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Formula 1 Monaco GP

F1 Monaco GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race day

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12

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Gasly gave the second Swimming Pool chicane barrier a bit of a kiss with his front tyre - which has helped Hamilton close in a bit more.
Stopwatch

Stroll won't want to give up his hard tyres any time soon as he puts in a personal best lap time of 1m15.595s - he is three seconds back from Hamilton and keeping pace in P8.

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"Let's try and put some pressure - who knows?" Sainz says on the radio. Might as well try and chase down the leader, eh?
Perez has been slowly closing up to Norris too - he's just 5.3s behind at this stage with 20 laps to go.
 
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Norris isn't massively happy on his tyres, but has managed to find some pace to extend his advantage over Perez. "I'm struggling man, the car's awful on the tyres," says the McLaren driver.
"Let's build off your margin now, Norris is starting to struggle," Perez's engineer tells him. Game on.

Latifi is the latest to get the black and white flag for track limits. So far nobody has been penalised for the offence, and there are just under 20 laps to go.

Pit stop

Stroll pits to switch his hards for softs, having opened up a pit window of just over 20 seconds, and duly gets back out ahead of Ocon to keep hold of eighth place. Smart work by Aston Martin today.

"Lots of drivers starting to make mistakes, so full concentration mode," Norris is told.
The pace is starting to fall into the hands of Red Bull now, as Verstappen now opens up the lead to Sainz and Perez is within 4s of Norris.
Ocon, shown the blue flags to allow Sainz to lap him, invites pressure from Giovinazzi in the fight for ninth place. The Alfa Romeo driver is within DRS range.
Our favourite overtake-o-meter appears on screen, suggesting Perez will be in striking distance of Norris in three laps' time. But it's a high difficulty...

Uh-oh, Stroll is under investigation for failing to keep to the right of the line at pit exit. He could incur a time penalty if found guilty for that.

Replays of Stroll's pit exit show him putting his left-front tyre on the line but the onboard shot doesn't show if it was over the line. Get the VAR out.

Perez is now a second behind Norris. "No comments any more, please," Norris says, needing full concentration to keep Perez behind.
Pit stop

Lap 66 and Tsunoda FINALLY pits for the first time in this race - that is one long stint on the hards. He comes back out in P16 on fresh softs and set to chase Latifi for the rest of this race.

Sainz was struggling earlier with some graining, but he reports that it's feeling better now. He dropped to 7.5s behind Verstappen, but still well ahead of the Norris/Perez battle.
10 laps remaining here at Monaco.

Stroll fans, panic over, as there is no further action on his pit exit line-crossing investigation. VAR judges that he stayed inside the line.

Stopwatch

Tsunoda puts those softs to good use by setting the fastest lap of the race - a 1m14.037s.

Pit stop
Hamilton comes in for a "free" pitstop, taking on soft tyres to try and salvage a fastest lap point.
Stopwatch
Boom, there it is - Hamilton posts a 1m12.909s for the fastest lap. Sorry, Yuki.

Ocon is still keeping Giovinazzi at bay in ninth place, but for how much longer? The Alfa Romeo driver is staring at the Alpine rear wing.

Perez is back within a second of Norris having dropped out of DRS for a few laps - but in the turbulent air, he can't get too close.
So Bump Day's coming up later on - who are your picks to make it onto the Indy 500 grid? Will Power, Simona de Silvestro, Sage Karam, Charlie Kimball and RC Enerson are the five contesting the final three spots on the grid.
Into the final three laps of the Monaco Grand Prix - odds on any late overtakes?
Perez drops out of range of Norris again - unable to find a way to stay within a second of the McLaren. The gulf between them is slowly growing again.

Tsunoda has been show the black and white flag for, you guessed it, track limits. It is unlikely to change much unless he can find a way ahead of Latifi late on.

It's the final lap of this Monaco Grand Prix.
Checkered flag
And it was pretty much a slam-dunk - Max Verstappen comes across to win the Monaco Grand Prix, and takes the lead of the drivers' championship!
Big podium results for Carlos Sainz Jr and Lando Norris - they follow home in second and third!
Perez didn't have enough to challenge Norris by the end, and Sebastian Vettel will follow them home in fifth.
Gasly was 1.3s behind Vettel in sixth, with Hamilton only in seventh! Stroll caps off an Aston Martin strategy masterclass with eighth, a full 36s clear of Ocon and Giovinazzi.
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"Max Verstappen, you're a Monaco Grand Prix winner!" says Christian Horner, delighted. He doesn't forget to remind Verstappen he's now the drivers' championship leader.
Something for Ferrari to smile about after the Leclerc situation earlier - Sainz with a very assured second place. Leclerc joins in with the celebrations, magnanimously.
Dear stats fans - is this our youngest ever podium?
 
Planet Sushi, there, getting some good advertising on the start-finish straight. Think Serena Williams was surprised to be roped into that interview too...
Breaking news
Here's the report from the Monaco Grand Prix: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-monaco-gp-verstappen-dominates-as-mercedes-struggle-/6514247/

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Haydn Cobb, Stephen Lickorish

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