MONACO — With 10 laps to go in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, red flags waved across the circuit, bringing the race to a temporary halt.Charles Leclerc crashed into the barriers at the final corner moments earlier, causing a safety car to start taking the drivers around the track at a lower speed. The safety car had already been brought out once after Lance Stroll hit the wall at Turn 19 on Lap 60, with Leclerc crashing at the subsequent restart.The Ferrari driver was frustrated, blaming his brakes. But as the marshals cleared the track after Leclerc’s collision, they reported an issue with the track surface. Photos later showed clear damage, and it was something the drivers were aware of before the race began.Nico Hülkenberg called it “very sketchy” and that they “could see it already before the race, on the driver’s parade.” According to the Audi driver, there were pieces missing before the Formula 1 cars even hit the track, the asphalt clearly breaking apart.Williams’ Carlos Sainz told written media after the race that he saw it on Lap 1, while Haas’ Esteban Ocon, who pitted on Lap 9, said, “I was like, I can’t say anything, because now if we stop the race … we will lose out completely.”Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri explained that the track “broke up pretty quickly.”“At first, it kind of looked like marbles, but then you could see some of the holes in the ground,” the McLaren driver said. “Clearly by the end, it was not in a great state, so obviously that kind of stuff shouldn’t be happening.”The damage was on the racing line, Piastri confirmed, adding that the drivers began taking the corner tighter to avoid it because “it was like ice.”Ocon said that he took the final corner roughly two or three-tenths of a second slower due to the track damage.During the red flag, race director Rui Marques went down to inspect the track surface, and the parts that had broken off were swept away. Ultimately, it was decided that the race could resume, starting with two laps being done behind the safety car. An FIA spokesperson told The Athletic that teams were asked to request feedback from their drivers about the corner during those laps, before the cars lined up for a standing start.Hülkenberg told the written media after the race that there were still holes remaining in the asphalt, pieces clearly missing, as they prepared to restart, but added that “there was no safety concern for the last couple of laps.”Piastri was asked whether the track felt OK when the race restarted, to which he replied with a short “no.”Jun 7, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms