Max Verstappen with great force majeure the best in the rain-tricky GP of Monaco | formula 1

It was the start of the race from which Alonso drew the most hope in advance. Perhaps, if he got away significantly better than Verstappen, he would still have a chance to take the lead and then hold onto it in the narrow streets of Monaco. But the world champion took off excellently, so that his place was not in danger for a second.

The Dutchman from Red Bull then quickly drove away from the Spaniard from Aston Martin. The gap quickly became reassuring, allowing Red Bull to factor in any potential danger in their strategy. For example, the difference with Alonso was closely monitored. Verstappen, who started on the medium tyre, would normally have to make a pit stop earlier than the Spaniard, who drove on the hard tyre.

Watch the replay of the start

But they only dared to do that at Red Bull if Verstappen was still in front of Alonso after a pit stop. With the chance of a rain shower and the fact that an accident in Monaco is in a small corner, the world champion’s team did not want to relinquish the initiative. And so Verstappen drove for a very long time on almost worn tires.

He eventually exchanged them for intermediates. Because with more than 20 laps to go there was still chaos. When it started to rain and the track got wet quickly, it caused some incidents. Carlos Sainz, Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll fell victim to it. The Canadian and Dane dropped out. But all the consternation took place far behind Verstappen, who only saw his lead grow.

So was his lead in the world championship. Because Sergio Pérez, the number two in the standings, everything went wrong. Already starting from last place, he needed no fewer than five pit stops due to various incidents. The Mexican finished outside the points and is now 39 points behind Verstappen.

Whoever also finished outside the points was Nyck de Vries. But the Dutchman drove a solid, flawless race. It earned him a twelfth place, his best result of the season.

But that took place at a great distance from Verstappen, who sovereignly booked his fourth victory of the season. For the second time in his career, he was the best in Monaco. In addition, he maintained undefeated status for his team. Red Bull has won all six 2023 grands prix so far, while Verstappen finished in the top two in all of those races.

“It was incredibly slippery and when you have such a big gap you don’t want to push too hard, but at the same time you don’t want to lose any more time and that makes it a bit difficult,” said Verstappen, who won Sebastian Vettel with his 39th victory. as the most successful Red Bull driver in terms of GP victories.” especially, we stayed very calm in the rain.”

See how Verstappen hit the wall