Lando Norris held off Charles Leclerc to win an unusual Monaco Grand Prix that was dictated by new pit stop requirements.

Pole-sitter Norris controlled the race and overcame the jeopardy of two mandatory tyre changes to win for the first time since the season-opener in Australia and cut his deficit to championship leader Oscar Piastri to three points.

Piastri took a seventh consecutive podium from fourth-placed Max Verstappen, who actually led the most laps and was leading until the penultimate lap when he took his final pit stop.

• Monaco GP result | F1 championship standings
• Got Sky? Watch F1 races LIVE on your phone! ?
• Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW ?
• Choose the Sky Sports push notifications you want! ?

Norris came under serious pressure from Leclerc in the closing stages as Verstappen backed the McLaren driver up. However, Leclerc was unable to go for a move and settled for the runners-up spot on home soil.

"It feels amazing. It's a long, gruelling race, but good fun. We could push for much of the race," said Norris.

"The last quarter was stressful with Leclerc behind and Max ahead, but we won in Monaco. This is what I dreamed of when I was a kid, so I achieved one of my dreams.

"The worst bit was the end. I felt quite under control the whole race but Max was backing it up a little bit and I knew Charles had opportunities. I tried to back off Max so I could push when I needed to. I'm very happy, my team are very happy. Therefore we're going to have a wonderful night!"

Lewis Hamilton finished a lonely fifth after gaining two spots from his starting position of seventh through the early pit stop phase.

Rookie Isack Hadjar scored his career-best F1 result in sixth with Racing Bulls nailing the strategy by using Liam Lawson to hold the field up, to create a pit stop gap for Hadjar.

Lawson was also rewarded with his first points of 2025 in eighth behind Haas' Esteban Ocon.

Williams duo Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz also worked together strategically to finish ninth and 10th respectively.

George Russell finished in 11th after a drive-through penalty for cutting the corner, almost in frustration when stuck behind the Williams drivers.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was set to score points until an engine issue forced him to retire and Alpine's Pierre Gasly crashed into the back of Yuki Tsunoda early on.

How Norris beat Leclerc and pit stop rule caused early havoc

The top 10 remained in the same positions on the opening lap as Norris got a good getaway from Leclerc, with the only notable incident coming when Kimi Antonelli dived down the inside of Gabriel Bortoleto at Turn 8 and the Sauber driver hit the wall.

That caused a Virtual Safety Car, then Gasly hit the back of Tsunoda at the Nouvelle Chicane shortly after the restart. The Alpine driver limped back to the pit lane and, surprisingly, there was no VSC or Safety Car for a large piece of debris from the incident.

Verstappen nearly overtook Piastri as the drivers navigated the debris and double-waved yellow flags before the race settled into a rhythm.

It then became clear that drivers were manufacturing gaps in the field to help their team-mates. Of the leaders, McLaren chose to pit Norris first to cover off any undercut threat, and they then responded to Leclerc's second pit stop which meant most of the front-runners completed their two stops by lap 50 of 78.

Verstappen was the outlier as he started on the hards and switched to the mediums, going long in both stints. The Red Bull driver led 28 of the last 29 laps as Red Bull gambled on a red flag, which would have allowed Verstappen to change tyres and keep the lead.

It did not come but Verstappen's slow pace meant Leclerc was within one second of Norris for several laps. He could not challenge to make an overtake.

Hamilton was the fifth and final driver on the lead lap due to the slow pace from Lawson, who backed up the field to help Racing Bulls team-mate Hadjar.

It paid off but created the unusual scenario of drivers being relatively slow, knowing it was almost impossible to overtake. The scenario is nothing new to Monaco but was perhaps exacerbated by the two pit stops as Williams also played the same card to the frustration of Russell.

Russell cut the Nouvelle Chicane to overtake Albon which resulted in a drive-through penalty, and the Briton's frustration was clear on the radio.

Other than the leaders navigating their way through the traffic there were no other incidents of note, but the new Monaco pit stop rule will come under scrutiny.

F1's European triple header concludes with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, with live coverage starting from Friday on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Monaco GP: Lando Norris fends off Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri to win unusual race after new tyre rules