monaco, it’s Charles Leclerc. The local boy, the Ferrari star, the man who finally broke the home curse in 2024. And yet, for the second year running, Leclerc found himself playing bridesmaid on the streets he knows better than his own living room.
Leclerc’s qualifying was a masterclass—until it wasn’t. Pipped to pole by Norris by a tenth, he was left to rue what might have been. In the race, he did everything right: kept Norris honest, managed his tyres, and pushed when it mattered. But Monaco is a track where opportunity is measured in millimetres, and Leclerc found none.
Charles Leclerc was frustrated after missing out on the all-deciding pole by a tenth, which meant his best chance of repeating last year’s fairytale home win evaporated. But truth be told, Leclerc deserves all the credit for splitting the McLarens to begin with, showing once again what a formidable qualifier he really is.
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Second place at home is a fine result for most. For Leclerc, it’s another chapter in a love affair with Monaco that seems destined to end in heartbreak more often than not. Still, Ferrari’s haul of second and fifth (thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s undercut and grid penalty) was their best of the season—a rare weekend in the sun for the Scuderia.
Oscar Piastri: The Streak Ends
Momentum is a fickle mistress. Oscar Piastri arrived in Monaco with three consecutive wins and the air of a man who’d forgotten how to lose. But the streets of Monte Carlo have a way of humbling even the most confident, and Piastri found himself outqualified and outpaced by Norris when it mattered most.
A slow pit stop scuppered any hopes of an undercut, and while third place is hardly a disaster, it marks the end of his winning streak and a narrowing of his championship lead to just three points. The Australian will need to regroup quickly if he wants to prevent this blip from becoming a trend.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull: Snake Eyes Again
For a team that has dominated the hybrid era, Red Bull’s relationship with Monaco remains complicated. Max Verstappen, twice a winner here (2021, 2023), arrived with hopes of closing the gap to the McLarens. Instead, he found himself seven tenths off pole and resigned to a lonely fourth.
Red Bull’s Achilles’ heel—kerbs and bumps—was once again exposed, and not even Verstappen’s late pit stop gamble could conjure a miracle. Fourth was, in truth, a decent salvage job. For Yuki Tsunoda, it was another weekend to forget: a qualifying crash, an outdated floor, and a finish well adrift of his teammate.
Red Bull’s weakness over kerbs and bumps, which Verstappen lamented at last year’s Monaco Grand Prix, still hasn’t been addressed. This meant even Verstappen couldn’t do better than qualifying seven tenths off polesitter Norris, while team-mate Yuki Tsunoda missed the cut to Q3.
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Mercedes: The Wheels Come Off
If you’re looking for a cautionary tale, look no further than Mercedes. Once the kings of Monaco, the Silver Arrows endured a weekend that was disastrous even by their recent standards. Qualifying saw George Russell and rookie Kimi Antonelli marooned in 14th and 15th, thanks to an electrical failure and a crash, respectively.
The race strategy—delaying mandatory pit stops in the hope of a late safety car—was less “masterstroke” and more “desperate roll of the dice.” Russell’s frustration boiled over as he cut the chicane to pass Alex Albon, earning a drive-through penalty for his troubles. Antonelli, meanwhile, finished a distant 18th.
Mercedes’ weekend was really over after qualifying, when Antonelli crashed in Q1 and Russell suffered an electrical issue in Q2. From 14th and 15th on the grid they were going nowhere.
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For a team with five Monaco wins in the modern era, this was a humbling reminder that the house doesn’t always play fair.
Racing Bulls: The Art of the Block
In a race where overtaking is a myth and strategy is everything, Racing Bulls played their cards to perfection. Isack Hadjar, in his first Monaco Grand Prix, finished a remarkable sixth—thanks in no small part to teammate Liam Lawson’s selfless road-blocking, which allowed Hadjar to pit without losing track position.
Lawson himself bagged eighth, and the double points haul vaulted Racing Bulls ahead of Aston Martin in the constructors’ standings. For Hadjar, it was a debut to remember: scoring points at Monaco as a rookie is a feat matched by only a handful of drivers in history.
Given he qualified and finished sixth, you wouldn’t have known this was Hadjar’s first time at Monaco in an F1 car. Hadjar benefitted from the aforementioned, superbly crafty Racing Bulls strategy, but he got himself there in the first place with a stellar qualifying effort.
The Race
Fernando Alonso: The Curse Continues
If Charles Leclerc is Monaco’s tragic hero, Fernando Alonso is its perennial victim. The two-time world champion delivered a superb qualifying performance, outpacing his teammate and looking set for his first points of the season. But fate, as ever, had other ideas. A suspected power unit failure consigned Alonso to retirement, and the “unluckiest driver in Formula 1” lived up to his billing.
The fact this season is going worse in terms of results than Alonso’s awful 2015 start with McLaren-Honda is almost beyond a joke considering how well he’s driven this past fortnight in an upgraded Aston Martin that finally looks like a car that has the pace to fight for half-decent results.
The Race
Williams: Points by Any Means Necessary
Williams may not have the fastest car, but they do have a knack for strategy. Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz finished ninth and tenth, respectively, thanks to a clever use of team tactics—backing up the Mercedes pair and ensuring a fourth consecutive double-points finish. It wasn’t pretty, but in Monaco, style points are for the casino.
The Table: 2025 Monaco Grand Prix Results
PositionDriverTeamTime/Gap
1 – Lando Norris | McLaren | 78 laps
2 – Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +3.131s
3 – Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +3.658s
4 – Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +20.572s
5 – Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +51.387s
6 – Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | -1 lap
7 – Esteban Ocon | Haas | -1 lap
8 – Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | -1 lap
9 – Alex Albon | Williams | -2 laps
10 – Carlos Sainz | Williams | -2 laps
11 – George Russell | Mercedes | -2 laps
12 – Oliver Bearman | Haas | -2 laps
13 – Franco Colapinto | Alpine | -2 laps
14 – Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | -2 laps
15 – Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | -2 laps
16 – Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | -2 laps
17 – Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull |-2 laps
18 – Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | -2 laps
19 – Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | Retired
20 – Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Retired
Source: PlanetF1 – Official F1 results 2025 Monaco Grand Prix
History Repeats Itself: Monaco’s Relentless Meritocracy
If you came to Monaco expecting chaos from the new two-stop rule, you left disappointed. The race, like so many before it, was decided on Saturday. Pole position remains the golden ticket, and Norris cashed it in with ruthless efficiency. The midfield, meanwhile, descended into a tactical traffic jam, with teams using every trick in the book to protect their positions.
It’s a pattern as old as the hills—or at least as old as the first time someone tried to overtake at Portier and ended up in the barriers. Monaco rewards precision, patience, and a healthy dose of luck. For every Norris, there’s a Russell or an Alonso left wondering what might have been.
Waste a Bit More Time
If you’re still hungry for more Monaco drama, here’s where to get your fix:
