FORMULA ONE: Verstappen wins again in rain affected Monaco GP
May 29, 2023
Max Verstappen continued his dominance of the season as he won for the fourth time this season at Monaco to extend his lead at the top of the Drivers Championship.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was second, almost 30 seconds behind the Red Bull driver with Esteban Ocon in an Alpine claiming his first podium of the season with a third-placed finish.
It was a race that was made interesting by a heavy downpour at around the mipoint of the race. But Verstappen and Alonso, who had started first and second respectively, held their nerves to finish in that order.
Commenting after the race Alonso told the media: “It was difficult. We opted to start on hard tyres. We gave up the possibility in Turn One.
“We tried to play a long game with the strategy but Max drove well on the mediums.
“We didn’t have any chance but then in the end, the rain made things complicated and hard to drive around in.
“I had no full power around the laps, the braking was fragile, it was not easy and I was surprised there was no safety car or incident. Everyone did a great job today,” he said.
Meanwhile race winner Verstappen also commented on the tyre choices and the tricky conditions: “It was quite a difficult one as we were on the mediums initially, and of course Fernando was on the hard tyres. We didn’t want to go out that long but we had to, rain was coming, so we didn’t really know what was going on.
“The tyres were graining and took a few laps to get through that graining phase and the pace picked up a little bit. But it was still very tricky to drive. Then it started to rain a bit more.
“So we had to make the call to go onto the inters, but it was incredibly slippery. When you are that far in the lead you don’t want to push too hard but you also don’t want to lose too much time, so it’s quite difficult in that scenario.
“It’s super nice to win it in the way we did today with the weather and everything to stay calm and bring it home and again a lot of points for the team as well, which is great.”
The result leaves Verstappen well clear at the top of the driver’s championship standings.
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 144 pts
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 105
3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 93
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 69
5. George Russell (Mercedes) – 50
6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 48
Continue Reading >>
Bet on Sports
FORMULA ONE: Verstappen wins again in rain affected Monaco GP
Max Verstappen continued his dominance of the season as he won for the fourth time this season at Monaco to extend his lead at the top of the Drivers Championship.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was second, almost 30 seconds behind the Red Bull driver with Esteban Ocon in an Alpine claiming his first podium of the season with a third-placed finish.
It was a race that was made interesting by a heavy downpour at around the mipoint of the race. But Verstappen and Alonso, who had started first and second respectively, held their nerves to finish in that order.
Commenting after the race Alonso told the media: “It was difficult. We opted to start on hard tyres. We gave up the possibility in Turn One.
“We tried to play a long game with the strategy but Max drove well on the mediums.
“We didn’t have any chance but then in the end, the rain made things complicated and hard to drive around in.
“I had no full power around the laps, the braking was fragile, it was not easy and I was surprised there was no safety car or incident. Everyone did a great job today,” he said.
Meanwhile race winner Verstappen also commented on the tyre choices and the tricky conditions: “It was quite a difficult one as we were on the mediums initially, and of course Fernando was on the hard tyres. We didn’t want to go out that long but we had to, rain was coming, so we didn’t really know what was going on.
“The tyres were graining and took a few laps to get through that graining phase and the pace picked up a little bit. But it was still very tricky to drive. Then it started to rain a bit more.
“So we had to make the call to go onto the inters, but it was incredibly slippery. When you are that far in the lead you don’t want to push too hard but you also don’t want to lose too much time, so it’s quite difficult in that scenario.
“It’s super nice to win it in the way we did today with the weather and everything to stay calm and bring it home and again a lot of points for the team as well, which is great.”
The result leaves Verstappen well clear at the top of the driver’s championship standings.
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 144 pts
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 105
3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 93
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 69
5. George Russell (Mercedes) – 50
6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 48