The Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday largely proved to be a processional affair. In fact, for the first time in Formula 1 history, the top 10 finished exactly where they started.
Charles Leclerc finally broke the ‘Monaco curse’ to take his first victory on home soil, driving at a relatively pedestrian pace as he held off Oscar Piastri. Leclerc had to nurse his medium tyres to the end of the race.
There was talk of Lando Norris spicing things up with a strategic gamble, but he couldn’t create a big enough gap to come into the pits without losing track position to George Russell and co. behind. And at Monaco, track position is everything.
That’s exactly what Max Verstappen discovered when he dived into the pits for fresh tyres in response to Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen quickly reeled in Russell but wasn’t able to execute a move on the notoriously narrow streets.
Over the course of the race, there were only four on-track passes. One of those moves was executed by Valtteri Bottas as he got past Logan Sargeant, with Martin Brundle calling it a ‘beautiful’ overtake.
The entire picture was altered by a red flag on the very first lap as Sergio Perez and both Haas drivers crashed out. That led to a lengthy stoppage, and enabled most drivers to change tyres and forego an in-race pit stop.
Ralf Schumacher slams Kevin Magnussen after Monaco Grand Prix
Perez was duelling the Haas pair on the climb from Sainte-Devote, with Kevin Magnussen optimistically keeping his nose in on the outside. When the Mexican came across to take the racing line, he clipped the front of the Dane’s car.
He would sustain multiple hits, one of which took Nico Hulkenberg out of the race. Debris was scattered all over the race track.
Sky Germany pundit Ralf Schumacher apportioned all the blame to Magnussen. In his eyes, Perez was right to take the line he did, because a ‘normal’ racing driver would assume there was nobody to his right in that situation.
His colleague Timo Glock agreed with that assessment. He feels the 31-year-old was overly aggressive and ‘should have backed off’ because he wasn’t far enough alongside.
Schumacher said: “Perez did not expect this, because a normal person does not see any gap there.”
Glock added: “Kevin Magnussen is someone who will stop at nothing. He wants to overtake Perez with all his might. But because he was not at the same level, he should have backed off.
“In my opinion, that was his mistake. He could have avoided the accident, which was serious. Bystanders could have been injured.”
How much Sergio Perez Monaco crash will cost Red Bull
Red Bull knew that Perez had little chance of scoring points in Monaco. He was starting 16th on the grid in a race with little strategic variation where, as the stats show, overtaking is incredibly difficult.
The bigger issue for the world champions is the repair bill they must now deal with. Only one of Perez’s four tyres remained attached by the time his car settled in the middle of the track.
Executive director Helmut Marko estimates that the crash could cost them up to £2.6m. In the context of F1’s budgetary restrictions, that leaves the Milton Keynes outfit with a significant ‘handicap’.
Some figures in the paddock already believed that Magnussen should have been banned after the Miami Grand Prix. Over the course of one weekend in Florida, he accumulated five penalty points.
The 171-race driver, who’s now only two points away from a one-race suspension, avoided any further sanctions in Monaco. Bu if he’s involved in another incident in the coming races, the FIA will surely come under huge pressure to decisively intervene.
The post ‘Did not expect this’: Ralf Schumacher says 171-race driver is not ‘a normal person’ after Monaco Grand Prix appeared first on F1 Oversteer.