Verstappen wins in rainy Monaco

Max Verstappen won the Monaco GP for the second time. The 25-year-old was top of his town from start to finish. Spanish Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) was second, followed by Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine). Nick de Vries finished outside the points in 12th place.

Verstappen has won four of the six grands prix this season and remains a solid leader in the championship. The Red Bull driver extended his lead over Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez from 14 to 39 points. The Mexican crashed out early in qualifying on Saturday, ending his chances of scoring any points. Overtaking is nearly impossible on Monaco’s narrow roads, which kept Perez out of the top ten. The Mexican damaged his car in an attempt to overtake and made five pit stops before finishing 16th.

The Monaco GP ended in turmoil. With just over 20 laps to go, it started to rain, causing a number of pit stops, slips and crashes. Verstappen made no mistakes and, like in 2021, won the Principality.

The Dutchman scored his first pole position in Monaco on Saturday. With this he has already laid the foundations for victory. Verstappen made a quick run at the start, took the fastest corners, and then held on to win the race.

The Red Bull drivers started on the medium tyres, but Alonso, who qualified second, went on the Aston Martin hard tyres. The Spaniard was able to drive longer than the Dutchman, who complained to his team about the deterioration of his tyres, halfway through the race. The team leader advised Alonso to keep running because he was going to lose the top position, so he made a pit stop.

When the rain picked up after 50 laps, Aston Martin made a bet to send Alonso out on the medium tyre, but it didn’t pay off. There was so much water on the course that we needed an intermediate player. Verstappen pitted for an intermediate one lap later, followed by Alonso for his second pit stop. With a comfortable lead of around 25 seconds, the Dutch driver ran comfortably for the remainder of the race.