F1: Lando Norris relishes dream Monaco win as driver’s championship intensifies
McLaren’s Lando Norris clinched a dream victory at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, May 25, converting pole position into his second win of the season and slicing Oscar Piastri’s Formula One championship lead down to just three points. The streets of Monte Carlo offered little in terms of overtaking, but that didn’t stop Norris from delivering a commanding performance. The British driver held off pressure from teammate Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to take McLaren’s first Monaco win since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. “This is what I dreamed of when I was a kid. I’ve achieved one of my dreams,” said Norris, after leading all but four cars and navigating a processional race with two mandatory pit stops. Leclerc finished second in his home race, followed by Piastri in third and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in fourth — all four drivers crossing the line in the same order they started. While the new two-stop rule added a layer of strategy, it failed to shake up the usual Monaco order. Verstappen delayed his final stop until the penultimate lap in hopes of a safety car that never arrived. “Very exciting. I was on the edge of my seat every lap,” Verstappen quipped sarcastically. “Maybe next year four stops. I could have done four stops today and still finished P4.” Norris briefly locked up at the start but held his nerve throughout. As he crossed the finish line, he exclaimed over team radio: “Monaco baby!” The win, his second of the 2025 season after triumphing in Australia, marks another milestone for Norris and further boosts McLaren’s title credentials. The team extended their advantage over Mercedes in the constructors’ standings to 172 points, with Red Bull another four behind. Dismal Day for Mercedes Mercedes endured another rough outing. George Russell served a drive-through penalty and finished 11th, while rookie Kimi Antonelli ended up 18th, the last classified finisher. “Ultimately, qualifying 14th and 15th, there was nothing you could do,” said Russell. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton salvaged fifth place, recovering two spots from a post-qualifying penalty. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar took sixth, Haas’s Esteban Ocon was seventh, and Liam Lawson scored his first points of the season in eighth for Racing Bulls. Williams rounded out the top 10 with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. Incidents and Retirements The race saw very few overtakes. A virtual safety car was deployed on lap one after Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto hit the tyre wall at Portier, rejoining without major damage. Antonelli’s pass on Bortoleto, possibly the only clean overtake, was one of the rare bits of action — unless Russell’s chicane-cutting move on Albon, which earned him a penalty, is counted. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly retired early after crashing into Yuki Tsunoda at the tunnel exit, citing brake failure. He nearly collided with teammate Franco Colapinto as he limped into the pits. Later, Fernando Alonso retired on lap 38 with a smoking Aston Martin, extending his scoreless streak. Published By: Kingshuk Kusari Published On: May 26, 2025 Source link