May it be the late downpour, slippery driving conditions or Fernando Alonso, It was a complete Max Verstappen show against all odds. The flying Dutchman showed everyone why the defending champion is the toughest driver to beat in the circuit as he kept a comfortable lead from the word go. Verstappen easily kept Fernando Alonso at bay who finished second and Esteban Ocon held off Lewis Hamilton to take the final podium.
Monaco GP: Alonso gamble backfires
Red Bull’s Verstappen was in total control as he kept increasing his lead over the Aston Martin driver, Alonso. Just to give an idea of how massive the win was, the gap between the first two cars was 27.9 seconds, but this doesn’t reveal the complete picture as Alonso did have a chance to win the grand prix.
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The tides could have shifted when heaven opened up on lap 49 as the weather changed from a light drizzle to a downpour. Alonso charged into the pit lane to change tyres and to everyone’s surprise, Alpine opted for slicks instead of intermediates. This mistake cost Alonso a possible victory at Monaco and before the Spaniard could return to the pit, Verstappen had already opted for intermediates. The Aston Martin driver’s second pitstop put him around 20 seconds behind the Dutchman. After the race, Alonso defended the tyre change decision saying, “So why will we put on the inters, when it was completely dry, 99 per cent of the track? I stopped for dries, the weather forecast was a small shower, and the small quantity of rain as well as what we had [on the radar] as a team.”
This is Verstappen’s fourth victory of the season and now he has a healthy 39 points lead over his Red Bull team Sergio Perez. The Mexican has a race to forget after crashing out in the qualifiers and later starting from the back on Sunday to only finish 16th.
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Monaco GP: Cloud nine moment for Ocon
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon set the fourth fastest time during qualifiers but as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was handed a three-place grid penalty, hence, the Frenchman started from third. Ocon was straight away put under pressure by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari man had his chance to overtake the Alpine car, but due to wet driving conditions, he went wide at the Nouvelle Chicane. Due to this error, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was fourth in place and tried to overtake Econ, but the Alpine racer kept his patience and took third place.
Hamilton’s teammate, George Russell, managed to finish fifth while the local boy Leclerc came sixth, the same position he started from. The seventh position was secured by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly followed by Sainz and the McLaren duo — Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri completing the top.
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