Norris holds off Leclerc to win - 2025 Monaco GP results

Lando Norris took victory from Charles Leclerc in the Monaco Grand Prix after holding off the Ferrari driver’s charge as Max Verstappen‘s strategy brought the frontrunners together.

Norris had led from the start and, although the mandatory two stops created some different strategies, the positions at the front remained unchanged.

The McLaren driver won by three seconds from Leclerc, with Oscar Piastri coming home third.

Verstappen finished fourth despite leading for several laps as he went on the opposite strategy as his rivals, starting on hards instead of mediums.

Lewis Hamilton was fifth in the Ferrari, ahead of the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar, one of the men who made his stops very early in the race.

Esteban Ocon finished seventh for Haas, in front of Liam Lawson, who scored his first F1 points of the year with eighth place.

Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz completed the top 10 in the Williams.

Mercedes failed to score, as George Russell finished in 11th and Kimi Antonelli in 18th.

Only five cars finished on the lead lap.

Leclerc made a better start than Norris, but the Briton managed to keep the lead despite locking up at St Devote.

A virtual safety was deployed seconds later as Gabriel Bortoleto crashed into the wall at Portier while battling with Antonelli. The Sauber driver was able to reverse and return to the pits to replace his front wing.

Three other drivers – Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly and Oliver Bearman – took the opportunity to make their first pitstops before the VSC was removed on lap four.

The usual procession resumed until Gasly crashed on lap nine, running into the back of Tsunoda when braking after the tunnel. The Alpine driver, who complained on the radio that he had no brakes, crawled back to the pits on three wheels to retire while Tsunoda was able to continue.

There was no virtual safety car this time, despite Gasly’s front wing ending up on track, and instead a yellow flag was waved in the area for a couple of laps.

Hamilton, running fifth, was the first of the frontrunners to pit, on lap 19, to switch from mediums to hards. He was followed by leader Norris, who matched the Ferrari driver’s strategy, returning to the track in fourth.

Piastri also pitted on that lap, with Leclerc following a lap later, leaving Verstappen, the only man in the top five to start on hards, in the lead.

“So what’s the plan now? Because that didn’t work very well,” complained Piastri on the radio.

Verstappen finally made his first mandatory stop on lap 29, switching to medium tyres and rejoining still in fourth behind Piastri.

On lap 38, Fernando Alonso became the second retirement when he appeared to suffer an engine problem, but the Aston Martin driver was able to retire his car without the intervention of a safety car and the order in front remained unchanged.

Piastri stopped for the second time on lap 49, becoming the first of the leaders to complete his two mandatory stops, the Australian using another set of hards.

Leclerc followed suit but switched to mediums, dropping to third behind Verstappen, as Norris stopped on lap 50, also staying on hard tyres.

On that same lap, Russell cut through the Nouvelle chicane to overtake Albon, as the Mercedes driver had been complaining about his rival’s driving for some time.

The Briton was asked to give his position back but, probably expecting a five-second penalty, said he wouldn’t. His decision backfired, however, as he was handed a drive-through penalty instead.

“To be honest, I prefer not to speak,” said Russell on the radio as he was informed about the penalty.

Verstappen was caught by Norris with 19 lap to go as the Red Bull driver extended his second stint. That allowed Leclerc to close right in on Norris after having been running around six seconds behind the Briton before the second round of pitstops.

“Where’s Oscar? I need him to put Charles under some pressure. Max is just backing me up,” Norris complained with eight laps to go. Soon after, Piastri joined the queue of cars behind Verstappen.

Verstappen finally made his second stop on the final lap, dropping to fourth and clearing the way for Norris to take victory.

2025 Monaco GP results