Max Verstappen dominated a largely lifeless Formula 1 2021 Monaco Grand Prix to win ahead of Carlos Sainz, after polesitter Charles Leclerc could not start and Valtteri Bottas retired.
Following his late Q3 crash, Leclerc reported a problem with his gearbox on his only pre-race lap to the grid – although Ferrari later announced a damaged driveshaft meant he could not take the start.
Lewis Hamilton finished seventh, frustrated with Mercedes strategy call after he lost two spots during the sole pitstop phase.
When the lights went out, Verstappen immediately moved to cover off Bottas’s run to the inside line for Ste Devote from his P2 grid spot, cutting off the Mercedes, which had made a slightly better launch off the line from third.
Verstappen’s aggressive defence easily kept him in the lead, with Bottas briefly locking his left-front as the pack steamed into the first corner.
The two leaders quickly surged clear of Sainz’s third place, the Ferrari initially unable to match their pace in the high 1m16-seconds/low 1m17s laptime brackets.
The opening phase of the 78-lap race featured the leading drivers managing their pace as they worked to create a pitstop gap to the runners using the medium and hard tyres in the pack behind.
Verstappen controlled the pace up front – his laps gradually getting quicker – with Bottas running just out of DRS range in second, as Sainz closed again on the two leaders until his gap to Bottas almost reached the two-second mark, where it remained.
The leader’s advantage extended to nearly three seconds by the one-quarter-distance mark, after Mercedes had asked Bottas to show his best pace, as the Finn in fact fell further back towards Sainz.
Bottas could not match Verstappen’s pace in the low 1m16s at this stage and the gap between them grew to nearly five-seconds once 25 laps had been completed.