Tayla Talks is back with a wrap up of the Monaco Grand Prix in 2023 for the 80th time the beloved Formula 1 paddock have been.
The Monaco Grand Prix is always a crazy round, especially due to the history and lavish lifestyles on show.
There is nothing quite like Monaco, but what happened on the streets of Monaco in 2023? Tayla Talks is going to unpack all of the awesome action from Sunday.
The last five winners of the Grand Prix have truly shown some mega determination, precision, and concentration to put it all together.
2017’s win was snagged by Sebastian Vettel in Scuderia Ferrari, while in 2018, we saw Daniel Ricciardo (33) take the top step, 2019 had Lewis Hamilton dominate, 2021 Max Verstappen took the lead, and in 2022 Sergio Perez took the win after an incredible weekend.
Circuit de Monaco length is a whopping 3.337km, with scenic views and extremely difficult, narrow corners – all 19 turns holding mischievous bets against drivers.
A total race distance 260.268km was undertaken by 20 of the worlds most skilled drivers over 78 laps.
Qualifying brought championship leader Max Verstappen (25) back to the top, with Fernando Alonso (41) right behind him in second, and Charles Leclerc (25) in third. The Monegasque later given a grid penalty, dropping him to P6 over impending Lando Norris (23). This enabled Frenchman Esteban Ocon (26) to jump into P3.
With impeccable skills needed to conquer the iconic Monaco Grand Prix, talent and luck are pretty heavy attributes to putting together the perfect weekend finish.
We saw absolute chaos hit during the opening laps with rookie Logan Sargeant (22) making contact with Nico Hulkenberg (35), ending in a 5 second time penalty to be served in the pits for the HAAS driver.
Lap 12 had Carlos Sainz (28) pushing too hard and swiping Ocon, the Ferrari driver picking up front wing damage.
Refusing to go into the pits, and the team not making the order, he was given a black and white flag on lap 17.
Going further into the race, appearing to be a quiet heads-down session, Sainz went in to take his stop. Soon after, he was still behind Ocon after a failed undercut.
Sainz voiced his frustrations with an angry radio message to the team regarding the pit strategy, seeming to be stuck behind the 31 BWT Alpine car.
Race control were overly busy throughout the entire race, handing out black and white flags left, right, and centre. Lance Stroll (24) becoming victim to one of the many given on lap 41.
The race got even more chaotic as Monaco was hit by rain, particularly hard in Rascasse, making drivers showcase their skills once again on laps 52 and 53.
Most teams start demanding drivers box for inters as tires start losing temperature quickly.
Drivers became frantic to get back to the pits, cars sliding every which way as the water spread further. Alonso deciding to go with Medium tires, which was later picked as the mistake of the weekend as he later headed back in for Intermediate tires.
Ferrari came back to Monaco with a double stack on lap 55, this one going more smoothly than we saw in 2022. However yellow flags were briefly shown on lap 57 for Stroll losing his front wing on Inters from contact with the barriers.
Not long after Kevin Magnussen (30) slides into the barriers lightly at Rascasse, but gets himself into the pits without the need for a safety car, or virtual safety car; a win for the day.
Within a few laps span, Sargeant goes into the Lowes hairpin, hitting the barriers lightly and able to get going again and headed into the pits, only to be under investigation for speeding in the pit-lane on lap 59. A hard day for many drivers across the paddock.
While race control were notorious for handing out black and white flags, they also gave a few hefty time penalties over the duration of the race.
George Russell (25) gaining one for contact with Sergio Pérez (32) after an unsafe rejoin onto the racing line. The contact was nasty, but ending in minimal damage for both drivers.
The first DNF of the race was Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll on lap 63 while Lewis Hamilton (38) put out a message on the radio aimed at race control, suggesting the race should be red flagged due to the danger of a wet race at Circuit De Monaco.
Hulkenberg was hit with a 10 second time penalty on lap 64, adding to the chaos fans were witnessing.
Lap 66 saw an aggressive radio message from Yuki Tsunoda (23) to his team with the strategy to optimise braking with a fast Norris behind, and a potential brake issue during the race.
‘Are you guys trying to crash me or not?’
Frustrated Yuki Tsunoda to Scuderia Alpha Tauri team.
Pierre Gasly (27) was awarded a black and white flag for track limits, warned of a penalty if he were to continue. A tough time highlighted for just one out of twenty drivers.
Tsunoda continued having difficulties, sliding off the track, losing two positions. 7 laps later, Magnussen became the second DNF the race had seen.
Finally, the chequered flag was shown as the track started drying out and tire temps began to rise.
Oracle RedBull Racing marked their 39th win with Max Verstappen taking the victory, and surpassing Sebastian Vettel’s (35) whopping 38 wins with RB. The team are well and truly back to dominating another motorsport era.
Verstappen took first position by 27.911 seconds over Alonso as Ocon came in third.
Ocon became the first Frenchman to stand on the Monaco podium since 1996, snagging the first podium of the year for BWT Alpine as a bonus.
Both McLaren drivers landed themselves in the points, showing the upgrades were slowly progressing back into race mode. Oscar Piastri (22) grabbing a P10 on his first Formula 1 race in Monaco.
Alex Albon (27) was placed under investigation as the race came to a close, suspicions from stewards over multiple track infringements.
With wild rain zeroing in on Monaco, it made a fantastic race for spectators, and a crazy one for drivers; it was one for the history books.
So, do you think the the podium was well-fit, or is there another driver you believe deserved it more?
Thanks for tuning in! Until next time,
Tayla Talks ❤
Tayla Talks 
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