Who were the winners and losers of the Monaco Grand Prix?

It's a track that divides opinion, but I for one absolutely love Monaco. The drama and importance of Saturday qualifying is simply unmatched on the calendar, and to say that this year's qualifying was epic would be an understatement. Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc, broke the tradition of Mercedes and Red Bull topping the timing sheets, before his late crash cost him his place in the race. From then on, it was Max Verstappen's to lose, and he most certainly didn't lose. 

Verstappen took victory, with Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris joining him on the podium, but who else impressed at Monaco, and who found the unforgiving nature of the track a beast too difficult to deal with?

Winner - Max Verstappen

We simply have to start with the Dutchman. Whilst he started in P2, it was effectively pole position for Verstappen following Leclerc's retirement, and he led from start to finish in a dominant display akin to the ones we've seen so often from his title challenger Lewis Hamilton.

But whilst Hamilton struggled, Verstappen finally found his groove around the principality.

Having never finished on the podium in Monaco, Verstappen broke his duck in the best way possible, taking home 25 points for his troubles and for the first time ever in his career, the championship lead.

After covering off Valtteri Bottas when the lights went green, Verstappen survived the early pressure from the Finn before effectively driving into the distance. Ferrari's Sainz briefly looked as though he could provide a problem once he closed the gap to within 3 seconds, but a battle never materialised.

Lap after lap, Verstappen never made a mistake and he looked every part the championship contender he is; with Hamilton struggling, the tables could well be turning.

It's a track that bites and it's bitten Verstappen before, but he looks assured in the car this year, and certainly more mature than in previous seasons. Could this finally be the year in which Hamilton is toppled? 

Winner - Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel's record at Aston Martin read like this before Monaco: 15th, 15th, 13th, and 13th. For a four-time world champion, that is not pretty, especially as Lance Stroll had scored five points to Vettel's zero.

Roll around to this weekend, and Vettel needed a big performance. And a big performance is what he pulled out the bag.

A P8 in qualifying represented a promising start and, together with the efforts of the strategists at Aston Martin, he managed to secure a fifth place finish.

After running behind Hamilton and Pierre Gasly for the opening stages, his strategy to stay out two laps longer than the Brit and one lap longer than the Frenchman paid off and he managed to leapfrog them both.

It was a masterstroke from Aston Martin, and with their decision-making ensuring that Lance Stroll jumped from P13 on the grid to P8, it was almost a perfect day for their strategists.

For Vettel, he moves into 11th place in the Drivers' Championship, and crucially ahead of teammate Stroll before the F1 circus goes to Baku in two weeks time.

Constructor Winner - Red Bull

It wasn't a perfect day for Red Bull, but by taking 37 points (to Mercedes' seven) and the race win, as well as the lead in both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championship, Sunday in Monaco went just as Christian Horner would've hoped.

Verstappen took victory as mentioned, and despite starting in P9, Sergio Perez managed to climb his way back up to P4, taking home 12 points in the process and ensuring that Bottas' misfortune and Hamilton's lack of speed were punished.

After qualifying Ferrari looked destined to take this prize, but Leclerc's issues meant they scored 18 points on a weekend that nearly 40 could've been possible, and it was Red Bull who took full advantage.

Perez still looks uneasy in the RB16B, and whilst he came home in fourth, it was a recovery drive rather than a comanding perfomance; he'll need to more if he is to challenge Bottas consistently this year.

But overall, Red Bull will take the positives, and the lead in both championships, to Baku.

Loser - Charles Leclerc

This man simply can't get any luck on his home track. After suffering DNF's in both his Formula 2 races in Monaco, and two DNF's in his two F1 races at the track, Leclerc had never finished his home race before this weekend.

With pole position secured, his crash at the end of Q3 put his race in danger, but after Ferrari confirmed he didn't need to change his gearbox everything looked on course for a successful race.

However, on the lap to the grid things came crumbling down for Leclerc. The issue seemed not with the gearbox, but with the left driveshaft and after initially thinking he'd start from the pit lane, rather than pole position, it was revealed that his car was simply unfixable and he was unable to race at all.

His Monaco curse continues, and in a race that looked as though it would promise his first race victory since Monza in 2019, it ended before it had even began.

With his teammate Sainz climbing onto the 2nd step of the podium, it's a case of what could've been for Leclerc.

Loser - Valtteri Bottas

Bottas' chance of gaining on his teammate in the championship ended in disaster, and through no fault of his own. Running in P2 for the entirety of his race, his podium and the potential of catching Verstappen was cruelly taken away from him when he pitted for fresh tyres.

Once he rolled into his pit box, Bottas' front right tyre simply wouldn't budge. The wheel nut wouldn't come off, meaning the wheel gun couldn't get the tyre off his car, and the Finn was forced to retire.

With Hamilton struggling and finishing down in P7, which would've been P8 had Bottas finished, it was the ideal chance for the Finn to make up ground in the championship. Instead he lost third place to Lando Norris, who could've featured in our winners section, and now sits in fourth, just three points ahead of Sergio Perez.

His inclusion as a loser has nothing to do with his drive around the streets of Monaco, but his DNF and subsequent points loss means he is in this section.

Constuctor Loser - Mercedes

No surprises here really. For the high standards the seven-time consecutive double world champions have set, it was quite frankly an awful Sunday.

After struggling in qualifying, in comparison to Ferrari and Red Bull, things went from bad to worse in the race. Hamilton simply couldn't pass Gasly, and Aston Martin's strategy ensured Vettel overcut him as mentioned earlier, a feat also achieved by Perez, whilst Bottas had the pit stop disaster.

They took home just seven points in a performance described as "really, really poor" by the reigning world champion Hamilton, and lost the lead in both championships to Red Bull and Verstappen.

Hamilton himself had an unusually poor weekend, and was fortunate to avoid our losers section by himself.

A total of five teams took home more points than Mercedes, and with another street circuit coming up, their troubles could continue.