The Monaco Grand Prix 2019 was the 6th round of the 2019 F1 season, and took place at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, on May 26th.
Lewis Hamilton won the race from the pole, followed by Sebastian Vettel, and Valtteri Bottas completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 23 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 9-12: 11 stops
The fastest pit stop was Carlos Sainz's, stopping the clock at 23.795 seconds during his pit stop on lap 30, while the slowest one was was Antonio Giovinazzi's, who stopped the clock at 35.651 seconds, 11.856 seconds slower than Sainz, during his pit stop on lap 44.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 1 stop. Only Charles Leclerc, Valtteri Bottas and Pierre Gasly decided to try something different with a 2 stops strategy.
The race winner, Lewis Hamilton, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
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2Nico Hülkenberg
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4George Russell
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-Lewis Hamilton
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2Sebastian Vettel
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4Sergio Pérez
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3Daniel Ricciardo
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9Kevin Magnussen
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1Max Verstappen
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2Robert Kubica
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3Carlos Sainz
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-Daniil Kvyat
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1Lance Stroll
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2Alexander Albon
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1Antonio Giovinazzi
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3Kimi Räikkönen
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1Lando Norris
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3Romain Grosjean
2 stops
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5Charles Leclerc
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1Valtteri Bottas
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3Pierre Gasly
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy lost an average of 0.18 positions, while those on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 1 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 2 stops strategy was the best option, even if Lewis Hamilton managed to win the race making 1 stop.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Circuit de Monaco, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 1 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, .
Collision
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Charles LeclercLap 16
Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton managed to get the pole position by 0.086 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:10.166. Valtteri Bottas was right behind him, helping Mercedes score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 12 out of the 15 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 8 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.