Winners and losers from the 2025 Monaco GP once again highlighted the drama and unpredictability of Formula 1’s most iconic event and has again thrown up plenty of talking points, albeit it not all entirely positive, as Lando Norris emerged victorious.
The McLaren driver prevented Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc from completing back-to-back wins at his home event as most of the focus was turned to the battle for points and F1’s experiment with a mandatory two-stop to try and spice the racing up around the Principality’s streets.
In a race that turned somewhat into a farce, the race still offered clear moments of triumph and disappointment in Monte Carlo.
All the winners and losers from the F1 2025 Monaco GP
Find out who made the cut and who faded away in the Total-Motorsport winners and losers from the F1 2025 Monaco GP.
Winner – Lando Norris
Norris entered the Monaco weekend off the back of a promising display at Imola, where safety car timing helped him close the points gap to team-mate Oscar Piastri.
But the Briton finally added to his Australian Grand Prix victory with two key moments across the event. In qualifying, a stunning last-gasp effort saw Norris become the first driver to lap the circuit in under 70 seconds, before he kept the lead into Sainte Devote, keeping Leclerc behind after locking up both front tyres on the inside line.
More from the Singapore GP
Catch up with Total Motorsport's latest Singapore GP coverage, including Max Verstappen's victory at Marina Bay, Ferrari's costly strategy gamble, the full race classification, and the updated 2026 Formula 1 Drivers' and Constructors' Championship standings.
He then controlled the pace across the first two stints before settling in behind Max Verstappen, who was still yet to stop for a second time, in the closing stages. Once Red Bull pitted the Dutchman, Norris unleashed his pace, setting the fastest lap on the final tour.
A crucial victory to close the gap at the top of the drivers’ standings to just three points heading to the Spanish Grand Prix. After a turbulent period where his racecraft and mentality have been questioned, Norris is back on track.
Loser – Aston Martin
Another race with a promising qualifying result – at least for Fernando Alonso this time – and another disastrous Sunday result that left its two-time champion frustrated.
Alonso had qualified seventh but was promoted to sixth when Lewis Hamilton was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Verstappen in qualifying. But the Ferrari driver got back ahead of the Spaniard through strategy, before a power unit issue took Alonso out of the race.
That DNF means Alonso has now failed to score in the first eight races for the first time since his debut season with Minardi in 2001, with mechanical failures contributing on multiple occasions this term.
Team-mate Lance Stroll had a grid penalty for his part in the collision with Leclerc in first practice – which was mostly down to a team miscommunication – and though he also left pointless, his stunning move on Nico Hulkenberg on the final lap around the outside into the Nouvelle Chicane proves overtaking is possible in Monaco.
Winner – Racing Bulls
Double points for Racing Bulls was a continuation of Isack Hadjar’s form and a welcome boost for Liam Lawson, though the tactics used to achieve the result were the catalyst for shambolic scenes during the race.
With Hadjar ahead of Lawson, the Kiwi trundled around, backing those behind him up to allow the Frenchman to take his first pitstop and come out ahead.
Lawson kept the game up for Hadjar to scamper down the road and get his second pitstop completed, before putting in fast laps of his own to ensure he kept a hold of his eighth position.
It was a stroke of genius from the team to ensure the best result possible on a day when the rule change was exposed.
Loser – Mercedes
One of the teams that was hamstrung by the tactics employed by Racing Bulls and then Williams, which cottoned on to the gameplay, Mercedes’ weekend was really ruined by a poor Saturday.
Kimi Antonelli found out the hard way that Monaco bites when you’re anything other than perfect as he hit the barriers at the Nouvelle Chicane, leaving him out in Q2.
George Russell didn’t go any further either after his Mercedes ground to a halt following a failure over a bump at Sainte Devote. With neither driver into Q3, points were always going to be difficult and with the teamwork employed by rival teams, there was no strategy that would have helped the Silver Arrows recover.
Simply a weekend to move on from.
Winner – Charles Leclerc
Ferrari’s season has been largely underwhelming so far, other than Hamilton’s sprint triumph in China and a podium for Leclerc in Miami and the Monegasque fired warning signals before his home race.
Leclerc was concerned by the Scuderia’s performance in low-speed sections of track and, with Monaco being almost entirely low-speed, it was clear just why he was worried.
Yet a clean sweep of table-topping times in practice showed just how rapid Leclerc was around his home streets and, had it not been for Norris’ stellar lap at the death, it would have been pole – and likely victory at the end of Sunday.
What he and Ferrari need to do now is carry that momentum forward into the Spanish GP and make up for lost ground in the first third of the campaign.
Loser – Monaco
With the narrative around Monaco in recent years constantly pointing to the lack of action on Sunday’s at the event, the two-stop rule was supposed to revitalise the race.
It did the opposite as any early intrigue was destroyed by the ‘helpful team-mate’ strategy used by Racing Bulls and Williams. It was farcical seeing cars driving around at F2 speeds, taking away any challenge that the narrow streets could have presented.
So at the end of the race weekend, talk is now on how poor the racing spectacle was rather than what a great event was put on – which it was.
The grandstands were full, the harbour was full of yachts and the allure of the event remains. But the on-track offering wasn’t up to scratch and that remains an issue.
