Overview

• Russell incurred a drive-through penalty when he deliberately cut the Nouvelle Chicane to pass Alex Albon after trailing the Williams car for much of the race.
• Under Monaco’s new two-stop regulation, Carlos Sainz and Albon employed a pace-off tactic that trapped Russell behind slower cars to optimise their pit windows.
• Albon paid for the post-race dinner and revealed Russell ordered the most expensive dish, lobster pasta, before skipping dessert to even out the bill.
• Russell later joked that his meal tab “is definitely not even just yet,” extending their friendly rivalry into off-track banter.
• Williams still secured two points-paying finishes at the Circuit de Monaco with ninth and tenth place results despite the mid-race gambits.