MAX TURNS ON THE MAGIC IN MONACO
Dutchman dominates as Mercedes is in the wars
Victory in the Monaco Grand Prix has given Max Verstappen the lead in the Formula 1 drivers’table for the first time in his career.
It was a commanding performance from the Red Bull star who benefited when his closest challenger was eliminated before the start. The Dutchman now has a four-point margin over Lewis Hamilton after five races this year.
While Verstappen was in second place on the dirtier side of the road, there was no-one in front of him at 1500hrs on Sunday, as pole position holder Charles Leclerc failed to make it onto the grid. After crashing in the dying moments of qualifying the previous day, Leclerc’s red-flag inducing accident meant no other driver – including a furious Verstappen – could beat his time.
Despite a check of the Ferrari on Sunday morning, Leclerc nervously left the pitlane for the grid and instantly felt a problem at the rear of his car. A fault with the left-rear driveshaft was incurable and a despondent Leclerc conceded the chances of a famous home win were over.
With one threat eliminated, Verstappen knew that he had to repel any attack from Mercedes’Valtteri Bottas on the run down to Turn 1. As the five red lights went out, Verstappen suffered with wheelspin and immediately moved to the inside to cover the Mercedes. Bottas lifted and settled for second place.
Behind him, as the field roared up the hill on the opening lap, Carlos Sainz was third ahead of Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly, the lowly-starting Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez.
During the opening stages of the race the leaders were running conservatively, looking after their soft tyres until their one and only pitstop. Unusually, this year’s edition of the Monaco Grand Prix was a low-key affair, rather than a crashstrewn lottery that can sometimes occur. Remarkably, the Aston Martin safety car remained parked in the pits all afternoon.
Across the weekend Mercedes had struggled with its tyres and – unlike Ferrari – was unusually off the pace. By lap 25, Bottas reported his left-front was particularly worn and had dropped to nearly five seconds behind the race leader. On lap 29 his team-mate Hamilton pitted but, rather than benefiting from an early stop, he remained stuck behind Gasly (who pitted a lap later) and was leapfrogged by Vettel’s Aston Martin. Things didn’t fare any better when Perez put in a series of ultra quick laps in clean air and was able to emerge in fourth ahead of Vettel, Gasly and a frustrated Hamilton.
Mercedes’afternoon went from bad to worse when second-placed Bottas came in for his stop on lap 30. Three wheels were changed in customary ultra-quick fashion, but the right front stubbornly wouldn’t come off. The wheelnut had been machined onto the axle and Bottas’ race was over. Rules stipulating two compounds of tyre must be used curtailed his grand prix instantly.
“It was so long I couldn’t believe it,” said Bottas. “I don’t think I’ve ever had my race end in a pitstop before. It’s hugely disappointing.”
Sainz and Norris were the beneficiaries of Bottas’misfortune and inherited second and third places. Despite the Ferrari attempting to apply some pressure on Verstappen in the latter stages, the Red Bull driver had everything under control.
It was less measured in the cockpit of Norris’Gulf-liveried McLaren who told his engineer that his car was “awful on these tyres” and had 20 laps to keep the hard-charging Perez at bay. The British driver did manage to hold on to scoop his second podium of the season and his performance was made sweeter on lap 52 when he lapped his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, passing him out of Saint Devote with a wave of his hand.
In the closing laps, Hamilton pitted again for a fresh set of soft tyres.
A bonus point for scoring the fastest lap was a small consolation after a difficult Monaco and an 18-point swing to his rival Verstappen in the
World championship battle.
“It’s not been a great weekend,” said Hamilton. “There is a lot we could have done to be better prepared, but it’s not good enough from all of us. Every little point can hopefully count towards something in the end.”