Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen dominated in Monaco on Sunday to already put one hand on the 2023 title—but it was far from easy, as a rain shower added an element of jeopardy to an otherwise straightforward afternoon.
Verstappen Weathers the Monaco Storm
Securing pole position is usually a guarantee of victory around the narrow streets of Monaco and for much of the race it was a smooth ride for Verstappen.
He opened a comfortable buffer back to second-placed Fernando Alonso in dry conditions and extended his first stint on account of the Aston Martin driver not pitting. However, after 52 laps of 78 a rain shower bubbled up over the mountains above Monaco and swept in, dousing a handful of corners, but not hugely influencing the remainder of the track.
As lap times slowed the field stayed out, including Verstappen, who crept around the rain-hit surface and escaped a nervy moment when he slid into the wall at Portier. The intensifying rain was the signal to take on Intermediate tires and Verstappen duly retained a healthy advantage which he preserved throughout the final 25 laps of the 78-lap encounter. His fourth win from six starts in 2023 maintained Red Bull’s unbeaten start to the year.
A little bit or moisture made things a lot difficult for Verstappen in Monaco.
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“It started to rain, and we had really worn tires to go through there was not really enjoyable, clipped a few barriers, especially on my in-lap I think,” said Verstappen. “It was very, very difficult. But even on the intermediates after that, it was still very slippery through the second sector. It was quite wet there.
“The hard bit is that you have a good lead, but of course you don’t want to risk too much, but you don’t want to drive too slow because then you have no temperature in your tires. So yeah, just trying to find a bit the middle ground initially was a bit tough, but after a few laps I settled in and felt quite comfortable.”
It was a win that made Verstappen the most successful driver in Red Bull history, his 39th win surpassing the 38 that Sebastian Vettel earned with the team.
“I would have never thought I’d be in this position in my career when I grew up. I wanted to be a Formula 1 driver, and you’re now winning these races is amazing, it’s better than I could have ever imagined, for sure.”
Fernando Alonso turned in a season-best second-place finish on Sunday.
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Did Aston Blow a Chance?
Alonso ran a distant second to Verstappen during the race but when the shower began in the second sector Aston Martin brought the Spaniard into the pits. But he didn’t change to Intermediate tires and instead moved from the Hards to the Mediums, re-emerging on slick rubber.
As Alonso exited the pit lane the rain intensified in the middle sector and spread to the rest of the circuit, necessitating Intermediates, and the next time around Alonso came in once more for the green-banded compound. Did it cost Alonso and Aston Martin an elusive victory? They both downplayed the notion that a win was within reach.
“For me it was very clear that the track on the lap was stopped was completely dry, apart from Turns 7 and Turns 8, so how I will put the Inters… it was completely dry, 99% of the track,” said Alonso. “I stopped for dry [tires], the forecast was a small quantity of rain, and we had a lot of margin behind us to put on the dry tires and if necessary Inters. Maybe it was extra safe, I don’t know, but that minute and a half that it took to go through Turns 5, 6, 7 and 8 again it changed completely. The out lap, on the dry tires, was very wet, but the lap that we stopped it was completely dry.”
Alonso maintained that Aston Martin was “very, very happy, as the P1 was very fast today—in any tire Max was always 15-20 seconds ahead of us, so there was no chance to win today.”
Alonso’s viewpoint was backed up by boss Mike Krack.
“No, I don’t think [the win] was lost, because if we had fitted intermediates, Max would have fitted intermediates as well, and he also had the gap,” said Krack. “So I don’t think it [the initial stop] changed much.”
Esteban Ocon had plenty of reasons to be happy on Sunday.
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Alpine Grabs First Podium Since 2021
Alpine finished on the podium for the first time since the 2021 Qatar GP as Esteban Ocon excelled to capture third place.
Ocon set rapid pace during Q3 on Saturday to capture fourth place on the grid and that became third when Charles Leclerc was sanctioned for impeding Lando Norris. Ocon retained third spot at the start and resisted pressure from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in the first stint, before the Spaniard slid off the road in the wet.
George Russell vaulted Ocon during the dry/wet tire changeover but in a chaotic couple of minutes he too slid up the escape road, dropping down the order, putting Ocon back into the podium positions. Ocon then kept a charging Lewis Hamilton at bay in the Inter phase of the race to finally put Alpine back on the podium and lift some pressure from the team after a few scathing comments in Miami from CEO Laurent Rossi.
With Pierre Gasly finishing a fine seventh, it lifted Alpine clear of McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship, opening an 18-point buffer.
“This weekend has been an awesome one,” said Ocon. “We keep pushing, we don’t stop believing and hopefully that’s the first podium of many.”
Sergio Perez is 29 points back of teammate Max Verstappen in the championship.
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No More Room for Errors for Perez
There was a school of thought that, with Red Bull dominant, Sergio Perez could hang on in a title fight if he maximized poor weekends (ie, finishing second) and profited if and when Verstappen hit trouble.
But Monaco was a sizeable blow to his already slim chances. His crash in Q1 skewered his chances and his strategy of stopping on the first lap, to gain free air, backfired when he caught traffic, hit Kevin Magnussen after the Haas driver suffered anti-stall exiting the chicane, and then brushed the wall through Piscine—doing well to save a potentially enormous accident. Perez came home in 16th place, lapped twice by team-mate Verstappen, and now faces a huge 39-point deficit in the championship.
“We paid the price for my mistake and that’s been very costly,” said Perez. “I just have to apologize to my team because it is unacceptable to have this kind of mistake. I have to move on and learn from it—I cannot afford another zero in the championship.”
Explaining his race, Perez said: “It was going really well. Unfortunately, I hit the traffic really early and that put us back in our original position. Then the rain came and we were one of the last to pit. Then I clipped the wall and it was all a mess. I broke my front wing with Magnussen who just broke out of the chicane and it went bad. When you are in those positions, you always have to risk a lot.”
Yuki Tsunoda hung on for a ninth-place finish.
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Excellent Tsunoda Goes Unrewarded
Yuki Tsunoda has had an excellent season in a difficult spell for AlphaTauri and he captured a fine ninth place on the grid. That effectively left him “best of the rest,” ahead of both McLarens, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, the Haas drivers, Alfa Romeos and Williams, not to mention crasher Perez.
Tsunoda preserved that spot in the race but his hopes of adding to his points tally ended in the wet conditions as his weekend-long ill-feeling with the brakes was exacerbated. Tsunoda was powerless to prevent the McLaren drivers from passing, dropping him out of the points, before he slid off into an escape road.
“So disappointed,” said Tsunoda. “I can’t describe it with words, but until the middle of the race it was such a good car, such good pace, everything went well. So it’s hard to accept what’s happened in the end.”
Tsunoda added that he “felt like a passenger” as soon as the rain fell and was frustrated as the chance of a strong result—in the circumstances—slipped through his and AlphaTauri’s grasp.
Results
F1 Grand Prix of Monaco
Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 78 laps
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, +27.9 seconds
Esteban Ocon, Alpine, +36.9
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +39.0
George Russell, Mercedes, 56.2
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +1:01.8
Pierre Gasly, Alpine, +1:02.3
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, +1:03.3
Lando Norris, McLaren, +1 lap
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, +1 lap
Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo, +1 lap
Nyck DeVries, AlphaTauri, +1 lap
Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo, + 1 lap
Alexander Albon, Williams, + 1 lap
Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, +2 laps
Sergio Perez, Red Bull, +2 laps
Nico Hulkenberg, Haas, +2 laps
Logan Sargeant, Williams, +2 laps
Kevin Magnussen, Haas, +8 laps
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, +25 laps
Driver Standings
Max Verstappen 144
Sergio Perez 115
Fernando Alonso 93
Lewis Hamilton 69
George Russell 50
Carlos Sainz 48
Charles Leclerc 42
Lance Stroll 27
Esteban Ocon 21
Pierre Gasly 14
Lando Norris 12
Nico Hulkenberg 6
Oscar Piastri 5
Valtteri Bottas 4
Zhou Guanyu 2
Yuki Tsunoda 2
Kevin Magnussen 2
Alexander Albon 1
Nyck De Vries 0
Logan Sargeant 0
Constructors’ Championship
Red Bull 249
Aston Martin 120
Mercedes 119
Ferrari 90
Alpine 35
McLaren 17
Haas 8
Alfa Romeo 6
AlphaTauri 2
Williams 1
Keyword: F1 Monaco Grand Prix Results, Updated Standings: How Max Verstappen Ruled the Day