Verstappen rains despite Alonso efforts in Monaco
MAX Verstappen survived a rain shower and the looming threat of Fernando Alonso to secure an impressive victory at a one-sided Monaco Grand Prix.
Verstappen, who beat Alonso to pole position by just 0.084 seconds, kept his cool in the slippery conditions to lead Sunday’s 78-lap race, which lasted nearly two hours from start to finish, as he secured his fourth win of the season.
Alonso finished 27.9 seconds behind the Red Bull driver with Esteban Ocon third for Alpine, only the Frenchman’s third podium.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell took advantage of the rain to cross the line in fourth and fifth respectively for Mercedes.
Sergio Perez started last after he crashed out of qualifying and finished
16th following a terrible race for the Mexican driver which included five pit stops.
With Perez failing to score, Verstappen extended his lead in the standings from 14 to 39 points after six rounds of 22.
A dreary race suddenly burst into life on lap 51 as it started spitting.
Verstappen held a 10-second lead over Alonso but, despite the rain, Aston Martin hauled the Spaniard in for his first stop of the day and elected to send him out on the dry rubber. However, the spots of rain became heavier and Verstappen – now on 52-lap old slick tyres – had to tippy-toe his way back to the pits.
The Dutchman briefly lost control of his Red Bull on the entry to the tunnel, grazing the wall, before safely making it back to the pits to bolt on the intermediate tyres.
Aston Martin’s call to send Alonso out on the dry tyres afforded Verstappen some much-needed breathing space, with the Spaniard back in on the following lap for the intermediate rubber. He managed to hang on to second, but was now 22 seconds down the road.
“It started to rain and we had to make that call to go on to the intermediate tyres, and it was very slippery,” said Verstappen after taking his second win in the principality.
“I clipped the walls a few times, and it was slippery out there, but that is Monaco. It is super-nice to win in the way we did today with the weather and stay calm and bring it home.”