Monaco Grand Prix – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has taken a comfortable lights to flag victory at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Verstappen claimed his first win on the streets of Monte Carlo ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
The Dutchman started on a de facto pole position as original polesitter Charles Leclerc was unable to participate in the Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver had a crash on in Saturday’s qualifying session and there were concerns that the Monegasque drivers’ gearbox was damaged.
Ferrari felt they could race, but on the way to the grid, Leclerc felt something wrong with the gearbox and Ferrari had to ultimately retire the car before they even started.
Mercedes had a day forget at the Principality – Valtteri Bottas had to retire from the race and Lewis Hamilton languished down in seventh. The Finn started well but had to retire at the pitstop due to the team being unable to remove his right front tyre.
When the race went underway, the cars filed in behind Verstappen with Bottas and Sainz holding position into Turn 1. The gaps seemed to ebb and flow between the top three but the Red Bull driver remained unchallenged.
Hamilton was the first to blink and came into the pits on Lap 30 in an attempt to undercut Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly in sixth. Bottas pit a lap later but had a nightmare stop as the front right wheel just wouldn’t budge. The team were forced to retire Bottas from the race being unable to complete the stop.
Mercedes’ race didn’t get any better as Hamilton’s undercut didn’t work. Not only did he come out behind Gasly, but he also lost out to Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel. The German had a strong race running up in P5.
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Sergio Perez in the sister Red Bull was the last of the front runners to pit and came out in P4, crucially ahead of frustrated Hamilton. Perez cruised up to the back of Norris who was struggling on his hard tyres. However, the Mexican was unable to find a way past the McLaren driver in the end.
The race then settled down which allowed Verstappen to cruise to the 12th win of his career. Sainz matched his career best finish in second and took his first Ferrari podium. Norris was rewarded with third who managed to keep Perez at bay in fourth. Vettel rounded out a strong weekend in fifth with Gasly finishing in sixth.
Hamilton finished in seventh who took a late pitstop to secure the fastest lap of the race. Lance Stroll in the sister Aston Martin finished in eighth – having been one of the last drivers to stop – and helped secure a double-points finish for the team. Esteban Ocon had a quiet race down in ninth whilst Antonio Giovinazzi rounded out the top ten for Alfa Romeo.
