Max Verstappen managed to fend off Fernando Alonso in tricky conditions at Monaco to take his second victory around the streets of the principality. The Dutchman got a better start than Alonso in the short run into Sainte Devote, then maintained the gap on an alternate tyre strategy having started on the Mediums. Alonso was on the Hard tyres to stretch out the first stint, but rain affected the race midway through posed a challenge for the drivers. This meant Verstappen stayed out longer in anticipation for the rain. "It was quite a difficult one because we were on the Mediums initially and Fernando was on the Hard tyre. So we didn't want to go that long, but we had to stay out because the rain was coming," he said after the race. "The tyres were graining and then it took a few laps to get through that graining phase. Then the pace picked up a little bit, but it was still very tricky to drive."
Verstappen: I hit the wall a few times
Initially Aston Martin pitted Alonso first but for a set of Medium tyres, while Verstappen stayed out for an extra lap and pitted straight away for Intermediates. This turned out to be a crucial call for Verstappen, as it enabled him to keep the lead amid the chaos in the midfield. "It started to rain lap by lap, so at one point we had to make the call to go onto the Intermediates. It was incredibly slippery and when you're that far in the lead you don't want to push too hard, but also you don't want to lose too much time," explained Verstappen. "So it's quite a quite difficult in that in that scenario. I hit the walls a few times, but that's Monaco. "It super nice to win and I think in the way we did today with the weather and everything to stay calm and bring it home. A lot of points for the team as well."
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