The Monaco Grand Prix was suspended with 10 laps remaining after tarmac broke up on the circuit, causing crashes including Charles Leclerc at Rascasse. Temporary repairs were completed and the race restarted at 5:12pm local time.
The Monaco Grand Prix changed tone with ten laps left, just as drivers were setting up for the final push and the famous tight streets demanded absolute precision.
A red flag was waved after the tarmac broke up on the road circuit. All remaining cars were sent back to the pit lane while officials inspected the surface, the kind of disruption that turns a race for position into a fight for survival on a track where small misjudgments are punished instantly.
Work began at Rascasse corner, where a heavy roller was applied on one of the circuit’s most iconic bends. The 2.07-mile lap leaves little room for error, and the damage to the surface sparked sudden chaos.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was leading when the red-flag suspension flashed onto drivers’ steering wheels and appeared on screens in team garages. Among the drivers who crashed out at that spot were Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, both caught up in the same broken section.
The stoppage created uncertainty over when the race might resume. It originally stopped at 4:35pm local time (3:35pm BST), before FIA officials later confirmed it would restart at 5:12pm local time (4:12pm BST). An FIA spokesman said: “Temporary repairs have been completed.”
When the cars went back out following a safety car, the disruption didn’t end. Carlos Sainz was forced to retire after colliding with Nico Hulkenberg.
By the time the race continued, it had already become a grim list of casualties. This was the seventh driver forced out of the event after Max Verstappen, Leclerc, Stroll, Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas and Oliver Bearman.
At Monaco, where the walls are always close and the asphalt is part of the drama, the suspension turned the final stretch into something else entirely—an event shaped not by strategy or speed, but by the sudden failure of the track itself.
Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 Charles Leclerc Lance Stroll Kimi Antonelli Rui Marquez Garry Donnelly FIA Rascasse tarmac failure red flag Carlos Sainz Nico Hulkenberg
Monaco always breaks down somehow. Like how is the tarmac just… failing mid-race? Ridiculous.
I saw Leclerc crash and thought it was driver error but now they saying it’s the road?? That corner at Rascasse must be cursed or something. Also why did it restart later, just let them finish whenever?
Wait so did they actually fix the tarmac in like 30-40 minutes? That sounds fake, like they just slapped it and sent cars back out. And Kimi Antonelli was leading?? I thought Max was dominating, guess Monaco said nope again.
This is why I can’t take F1 seriously in Monaco. One little patch of asphalt turns into a whole circus and now people are retiring because of “surface damage”?? Next thing you know the safety car will fix it with vibes.