Red Bull’s Monaco Grand Prix win was a strategic triumph over rivals Ferrari on a day when either team could have won the race.
Ferrari held a strong hand at the start. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr locked out the front row of the grid, banishing the Red Bull pair to row two.
A pre-race downpour meant proceedings began with a rolling start, depriving the Red Bull drivers of an opportunity to split the Ferraris. But it also increased the opportunity for them to capture the lead via strategy.
The whole field had to start the race on the full wet weather tyres. With no further rain falling and the track drying out quickly on a warm afternoon, it was clear drivers would eventually end up on slick tyres.
Whoever found the quickest route slicks stood a great chance of taking the lead. The teams faced two routes: A conventional transition to intermediates and then slicks, or jumping straight from the ‘extreme’ full wets to dry-weather rubber, as Lewis Hamilton used to win the race in similar conditions six years earlier.
After the Safety Car peeled into the pits Leclerc led the field away. Behind him Sainz was pursued by the Red Bull pair, all four hunting for grip on the treacherous surface:
| Lap | VER | Message | PER | Message | LEC | Message | SAI | Message |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Perez | I’m struggling a little bit for traction. The rest I think we are quicker than Sainz. | Marcos Padros | The only place losing to Sainz is braking later for turn 10, we need to try to brake later turn 10 and better exit. | Adami | Perez two seconds behind. Perez lap time 38.2. Good job. | ||
| Bird | Okay copy Checo. How are conditions? | |||||||
| Perez | They are improving. | |||||||
| 7 | Lambiase | How are conditions Max? | Bird | Strat eight if you can, strat eight if you can. | Marcos Padros | So gap to Sainz behind 3.4. Some cars on inters but they are not faster than us at the moment. | ||
| Verstappen | Drying but still a bit tricky on these tyres. | Bird | Mode six. Mode six. | |||||
| Lambiase | Copy. | |||||||
| Verstappen | Like I’m moving a lot on the rubber. | |||||||
| Lambiase | Yeah copy. | |||||||
| 8 | Verstappen | Okay Max so just keep on top of the… |