Battle for Bronze: Who’s on top after the Monaco Grand Prix?

The race weekend in Monaco was full of surprises and the race results had a major impact on the way both standings finished. Red Bull and Max Verstappen took advantage of Lewis Hamilton’s struggles and secured the victory at the street circuit, moving the Dutchman into the lead in the Drivers’ Standings for the first time in his career. Sergio Perez’s fourth-place finish also moved Red Bull into the Constructors’ Championship lead. However, the midfield battle that’s been on show all season was intensified once more once the race was concluded.

McLaren were on top after the Spanish GP but had Ferrari in hot pursuit, holding only a five-point lead over their Italian rivals heading into the weekend. Alpine’s strong showing in Portimao was nowhere to be seen in Barcelona and AlphaTauri were relying on Pierre Gasly to score the only points as Yuki Tsunoda’s rookie struggles continued to be amplified. Aston Martin had a torrid weekend as both drivers finished outside the top 10.

As our weekend in Monaco has now ended, which team is leading the way?

McLaren

Lando Norris secured his second podium of the season with a third-place finish on Sunday, but it wasn’t all glory for McLaren as Daniel Ricciardo struggled in qualifying and was unable to gain two places to get into the top 10. The young Brit qualified in P5 on Saturday and, with some luck, was able to move into the podium positions and claim 15 much-needed points for the British team. Ricciardo finished the race in 12th. However, despite the Australian not scoring any points on Sunday, McLaren still hold a two-point lead over Ferrari in the intense battle for third in the Constructors’ Championship.

Ferrari

Where do we start? Ferrari’s Sunday was full of ups and downs, but the overshadowing talking point will be Charles Leclerc’s DNS. However, this shouldn’t take anything away from the superb performance Carlos Sainz showed during the race to finish second behind Verstappen and claim his first podium for the Italian team. Leclerc’s first home race finish seemed to be inevitable until his crash in Q3 which red-flagged the session but secured a pole position for the 23-year-old. Before the race, Leclerc announced over radio that a gearbox issue meant he was unable to start in the race which could have been a victory for Ferrari. With Sainz’s 18 points, the Italian team now sit only two points behind McLaren in fourth.

Aston Martin

Aston Martin’s struggles throughout the whole season were clearly put to one side on Sunday, as Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll both finished within the top eight and scored a combined total of 14 points. Vettel finished in fifth, whilst Stroll finished in eighth. Monaco is known for minimal overtakes but both drivers gained positions on their way to strong finishes. Stroll gained five places after qualifying in P13 and Vettel leapfrogged Hamilton and Pierre Gasly to move into fifth from eighth. Valtteri Bottas’ DNF helped the German move up the grid. Overall, it was the strongest weekend we have seen from Aston Martin so far this season.

AlphaTauri

Pierre Gasly was once again AlphaTauri’s saviour this weekend, as the Frenchman finished in sixth-place securing eight points for the Italian team. Despite being overtaken by Aston Martin on the weekend, the eight points gained by Gasly pushed the team ahead of Alpine and has allowed AlphaTauri to still be in the fight with both teams. Yuki Tsunoda’s rookie struggles were on show once again as the Japanese driver made his Monaco debut. He qualified in P16 and finished the race in the same place.

Alpine

After two strong showings in Portimao and Spain, Alpine have found themselves at the back of the midfield battle come to the end of the race weekend in Monaco. Esteban Ocon was, once again, the points scorer for the French team as Fernando Alonso struggled all weekend and wasn’t able to make it out of Q1 on Saturday. Ocon finished in ninth-place, scoring two points to move Alpine within one of AlphaTauri.

Which team in the midfield has had the best weekend? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!