Live text
Formula 1
Monaco GP
F1 Monaco GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix.
The 2023 Monaco Grand Prix is the sixth round of the season, though was set to be the seventh had it not been for the Emilia Romagna GP's cancellation due to a weather emergency.
Max Verstappen starts on pole for the 78-lap grand prix around the streets of Monte Carlo, having edged Fernando Alonso in a thrilling Q3.
The sister Red Bull of Sergio Perez will start from the back of the grid after a Q1 crash, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc goes from sixth after being hit with a grid penalty.
The 2023 Monaco GP begins at 2pm BST.
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
13 Days
20 hrs
32 min
00 sec
Full coverage
Check out our full coverage of Miami GP
Live Text
Sort by
Newest first
Oldest first
Newest first
Perez didn't give the place back - he hit the back of Magnussen at the chicane! Perez says he was brake-tested, but Perez has lost a bit of his front wing and lost the position to Stroll.
"It's almost undrivable," complains Verstappen, who is told he will fall behind Alonso if he pits now. The gap is just 6.8s to Alonso.
Perez has given the place back to Stroll as the incident was placed under investigation. That's a frustrating blow to the Red Bull driver's afternoon.
Pit stop
Sainz is in and re-joins in seventh on new mediums, staying behind Ocon.
Replay shows Perez tried to overtake Stroll around the outside of the chicane out of the tunnel as Verstappen unlapped himself, but cut the chicane having felt he was pushed off. The stewards may take a dim view of that.
One lap after Ocon, Sainz is in. Can he jump the Alpine man?
Pit stop
Ocon has a slow stop and is out in seventh on new hards.
Perez has gotten ahead of Stroll as Verstappen lapped the Aston driver.
As Verstappen feared, the weight of traffic behind 12th place De Vries is helping Alonso. He's now 7.9s behind on lap 32.
Pit stop
Hamilton has pitted for fresh hards and comes out in eighth behind team-mate Russell.
Ocon has been told to "keep doing what you're doing" when asked if he needs to deploy maximum pace as "Ferrari are getting frustrated". He's now pulled 1.9s on Sainz and dipped into the 1m16s bracket for the first time a few laps ago.
Perez could pull a Verstappen and use his team-mate lapping cars to gain positions.
Alonso was a second faster on lap 29 and again on lap 30, chipping the lead down to 9.4s.
Such is the nature of this race, Perez is about to be lapped by team-mate Verstappen!
Perez has also been told "there's a risk of rain at the end of the race", which Red Bull believes is the reason for the train of cars he's found himself in.
Verstappen is about to catch traffic ahead and reports his concerns about losing time. Could he pit soon?
Alonso is quicker than Verstappen for a third lap in a row, but not by much. The Red Bull driver reports that his front left "really isn't pretty" as slow motion shots underline the extent of his graining issues.
The Ferrari pitcrew were in the lane, but once again Sainz stays out.
"Box to overtake Ocon," comes the order once more to Sainz.
After that spurt to build his lead out to 11.7s, on lap 26 Alonso was faster than Verstappen by a little over a tenth.
Quote
"Lando, possible rain, class one, 35 minutes", McLaren tells Norris. Presumably class one rain has something to do with DTM regulations?
Quote
"How is the rain looking?" ponders Sainz. "In 45 minutes but it's slowing down the risk," reports his engineer.
Pit stop
Sargeant has come in again and is now on soft tyres. Long afternoon already for the Williams driver.
Sainz reports that degradation is higher than expected and he's struggling with the left-rear, like Alonso. After that call to box, he's stayed out and now just it seems patiently waiting for Ocon's tyres to fall off.
Stroll has a look up the inside of Magnussen into Tabac, but the Haas just moved over to keep him at bay before retaking the racing line.
A 1m16.604s from Verstappen on lap 23 is another personal best and much quicker than anybody else on mediums is able to muster right now. Ocon and Hamilton are 1.2s and 1.4s per lap right now.
Stroll is scrambling over the back of Magnussen, with Perez close behind.
Another personal best from Verstappen on lap 22, a 1m16.659s, inches his lead out to 10.6s over Alonso who was 1.3s slower on that lap.
Despite Sainz's aero deficit Hamilton hasn't looked particularly close to the Ferrari. His mediums are clearly graining. Sainz has a predicament though - if he pits too soon, ditching his hards, it will be a big ask to take mediums to the end.
Pit stop
Sargeant has now pitted for fresh hard tyres and re-joins last behind team-mate Albon.
Quote
"Box to overtake Ocon," Ferrari inform Sainz.
Alonso responds on lap 20 with his fastest effort so far with a 1m17.130s but it's still four tenths off Verstappen's best. The gap between them is 8.4s.
Hulkenberg executes a clean overtake into the chicane out of the tunnel to move ahead of Sargeant.
Hulkenberg has managed to get past Zhou somewhere and is now all over Sargeant coming through the tunnel.
Verstappen now has enough of a margin on Ocon to pit and rejoin ahead of the Alpine. A 1m16.712s on his lap 18 is his best of the race, and second only to Perez's earlier gambit on much newer rubber.
Pit stop
Bottas has taken 13th from Albon at the hairpin, with the latter in the pits now for hard tyres.
Magnussen did lock up both fronts briefly on his way through on Sargeant, almost making contact with the Williams driver.
Big move for Magnussen given he's on hard tyres and Sargeant is on mediums, which are clearly fading as Stroll and Perez have mugged him at the end of this lap 18.
Magnussen makes a nice move on Sargeant into Turn 5 to move into 15th.
This gaggle of cars behind Sargeant will be frustrating for Perez, as his car and his front tyres will be getting quite hot. Also, if someone ahead goes into the wall, he's in a real danger zone.
By: Autosport Staff
Published:
Page:
