Max Verstappen opened a healthy lead in the F1 championship race with victory at the Monaco Grand Prix. Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez failed to score after struggling to overcome his qualifying crash, handing the initiative to the two-time World Champion. Fernando Alonso finished second for Aston Martin with Esteban Ocon third for Alpine as rain created quite the spectacle in the closing stages. Here are five key storylines provided by the Monaco GP weekend.
Perez shocker ends F1 title race
Perez would have entered the weekend knowing a street circuit would provide a chance to peg back Verstappen in the title race. The Mexican instead likely threw away any hopes he had of securing a maiden Drivers' crown with a messy two days on the streets of the principality. The criminal offence was a crash at the start of qualifying which left Red Bull a hefty repair job to prepare the RB19 for the race. The incident left Perez with an uphill battle just to secure points whilst his teammate secured a memorable Pole Position. Whilst Verstappen dominated at the front of the field in dry-wet conditions, Perez fumbled his way to 16th after contact with Lance Stroll, George Russell and Kevin Magnussen, resulting in five pit stops and becoming an effective guinea pig for the championship leader when the rain came down. The gap between the two Red Bulls now stands at 39 points and, with no other drivers involved in the championship battle, Verstappen already has one hand on a third title.
This year so far, Max has won 4 out of 6 races. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/sLctv2yTrZ — Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) May 28, 2023
Alonso and Aston Martin's agonising miss
With the chequered flag already flying in qualifying, Alonso had seemingly secured his first F1 Pole Position since the 2012 German Grand Prix. Verstappen was two-tenths down after the opening two sectors, only to claw back the deficit with a herculean effort in the final part of the lap to snatch the top spot away from the Aston Martin driver. Come race day, Alonso opted to start on the Hard tyres in contrast to Verstappen, who chose Mediums. This gave the polesitter an initial advantage but would play back into Alonso's favour later in the race. Or so it should have, only for Verstappen to eke every bit of life out of his yellow-walled Pirellis for over 50 laps. When the rain came down, however, Alonso and Aston Martin were unconvinced over which tyre should be fitted at his mandatory pit stop. Mediums was the call, though that proved to be incorrect as a deluge hit the section of track between Casino Square and Portier. Unbeknown to the team, Verstappen had lost time with an error into Portier with his aged tyres not able to retain temperature. Had Alonso switched to Intermediates, who knows what could have happened. The Spaniard eventually settled for second and a fifth podium in the opening six races.
Mercedes take step forwards after upgrades finally added
Mercedes was forced to delay its major upgrade package initially aimed for Imola due to the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but the updates certainly made the visual impact promised by the Silver Arrows. The 'zeropod' concept has been ditched and although the design has taken a step in the direction of the Red Bull, there is still a uniqueness about the W14's look. Monaco was never going to be the confirmation for whether the upgrades had made the desired effect, especially given Mercedes' torrid record at the venue in recent years. So Lewis Hamilton and George Russell leaving the race with a fourth and a fifth will definitely be regarded as a positive outcome for the team, even with the latter taking a five-second penalty for colliding with Perez when rejoining the track after an off at Mirabeau. The key to the result was strategic perfection from the Mercedes pit wall. With both drivers performing well and the pit wall in sync, it feels as though a strong car would make the team a considerable force at the top of F1's pecking order.
Alpine shrug off 'amateur' sting
The absence of Imola gave Alpine extra time to stew over a scathing assessment of the team's opening five races his term from CEO Laurent Rossi. Otmar Szafnauer's place as Team Principal came under pressure in the wake of Rossi's comments, in which he labelled the performances thus far as 'amateurish'. That critique seems a world away after a scintillating performance from Esteban Ocon to finish on the podium. With two minutes left in Q3 on Saturday, the Frenchman was on provisional pole, only to be shuffled down by Charles Leclerc, Alonso and Verstappen. But the Ferrari driver's penalty for impeding Lando Norris' McLaren in the tunnel allowed Ocon to start third on the grid. Despite race-long pressure from Carlos Sainz - who hit Ocon in the opening stages - and Hamilton, the Alpine driver held firm to deny his rivals an opportunity to move past. When the pit stop window came midway through the race, Ocon's in-lap and out-lap pace was enough to overcome a slow stop from his Alpine team - emerging ahead of Sainz once the Spaniard pitted himself. The correct tactical decisions were made once the rain fell to secure the podium - not bad for an 'amateur' team.
Monaco delivers when it needed to
There is no doubting the pressure that has been put on the Monaco Grand Prix in recent years. Larger cars have reduced the overtaking opportunities compared to yesteryear and the arrival of events such as Miami and Las Vegas has the potential to reduce the sparkle Monaco has become irreplaceable for. So on perhaps the most important weekend Monaco has faced in recent history, F1 delivered an outstanding spectacle with one of the greatest qualifying sessions in memory, as well as an exciting race. There may not have been too much action at the front of the pack, but there were overtakes being made for the minor positions - both Haas drivers were openly getting their elbows out whilst Valtteri Bottas pickpocketed Alex Albon into the hairpin. The rain did help the spectacle a lot, but that is part of the game. The race wasn't a snoozefest and if anyone came away thinking Monaco doesn't deserve a place on the calendar, then play them the highlights!
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