Charles Leclerc wins home race at processional Monaco Grand Prix

After near-misses in 2021 and 2022, Leclerc – a 5/1 winning selection for Formula 1 tipster Louis Bollard – kept McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at bay to take his first victory on home soil and reduce the championship gap to Verstappen to 31 points.

Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz finished third, one place ahead of British driver Lando Norris.

George Russell crossed the line in fifth for Mercedes with Verstappen sixth and Lewis Hamilton seventh. The top 10 finished in the same order they started.

“No words can explain that,” said Leclerc. “It is such a difficult race, and the fact that twice I have started on pole, and we couldn’t do it, makes this even better.

“It means a lot. It is the race that made me dream of being an F1 driver one day.

“It was a difficult race emotionally because 15 laps form the end you are hoping nothing happens and the emotions started.”

Leclerc, whose father Herve died in 2017, added: “I was thinking about my dad when I was driving. He gave everything for me to be here. It was a dream of ours for me to race here so to win it is unbelievable.”

The race had started in explosive fashion when Sergio Perez was fortunate to walk away from a staggering 160mph crash on the opening lap.

Perez, 16th on the grid, hit the barrier as the field made their way up the hill from Sainte Devote.

The Mexican was sent into the wall after Kevin Magnussen’s front-left wheel made contract with the rear-right of Perez’s Red Bull.

Perez’s Red Bull machinery was destroyed on impact, with all but one of the Mexican’s four wheels ripping off his car. Perez also wiped out Magnussen’s Haas team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in the devastating three-car pile-up.

Mercifully, the trio were able to walk away unscathed. Perez was not even required to head to the medical centre. But with debris scattered across the track, the race was suspended.

The stewards noted the incident but elected to apportion no blame.

Elsewhere, on a chaotic first lap, Sainz, who started third, suffered a puncture in a collision with Oscar Piastri and fell down the order, while the two Alpine drivers were also involved in an embarrassing intra-team collision.

Esteban Ocon took a desperate lunge on Pierre Gasly through Portier and, in doing so, made contact with his team-mate. The impact launched Ocon into the air.

“What did he do?” yelled Gasly over the radio. “Why did he attack me? Oh my gosh. The whole car has damage now.”

Ocon was hit with a 10-second penalty but after he was forced to retire with damage, he will serve his punishment as a grid penalty at the next round in Canada.

As the red flag was deployed before all the cars came through the first sector, Sainz was able to take his original grid slot for the restart.

And under red-flag conditions, the drivers were crucially also able to take on a new set of tyres, effectively meaning they would not have to stop in the race if their rubber could last until the end.

Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz and Norris switched from mediums to the hardest compound giving them the best chance of completing the race without stopping.

So, when the race fired up for a second time, Leclerc held off his rivals on the run down to Sainte Devote – and the procession started.

The top four started to pull away with fifth-placed Russell managing his medium rubber. While the two Ferraris and McLarens were separated by a handful of seconds, Verstappen was 12 seconds behind after as many laps.

“F*** me, this is really boring, he said over the radio. “I should’ve brought my pillow”.

Despite being considered among the most glamorous events in world sport, the Monaco track has remained largely unchanged from the first grand prix staged here in 1929. And some have claimed it is no longer fit for purpose in its current guise.

F1 bosses have looked at ways to adapt the tight and twisty layout but have made little progress. The heaviest generation of F1 cars ever seen has made overtaking practically impossible.

On lap 39, Leclerc was even instructed to slow down by his Ferrari team to save his tyres.

Lance Stroll attempted to spice up the show when he banged into the wall on the exit of the tunnel and suffered a left-rear puncture.

And, with Hamilton comfortably clear of eighth-placed Yuki Tsunoda, he was able to drop his medium rubber and change to hards.

A lap later and Verstappen followed suit. But although Verstappen was able to catch up with Russell again, he couldn’t find a way past.

And neither could anyone else with Leclerc taking the flag 7.1 seconds clear of Piastri.