Formula 1: Verstappen won the Monaco Grand Prix ahead of Alonso

The Red Bull driver won the prestigious Grand Prix for the second time after 2021 on Sunday and thus clinched his 39th Formula 1 victory. Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin gambled away their small chance of victory by changing tires too daringly. The Spaniard finished second, while Frenchman Esteban Ocon finished third in the Alpine.

Verstappen extended the championship lead over his teammate Sergio Perez to 39 points with his fourth win of the season. The Mexican, who started from the back after his qualifying crash, never really got going and damaged his front wing when he crashed into Kevin Magnussen’s Haas. With that, the race was practically over, and Perez finally finished 16th.

“It was difficult because we were initially on the medium. We didn’t want to stay out that long but we had to because the rain came. Then the rain came, it was incredibly slippery. I brushed the walls because it was very difficult out there – but that’s Monaco,” said Verstappen. “It’s super nice to win in this weather – to stay calm and bring the race home.”

“Max rode very well on the medium tires so we didn’t have a chance. Then the rain made things a bit difficult,” explained Alonso. His former teammate Ocon was more happy about third place: “What a great weekend for everyone in the team! We improved the car from start to finish and didn’t make a single mistake. Even when we switched to the Inters it was it’s the perfect moment to do that.”

The start on the narrow street circuit went off without any major incidents. The positions in the top field were then frozen until the pit stop phase from the 30th lap. For Alonso, who started out on hard tires – as opposed to Verstappen who had to manage a medium set – lap times slowed down fairly soon. The Spaniard gradually lost contact with the Dutchman, but was still able to stay in his pit stop window. The 41-year-old reported a possible puncture on the right front, but that didn’t come true.

The leading duo, George Russell and a few others took extra time with the pit stop in order to be able to react to the announced shower. 25 laps before the end the rain actually started. While Verstappen picked up Intermediates, Alonso had new dry tires fitted – and gambled with them because it was simply too wet. Shortly thereafter, Aston Martin ordered the Spaniard to come into the pits again to swap for intermediates.

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz spun on the now soaking wet track and thus missed what seemed a possible podium finish. Yellow flags and walking pace were now the norm. Magnussen flew off several times, Logan Sargeant in the Williams didn’t fare much better. The cars had to drive extremely slowly in order not to risk an accident. Nevertheless, Verstappen mastered the conditions and once again demoted the competition to extras. In the end he was almost 28 seconds ahead of Alonso.

Lewis Hamilton and George Hamilton in the two Mercedes “Silver Arrows” finished fourth and fifth, for Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari only sixth place remained. Seventh was Pierre Gasly in the second Alpine, Sainz was eighth.