Monaco Grand Prix: Max Verstappen wins second Principality title
Max Verstappen received the Monaco Grand Prix winner's trophy from Prince Albert II (Photo ©Jean-Marc Follete)
The two-time reigning world champion won the 80th edition of the Monaco Grand Prix, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.
The race: unstoppable Max Verstappen
The rain that fell on the Principality circuit around the fiftieth lap of the race caused a few scares for the drivers, but in the end did not affect the outcome for the podium.
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Starting from pole position, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) led the race brilliantly from start to finish to claim his second victory in Monaco.
Starting second and third on the grid respectively, Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine) managed to hold on to their positions to join the Dutch driver on the podium.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) started the race in sixth place on the grid because he got in the way of Lando Norris (McLaren) after setting the third-fastest time in qualifying, ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz (Ferrari).
But the Monegasque driver was overtaken by George Russell (Mercedes) when the rain forced a number of pit stops. It was a good result for the silver arrows, who finished fourth with Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and fifth with the young British driver.
In terms of the world championship, this fourth win of the season means that Max Verstappen (144 points) has extended his lead at the top, ahead of team mate Sergio Perez (105 points) and Fernando Alonso (93 points). The next event, in a week’s time (4 June), is in Barcelona.
The number: 3
3 like the number of podium finishes in Esteban Ocon’s career, after his second place in Bahrain in 2020, his victory in Hungary in 2021 and the weekend’s third place at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2023. This is the first Monaco Grand Prix podium for a Frenchman since Olivier Panis in 1996.
The quotes: “Great to win here”
Max Verstappen : “It’s really great to win here. It was quite a difficult race because I was struggling with the medium tyres. It was difficult to drive in those conditions. The rain came and we had to change to intermediate tyres. It was very slippery, so I couldn’t push too hard, but I didn’t want to lose too much time. We scored a lot of points for the team, which is positive.”
Fernando Alonso : “Starting on hard tyres meant we missed the chance to attack on the first bend. We then had to work on our strategy but Max (Verstappen) managed to keep his medium tyres on for a very long time. That robbed us of a chance of overtaking him. The rain complicated matters. It was impossible to accelerate to full speed. I was surprised there were no accidents. Everyone managed to keep their car on track.”
Esteban Ocon : “It was a superb weekend for the whole team, from the simulator to the track. With each session, we managed to improve on the car. We didn’t make a single slip-up all weekend. I’m savouring this podium, and I hope others will follow.”