DPA
Monaco
Not even the rain could stop champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull from claiming his fourth win of the Formula One season at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.
This was Verstappen’s second win at the glamorous event in Monaco and his 39th overall.
“It’s super nice to win it with the weather and everything - to stay calm and bring it home,” he said.
The championship leader and polesitter had a clear start, with Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin following suit as the top 10 held their positions. Verstappen had built a five-second advantage by lap 14, increasing that to 11 seconds further into the race.
His pace was slowed down by the heavy traffic once he reached the back of the grid, and there was a scare once it started to rain in lap 52 - when Verstappen was yet to pit at all.
Alonso pitted ahead of Verstappen, but went for medium tyres shortly before the rain got a bit more intense. He was forced to pit again, this time for intermediates, paving the way for a drama-free win for Verstappen.
“It was difficult because we were on the medium initially, we didn’t want to stay out that long but we had to because the rain was coming.
Then the rain came, it was incredibly slippery, I clipped the walls as it was super difficult out there - but that’s Monaco,” Verstappen said.
Had Alonso initially chosen the intermediate tyres, he could have snatched the race lead. The Spanish driver, however, celebrated his best result this season so far with second place, after four third-place finishes.
Of the six races this year, Alonso only missed the podium at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, when he was fourth.
“It was difficult, we opted to start on the tyres so we gave up on the possibility into Turn 1. Then the rain made things a bit difficult. Braking was extremely fragile, I think everyone did an amazing job today to keep the cars on track,” Alonso said.
Esteban Ocon, meanwhile, claimed a surprise podium for Alpine, the third of his career and his first since 2021, when he won the Hungarian Grand Prix.
“What a super weekend from everyone at the team, we improved the car from beginning to end and we didn’t put a foot wrong. Even when we put on the inters, it was the perfect moment to do it,” Ocon said.
Mercedes were fourth and fifth with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, respectively. Pierre Gasly was seventh between the Ferrari cars of Monaco native Charles Leclerc in sixth and Carloz Sainz in eighth.
McLaren completed the top 10 with Lando Norris and rookie Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen also benefited from a miserable afternoon for his team-mate Sergio Perez and opened a 39-point gap over the Mexican in the drivers’ championship.
Next on the Formula One calendar is the Spanish Grand Prix next Sunday.
