After the drama of the first lap at the Monaco Grand Prix, there was very little action to get excited about once the race restarted.
That benefitted Charles Leclerc as he finally took victory at his home race much to the delight of some of his closest rivals including runner-up Oscar Piastri.
However, Martin Brundle and David Croft did their best on Sky Sports F1 to keep the race interesting and made the most of one piece of action towards the latter stages of the Grand Prix.
There were only five overtakes throughout the entirety of the Monaco Grand Prix.
With nearly every driver changing their tyres during the red flag stopped, strategy calls were no longer necessary for the front-runners, although those drivers at the back decided to gamble with nothing to lose.
Seven races dived into the pits and the first driver to do so was Valtteri Bottas and the Finn was one of the only drivers who managed to pull off an overtake much to Brundle’s delight.
It was another disappointing weekend for Sauber but at least the 34-year-old provided a moment of entertainment.
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Martin Brundle hails Valtteri Bottas overtake at the Monaco Grand Prix
Heading into Sunday’s race, Sauber should have been in the worst possible position.
Bottas and teammate Zhou Guanyu were supposed to start side-by-side on the back row of the grid.
The Chinese driver admitted he had no confidence in the car heading into the race, but a technical infringement from Haas meant both of their drivers were disqualified from qualifying.
That wasn’t even the low point for Haas after both drivers were taken out in a first-lap crash involving Sergio Perez, although at least Kevin Magnussen avoided picking up two more penalty points that would have resulted in a one-race ban.
Sauber’s car instead started 17 and 18 but were promoted further up the grid for the restart after the huge collision heading out of turn one and Esteban Ocon ending his race following a poorly executed overtake on teammate Pierre Gasly.
Unfortunately, the pair got stuck behind Fernando Alonso who was creating a gap for Lance Stroll to pit into, although he ruined that plan by hitting the barriers and picking up a puncture.
On fresher tyres, Bottas did at least pull off a move on Logan Sargeant heading into the first hairpin in Monaco much to the delight of Martin Brundle.
The American completed a similar move on Zhou once he had entered the pits but both overtakes ultimately had no impact on the points-paying positions.
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Valtteri Bottas provides brief Monaco entertainment during dull Grand Prix
Watching the Finn dive down the inside of Sargeant’s Williams, Croft said: “Is that a gap to go for and make a move on Logan Sargeant? Is that an overtake Martin?”
Brundle added: “That is a bona fide in-race non-DRS assisted overtake and beautifully done.”
Sauber may be pleased that Bottas and Zhou were providing some entertainment for Brundle and the patient F1 fans watching the race, but it was another really disappointing weekend for the team.
They watched on as every other team in qualifying was neck and neck while Zhou was a second slower than the worst non-Sauber car.
Not only that but Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly all scored points for their rivals in the Constructors’ Championship.
It means Sauber are now the only pointless team on the grid and it’s hard to see that changing any time soon.
Audi’s arrival in 2026 can’t come soon enough and it seems less and less likely that top target Carlos Sainz will choose to join the slowest team on the grid.
The post ‘Beautifully done’: Martin Brundle hails pointless F1 driver for ‘bona fide’ rare overtake at Monaco GP appeared first on F1 Oversteer.