Zoom Zoom: Monaco GP! F1 movie screening brings out the stars and glitz. Pit Stop strategies control the GP. Mercedes very bad weekend. Lando Gone in 70 Seconds!

Welcome Zoomies- hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend! Race 8 takes us to the crown jewel of F1 racing, the 82nd running of the Monaco GP in Monte Carlo! It's a street race that runs thru some of the most beautiful parts of this historic city, known for it's stunning vistas, casinos, gorgeous bay views; Basically it is a city a Jame Bond 007 film would make a film at (oh, they have!)! It's also very expensive, very high-end elite, but no taxes, hence why many of the drivers list their residence in Monaco (Ocon and Gasly cannot, as they are French citizens, who are not allowed to have the tax advantage rule!). As I have stated before, there IS one driver that belongs here, because he was born in Monte Carlo, Charles LeClerc, once again will rep his hometown and be our Driver of the Week focus! (yep, Leo will pop up then!). I mentioned the private screening in the headline of the new F1 movie coming out June 27th, and the real F1 drivers got to see it first! Here's a snap of two kids at the theater who race cars up to 210 MPH!

Kimi and Ollie- just a couple of kids at the movies!

Paddock Buzz: Was rather quiet this week for F1, but IndyCar racing said, "Hold my Motor Oil!", as apparently Team Penske did some very very naughty things (ie cheating) that not only got them kicked out of this weekend's OTHER big race, the Indy500, but also resulted in multiple firings at Team Penske. It should be noted that the Penske drivers were not part of the cheating and dirty tricks that the folks in the C-Suites did, but the shadow of shame and scandal will hover over those two drivers fo the rest of the Indy Car Season. The good news from the Indy 500 Qualifying is that a rookie, Robert Schwartzman, won pole position, the first time that has ever happened! Good for the kid.

Update: Three time Indy racing champion Alex Palou has one the one race he has not won in his career, the Indy 500! In his first oval track race, Palou becomes the first Spainard to win the Indy500! Okay, respects paid to Indy500, back to F1 programming!

Much like the Imola track last week, Monaco is a hard one for overtakes, with its narrow, winding streets, and so the powers that be have ruled that this race is a MANDATORY two pit-stop race, so that will make the strategizing even more curious for the teams and drivers!

Speaking of which, your 2025 drivers grid- switch Lawson and Tsunoda, remove Doohan for Colapinto.

I know this is Colapinto in Williams gear- just a really good picture!

LeClerc won this race last year, which was the first time he has done it after several races, the Netflix series, Drive to Survive dedicated a whole episode to Charles and this race, and many say it was the best episode of the season (right, Rob?). Can he repeat? Once again quali will be crucial for pole position!

P1: 60 minutes. Ten minutes in finds LeClerc bumping the front of his car into Lance Stroll's on a turn, that left wing snapped off and is under Charles car, and that is not good for either the Ferrari car or the track, as carbon fiber being scraped along the track as Charles was very far from the garages- RED FLAG for some tidying up...bring out the brooms! Five minutes later, green flag, and Charles has a new front wing, and joins the others out on track, while Aston-Martin's Stroll car still being worked on, and it needs a lot of work, as Stroll's P1 session is over. No further incidents. P2: 60 minutes. Sun is getting ready to set by the end of this session, temps in the cool 70's and Monte Carlo and the bay looks gorgeous! A lot more shade, so drivers going in and out of the light and shade (also there is a tunnel!) and I'm living for the drone shots! Lance got a one-place grid penalty drop for his scrap with Charles. Seven minutes in, and we have our first RED FLAG of this session, with Isack Hadjar's rear left catching the bumper at turn 15 (also known as the Pool Zone- as there is a literal swimming pool on one side of the track...ah Monte Carlo!), and Isack shreds off that left rear tyre. He is able to roll the car to the pit, as the field marshals get the brooms out for some tidying up. Ten minutes later, back to green flag and racing practice. With 41 minutes left, we get another RED FLAG as Oscar can't complete the turn out of turn 1 and sticks the front of his car into the barrier- he is fine, but his front wing is a goner, so Oscar has to go all 2 miles around the track to get to the McLaren garage (F1's version of the Walk of Shame). On Oscar's Red flag, Haas Ollie Bearman was a bad, bad boy, cuz instead of staying in place, Ollie did not, and in fact did an OVERTAKE on another driver. This will be a huge penalty when it drops. With 11 minutes to go, Isack back on track with new set of tyres and he scrapes the barriers, taking with it the advertising that what stuck on the barrier, but is now wrapped around ....wait for it.....Isack's left rear tyre! Poor Isack is totally beating himself up on team radio...someone give the that boy a hug as he goes into the RB Sugar Free garage (Will note he ended up 6th in this practice!). P3: 60 minutes- Again glorious weather, temps in the 70's, another full house, and full bay of 100 meter yachts (i'd say close to a billion dollars in value of yachts in Monte Carlo this weekend!), and beautiful people everywhere- So French Rivera! Before P3 starts, some penalty housekeeping. I was right about Ollie's punishment: a TEN place grid penalty AND TWO penalty points on his sheet (you reach 7 or 8, you cannot drive in the next race!). Ollie's a rookie, so I don't see him racking him penalty points with aggressive driving like Kevin Magnassun did! Lance Stroll also got hit with a one place grid penalty for his skirmish with Charles in P1. With two minutes to go, Lewis loses control and skids the right side of his car along the wall on Turn 3, he's fine, and car will be spiffed up in the next two hours for Qualifying- just the most important Qualifying on the F1 circuit!

Charles with the tussled hair look!

A note on how Qualifying works: There are three quick races to determine grid position for the GP race. First quali the last five drivers are cut, second quali again, last five drivers dropped, and 3rd and final quali determines the top ten on the grid and the ever important pole (1st) position. This also applies to the Sprint Qualis, you will just see me use SQ1 to show the difference. Q1: 18 minutes. All drivers on soft tyres except for Alpine who were running on the mediums. No incidents until the very last seconds, we get a RED FLAG, as Kimi found the wall coming out of Turn 1, he made the cut to P2 at 15th, but that's where he will be on the grid Sunday, as the car is done with qualifying, as he clipped the barrier coming out of the tunnel and slid his car into the wall, as the left side of the car suffered the most damage. Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly was as angry as a mosquito in a mannequin store (thx Karun!) , as he had to abandon his lap due to Stroll day-dreaming out on track of his next paddle-ball match, and impeding Gasly; and Stroll is hit with a two place grid penalty to go along with his one grid place penalty, which is now three grid places, but it doesn't matter as your bottom five are: Stroll/Aston-Martin, Bearman/Haas (will start 20th), Bortoleto/Sauber and both Alpine drivers, Gasly and Colapinto! (Apologies for the run-on sentences!). Also the stewards are looking at a possible penalty to Hamilton for impeding Verstappen...something both Lewis and Max have a history of! (Ferrari team radio screwed Lewis on this one!)

Q2: 15 minutes. With a little over 10 minutes to go, Mercedes George Russell's engine starts to power down and then just flatlines INSIDE THE TUNNEL! RED FLAG! Yes, scary, but the removal of the car out of the tunnel and to the paddock by the track marshals was a relay of marshals pushing it out of the tunnel to another team of marshals, who pushed the car to ANOTHER team of marshals to get it off the track- somebody needs to set this sequence to the Benny Hill theme song! Georgie will start 14th on the grid Sunday. It's a Green Light Go to restart at the 10:08 time marker left on this quali. No further incidents, so the next bottom five are: Russell and Antonelli/Mercedes, Hulkenberg/Sauber, Sainz/Williams and Tsunoda/Red Bull. Q3: 10 minutes. For the most important pole position of all 24 races (Have I stressed this enough?) Both McLaren drivers hit the track immediately to get times on the lap-sheet. In the final minute, Leclerc and Verstappen put in best laps, but it is Lando setting a track record of 1:09: 954 (basically 70 seconds!) grabbing his first pole position at Monaco! A disappointed LeClerc in 2nd, Hamilton in 4th, Verstappen in 5th, Hadjar in 6th, Alonso in 7th, Ocon in 8th, Lawson in 9th and Albon rounding out the top ten on the grind! Note: Team RB Sugar Free has had their best. showing in qualis for the first time this season!).

Besides being a F1 driver, Charles also can model the denim look!

Monaco GP: 250,000 total attendance for this race weekend to witness Lando Norris start in pole position for McLaren. How will teams deal with the mandatory two pit-stop for the first time in this race that has 78 laps to complete? There is a shake-up in the top ten, as Hamilton was hit with a three grid Penalty, so Lewis is in 7th, with Max, Isack and Alonso moving up. Two races were run earlier in the day, both having massive crashes (11 cars wiped out-no one hurt) going up the hill after Turn 1. Oil was pouring out of one of those cars downhill towards the first turn; marshals have done their best to clean it up, but the slickness could be a factor in the GP start for F1 drivers. In the top ten, it's a mix of Medium and Hard tyres to start the race; top 3 on Medium, with Max on Hards in 4th, Also a mix of tyres for the back ten drivers, with only Yuki on the Softs. Will these tyres be ditched within the first few laps to knock out that first mandatory pit stop? Probably! Words of the day are "Pit" or "Box" as the race strategists will be very very busy today! It's LIGHTS OUT, and despite a lockup, Lando is able to hold off Charles thru the first turn to hold the lead, as was the other drivers. Heading towards the tunnel on Lap 2, Bortoleto lightly crashes into the wall, bringing up the Virtual Safety Car, as four drivers, including Bortoleto in the back 10, PIT to change tyres- basically a free pit-stop for them.

Lap 9 finds Gasly trying to overtake Yuki coming out of the tunnel, and no dice, as Gasly slides off to the right, his front wing flies to the left, and his left front tyre is on a horizontal position. Instead of taking the track exit, Gasly's damaged car, which now has no brakes, rambles down to the pit lane, where the mechanics have to physically stop the car! We have a Yellow Flag for track debris that Gasly left behind, a big no-no as other drivers are trying to aoid that stranded left wing, but not only is Gasly's day done (DNF), expect a big financial for him and his Alpine team! Pit lane was closed due to this as well. Green flag up on Lap 11 and racing continues. Hulkenberg makes his first mandatory pit on Lap 13, as does Colapinto. Hadjar pits on Lap 15 on Soft tyres! Lap 17 has Alonso and Ocon pit. Lap 18 sees Stroll pit, and also Ollie Bearman, his 2nd, and Ollie's mandatory pits are done and will be racing on Mediums. Lap 19 finds one of the leaders, Hamilton pitting to Hards, and that strategy worked, as Lewis comes out in front of Hadjar to slot into 5th place. Hadjar pits to change to Hards and completes his mandatory two pit stops. Lap 20 sees race leader Lando pit for first time, changing to hards and coming out in 4th position, behind Max, Oscar and new race leader Charles. Oscar pits on Lap 21, a bad one, almost 4 seconds, and comes out behind Lando in 4th. LeClerc pits on Lap 23 to hards, and sneaks ahead of Piastri into 3rd position. Observational Note! Team RB Sugar Free is playing an (excellent) team game for Max' Red Bull, clogging up both Mercedes and Williams drivers (and Hadjar has already done his two pit stops!). Colapinto and Bortoleto make their 2nd pit stops on Lap 28 for the Hards, as Max pits on Mediums comes out 4th. Ocon makes his 2nd pit stop. Leaders are overlapping the back of the pack, they need to get out of the way. Blue flag tells the back drivers to get out of the way of the leaders, btw. Lawson pits on Lap 33 for his 1st pit stop, as does Albon; Lawson out on soft tyres, Albon on Medium. Lap 39 finds "the unluckiest driver alive" continue that streak as Aston-Marin's Fernando Alonso's power unit overheats, and he smartly drives into a safety alley, only allowing for a brief Yellow Flag, so brief, none of the drivers could take advantage of it! Lap 42, Albon and Lawson both complete their 2nd mandatory pit stop, and come out in the same position they left, 8th and ninth! Side note: What he heck is the Mercedes strategists thinking, not pitting either driver after 44 laps???? Oscar makes his 2nd pit stop, and comes out 4th on lap 50, and LeClerc makes his 2nd pit stop and comes back out in 3rd position. Norris and Sainz pit (his first), Lando comes out in 2nd, but Max has NOT done is 2nd pit stop yet! Russell went off track to overtake Albon, and instead of giving the 10th position back, Georgie tells Mercedes team radio, " I'll take the penalty!", thinking it was just going to be a 5-second penalty. Careful what you ask for Georgie, the stewards have SLAPPED you with a 20-second penalty! Georgie has basically told the team, the FIA, the world to "Eff it" he not changing tyres or doing the mandatory pit. stops, so that's another 30 seconds worth of penalties. Russell DOES have to serve the 20 second penalty and pit, or else he loses a grid place in next weeks race in Spain.

OMG! There are two of them! Charles with his brother Arthur at the F1 Movie preview!

Lap 55 sees Sainz complete his 2nd pit stop, and is in a battle with Albon for 9th. Lawson continuing to be the clog in the pipe in 8th. Hamilton makes his 2nd pit stop on Mediums. Max is driving slower in the lead to get Charles up on Lando's wing for 2nd - strategy! Max HAS to take his second pit stop or he is disqualified, so Red Bull hoping for a safety car so Max can pit and change tyres to his last set, the Softs! 13 laps to go! These last ten laps have been a nail-biter, as Charles is right on Lando's wing, both waiting for Max to make his mandatory pit stop on the last lap, and Oscar has surged ahead to give Charles something else to think about besides Lando! Max pits on last lap, and Lando takes advantage of the free air, and WINS the Monaco Grand Prix! Charles 2nd, and Oscar 3rd , with Max 4th, Hamilton, 5th, Hadjar, 6th, Ocon, 7th, Lawson 8th, and ALbon and Sainz round out the top ten points scored.

McLaren Team Principal Zac Brown, Charles Leclerc, winner Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri with the Monaco Royal family behind them.

Notes: Charles gets Driver of the Day fan vote! Both Mercedes drivers DID complete their mandatory pit stops, but still, an UGLY weekend in Monaco for Mercedes!

Oscar leads Lando by three points in the Drivers Championship, McLaren with huge lead over Mercedes in the Team Championship.

Oscar on the podium for all seven races this season. I'll say it again: the RB Sugar Free team ran a brilliant strategic race with Lawson and Hadjar! The buzz around the circuit is that with the changes made to "liven up" this race, it was more of a Pit strategy race than an actual race; definitely some tweaks to be made for 2026!

Onto Barcelona for the Spanish GP next week! Comments open below!