Leclerc's dream comes true with home win in Monaco
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc celebrated a boyhood dream come true on Sunday as the first home winner of Formula One's showcase Monaco Grand Prix since Louis Chiron triumphed in 1931. It was also the first time the 26-year-old had stood on the Monaco podium in six attempts and came after two standing starts from pole position in a race halted when first-lap collisions took out a fifth of the field. McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished runner-up, 7.1 seconds behind after 78 laps without a chance to overtake on a street circuit that often produces processional races, and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was third. "It means a lot," said Leclerc, who screamed over the radio as he took a chequered flag waved by France soccer forward Kylian Mbappe while the crowd erupted and Prince Albert gave a royal thumbs up. "It's the race that made me dream of becoming a Formula One driver one day." Red Bull's championship leader and 2023 Monaco winner Max Verstappen started and finished sixth, the third time in eight races this season that the triple world champion has been beaten. McLaren's Lando Norris was fourth and George Russell fifth for Mercedes. Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton was seventh, with a bonus point for fastest lap, and Yuki Tsunoda eighth for Red Bull-owned RB. Alex Albon scored Williams's first points of the season in ninth and Pierre Gasly took the final one for Alpine despite a first-lap collision with team mate Esteban Ocon, whose race ended immediately. (Reuters)