Monaco Moments & Lando for the Win

Monaco 2025 gave us drama, heartbreak, and headlines with a new rule in place to spice things up! Or at least try to... Let’s unpack it.

The Monaco Grand Prix is meant to be glamorous, but this year it was chaotic. In this episode, we look at the chaos of the new rule and why team strategy once again made or broke races.

You’ll hear about:

• The emotional highs of a new winner
• Team strategy fails (hi, Red Bull)
• Why Monaco divides the fans

Chapters in todays episode are:

• Race Recap
• Sector Three Showdown
• Fan Flags
• Virtual Safetea

And finally, I want to hear from you folks, What do you think Monaco's like...

• Do you love Monaco?
• Do you hate Monaco?
• Or have you got any ideas how they could make it better?

Subscribe, share it with your group chat, and tell us your Team Radio of the Week.

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome back to Trackside Tea, the formula one podcast where you focus on the drama, the fashion, and the flare without getting bogged down in technical jargon.

I'm Rebecca, and today we're diving into the glitz and the glitches of the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix, dramas, recaps, and my overall thoughts.

So the glamour and the grind. The jewel in the F1 crown where the yachts are as big as some of the egos and the overtakes are as rare as a quiet team radio.

This year, there was a change.

We're not into doing strategies too much on here, but they had a mandatory two pit stop strategy aimed at spicing things up. Did it work? Well, let's just say the strategy seemed far more exciting than the actual on track action.

For those who don't know, Monaco is notorious for no overtaking in the race. There aren't many places to overtake. It is very difficult. So really, the race is run on a Saturday at qualifying as there's really no changing unless someone has a crash, a mechanical fault mainly, or something silly happens.

But the race recap. Now every week, we do predictions on the F1 app. We've got a little league going on and everything, But you have to lock them in before qualifying.

And one of the questions for Monaco was, will we see a brand new winner this year? I said yes. And lo and behold, Lando Norris came to fruition and managed it. He started from pole and managed to keep his cool under pressure securing his ever Monaco win. Charles Leclerc, who won last year, gave it his all in front of his home crowd, but unfortunately came 2nd. I say unfortunately, but it's still podium and it's still good points, but, obviously, not the win he had the year before. And then Oscar Piastri finished off the podium trio, though a slow pit stop probably cost him the chance to get up higher.

So with sector three showdown, the drama unfolds. With a new rule of having a two pit stop, Max Verstappen tried an alternative way of doing it, staying out longer than most. But, unfortunately, it didn't pay off because he had to do it very late, and everybody else had already done theirs. So he managed to get up to 1st place, and he eventually pitted on the penultimate lap, dropping him from 1st to 4th at the last hurdle, giving the 1st place to Lando.

It was for at least one team a very strategic race. Williams were determined to stay in the points and were very good at holding the Mercedes driver, George Russell, back. It was even said afterwards that during the race, James Vowles from Williams messaged Toto Wolff from Mercedes, apologising for the way they were being forced to race. In the end, George Russell got so fed up with it, he received a penalty for cutting the chicane while overtaking Alex Albon of Williams and, unfortunately, that dropped him out of the points.

Fan flags with rising stars. Shout out to Isaac Hadjar who finished his best result yet, and to his teammate Liam Lawson who also bought home points. So that was a double points race for Racing Bulls, which is absolutely epic for them.

With the Virtual Safety Tea, final thoughts. Monaco does remain an epic spectacle, but the racing, not so much. Fair play to them for trying something different. I think it was George who said it was good of them to try something, but it didn't work. I'm not sure that anything can really be done to Monaco to make it different, to make the race about racing rather than a long train of cars. I know they're thinking of doing a change to the track to make a longer stretch, which means they should be able to overtake, but I'm not sure. Really not sure.

What do you all think?

What do you think Monaco's like? Do you love Monaco? Do you hate Monaco? Or have you got any ideas how they could make it better?

That's all for this episode of Trackside Tea.

Don't forget to subscribe. Join us next time as we break down the action from another Grand Prix. Until then, keep it sassy and speedy.