Piastri third as he fails to alter order of Monaco conga line

Oscar Piastri was third at the Monaco Grand Prix after rule changes designed to shake up the conga line of cars that traditionally snake the street circuit failed to change the tradition of grid positions determining the final result.

Third-placed Oscar Piastri of Australia congratulates race winner and fellow McLaren driver Lando Norris after the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco. Picture: Clive Rose/Getty Images

Oscar Piastri has finished third at the Monaco Grand Prix after rule changes designed to shake up the conga line of cars that traditionally snake the street circuit have failed to change the tradition of grid positions determining the final result when the chequered flag is waved at Port Hercule.

Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris converted pole position to his second victory of the season, following his win at the Australian GP, slinking to a 3.1sec triumph from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Piastri, who was only 3.6sec in arrears, and whose world championship lead from Norris was shaved to a mere three points – somewhere between a fingernail and a whisker.

Starting third on the grid, directly behind Norris, Piastri was under the pump from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen from the opening seconds. He held his nerve and line to keep our the bullying four-time world champion.

Oscar Piastri steers his car in front of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Picture: Gabriel Bouys/Pool Photo via AP

With drivers ordered to make two pit stops under the experimental new regulations, and three tyre changes, some did it nearly immediately while others, Verstappen most notably, waited until the second half of the race.

What eventuated was musical chairs on wheels, with positions swapping left right and centre but, in the end, everyone more or less finished where they started.

The starting grid order was Norris, Leclerc and Piastri. There they stayed. It was basically impossible for Piastri to pass Norris or Leclerc, and equally as difficult for Verstappen or anyone else to get past the Australian.

He settled for a highly respectable podium finish in the most prestigious motorsport in the world and yet it was a frustrating affair as his commanding lead for the world crown virtually went up in smoke.

Piastri’s first stop was on lap 21 of the 78-lap race. It took 3.8sec, as slow as a wet week thanks to one of his mechanics faffing around with a rear wheel.

“Now what’s the plan?” he old the McLaren garage. “Because that didn’t work very well.”

On lap 43, he slid out of control and kissed the barrier outside Sainte-Devote, the roadside church, but he steadied himself and paid no real penalty. Bless.

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri during a pit service. Picture: Gabriel Bouys/Pool Photo via AP

If Piastri’s first visit to the pits really was the pits, his second was better, under three seconds on lap 48, leaving him out on track for the rest of the afternoon while Norris and Leclerc still needed another stop.

Traffic was building up like peak hour in Sydney, Melbourne, London, New York, Paris or any other large city you care to mention. Verstappen led with only one laps remaining, but not really. When he made his second stop, delaying it as late as possible, he drifted back to fourth, and the top three of Norris, Leclerc and Piastri was re-established in the sequence they began.

“Obviously a win would have been better, but it’s been a tricky weekend,” Piastri said. “Practice was messy all the way through. I went into qualifying with not a lot of confidence with how the week was going. I got close but not close enough. Around here, the way you qualify is pretty much the way you finish.

“I’m pretty happy overall and it’s another trip to the podium at Monaco, so it’s not all bad. The margins are so fine and if this is a bad weekend, things aren’t going too badly at all. Some things to work on but we go again in Spain next weekend.”