MONACO — Lando Norris realized a childhood dream as he won the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, and boosted his chances of achieving an even bigger goal: the Formula 1

The great Australian hope had his overall lead in the standings trimmed to just three points as McLaren team-mate Lando Norris sped to his first win in Monte Carlo.

Norris’ victory closed the gap on his teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri, who finished third behind Leclerc’s Ferrari

Piastri said what everyone was thinking the moment Norris entered the cooldown room. “‘Mate, I thought you were in the wall hard at Turn 1,” Piastri was heard saying. “I saw smoke everywhere and was like, ‘oh my god, no’.” Norris laughed and turned to Leclerc, who said he also thought the Briton was going to crash.

Max Verstappen, who led for much of the second half of the race, left his second stop until the penultimate lap, but was able to finish fourth, one place behind Piastri

In another swing of the McLaren pendulum, momentum is with Lando Norris after he claimed pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix having beaten Oscar Piastri last time out at Imola. It validates McLaren’s stance to not support one driver over the other,

Norris took pole position from Ferrari’s home favorite Charles Leclerc, with Sunday’s iconic grand prix next up in Monte Carlo

It’s not the driving - he knows how quick he is. It’s more managing the mental aspect of it and that’s where he’s tightened up at a few races.”