Max Verstappen dominates in Monte-Carlo, rain mocks Charles Leclerc: 6th
The winner is the most anticipated, but the weather upsets everything.
Max Verstappen also wins the Monaco Grand Prix, further escaping at the top of the 2023 Formula 1 standings. With him on the Monte-Carlo podium are the indomitable Fernando Alonso and an excellent Esteban Ocon. Badly the Ferraris: Charles Leclerc finishes sixth and Carlos Sainz even eighth. Both paid for the wrong decisions on pit stops, caused by the heavy downpour of rain that fell on the Principality in the course of the race.
At the start all the positions of Saturday were maintained, with Verstappen in front, Alonso behind him and then Ocon, Sainz, Hamilton and Leclerc. On lap 11, however, Sainz tries to attack the Frenchman from Alpine down the tunnel and the two touch slightly. The Ferrari loses an aerodynamic appendage, but there are no consequences.
With Leclerc starting on hard tyres, Ferrari seems to differentiate strategies. Sainz, who is on medium, makes his pit stop on lap 34 (two after Hamilton and one after Ocon): left behind Alpine, he complains to the race wall over the radio. Even more mocking is Leclerc’s stop, who at 45′ mounts the averages. But in the 52′ a downpour breaks out over Monte-Carlo.
The rain surprises many, including Alonso’s Aston Martin, which opts first for intermediates and only later on full wets. Those who make further mistakes, however, are Ferrari, who waits too long to call Sainz back to the pits. The Spaniard then goes long at Mirabeau and finds himself behind Leclerc, losing an additional position when the two have to pit one behind the other.
The Monte-Carlo track becomes undrivable for several laps before the rain subsides. Verstappen then only needs to try to avoid risks to take a victory that was never in question, except for two slight contacts with the wall at Portier and Piscine.
Monaco Grand Prix 2023, the order of finish:
1 Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull Racing)
2 Fernando ALONSO (Aston Martin)
3 Esteban OCON (Alpine)
4 Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
5 George RUSSELL (Mercedes)
6 Charles LECLERC (Ferrari)
7 Pierre GASLY (Alpine)
8 Carlos SAINZ (Ferrari)
9 Lando NORRIS (McLaren)
10 Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren)
