Monaco Manoeuvres - From Back of the Pack to P12

Monaco: a race where qualifying is key, overtaking is difficult and track position can make or break your weekend.

With the tight twists of Monte Carlo hosting Round 8 of the season, experience tends to come in handy at one of the more challenging venues on the calendar, thanks to its extremely narrow track. Add to that a new rule requiring two mandatory pit stops, and this year’s Grand Prix had the potential to turn into a chess match of strategy and chaos.

Practice

Ollie hit the streets of Monaco in his first special helmet design of the year, lapping comfortably inside the top ten during some of the session, gathering valuable data on a circuit that demands pinpoint precision.

But Friday did not end without drama. When Franco Colapinto crashed in the second practice session and the red flag was waved, Ollie was reported to the stewards for overtaking Carlos Sainz under those conditions. Upon investigation, it was ruled a red flag infringement. Ollie was handed a harsh 10-place grid penalty, setting the tone for a weekend spent fighting back.

Qualifying

Ollie qualified in P17 as the team played it smart, opting to not push Ollie further in qualifying to support his teammate’s clear run.

The Race

Starting P20 on a track where overtakes are famously hard to come by, expectations were tempered. But Ollie and the team had other ideas.

An early Virtual Safety Car gave him the chance to tick off his first mandatory stop, though unfortunately for Ollie, the crew were not quite ready and he lost even more ground. However, with fresh hard compound tyres and clear air ahead, Ollie set fastest lap after fastest lap, catching up to the pack and lapping over four seconds faster than the leaders.

When Ollie came in for his second stop, he emerged back on track in the thick of it, with almost 50 laps to go until the end of the race - but both of his pitstops were complete. Could he do it?

As other drivers shuffled through their own stops, Ollie was P5 by Lap 49 and showing decent pace, within one second of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. Ollie crossed the line in P12, on a track notoriously difficult to gain position.

After the race, Ollie said he was happy with the car’s performance and proud of the team for getting one car into the points - his teammate, Esteban Ocon, finished P7.

Looking Ahead

Focus now shifts to the next race as we head to Barcelona for the final Grand Prix in the city before the Spanish Grand Prix moves to Madrid in 2026. The action continues from 30 May at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.