Updated:
May 28, 2023 7:14 pm
From pole to victory! Max Verstappen claimed his second victory in Monaco within the past 3 seasons. A rain impacted race which saw him cross the line 27 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso who finished in second place.
Alonso securing his first P2 finish this season, claiming a potentially crucial 18 points which could benefit himself, as well as Aston Martin in the constructors championship later down the line.
Chaos descended from Lap 52 onwards with the rain inbound, the threat of rain always opposing itself but many thought it wouldn’t come. Strategy soon became an issue for multiple teams as it arrived, teams such as Mercedes benefiting from the rain allowing their drivers to get into P4 and P5, yet some teams, such as Ferrari and Aston Martin immensely struggled with the timing of the rain and poor communication between the drivers and the team cost them.
Ferrari Impload With Rain Arrival
From Lap 50 onwards the threat of rain had started to really become a factor for all teams and the majority had to start thinking about strategy, Ferrari at the time comfortably sat in P4 (Sainz) challenging P3 (Ocon) to get a podium as well as P6 (Leclerc) fighting Hamilton for P5.
Solid points on the board seemed guaranteed for Ferrari until the rain arrived, a decision made by the strategists suggested to leave Leclerc and Sainz out, in doing so both cars ended up driving through treacherous wet conditions on dry tyres! This therefore eventually meant the team had to double stack the drivers, causing Sainz to lose even more time, meaning they’d come out P6 and P8 which is where they would end up finishing the race.
From what appeared to be an almost guaranteed 20 points scored for the team, they would only end up scoring 12.
A race that after qualifying everyone expected them to do well in, to end up being a pretty poor result considering what they could’ve had which could potentially be vital regarding the Constructors Championship
Esteban Ocon’s Miraculous podium
Esteban Ocon take a bow! What a result the Frenchman has achieved for the team, after a superior qualifying getting P4 (which became P3 after Leclerc’s grid penalty) he managed to finish the race where he qualified.
A magical drive considering he had to drive through a variation of weather difficulties while also fending of the likes of Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton for the majority of the race, I guess some would say he defended like a lion.
Alpine have had a lot of tough results this season, their heartbreak in Australia which saw them miss out on so many points in the last few laps of the race, to now finally be able to score a good result on the board is a big achievement and stepping stone for the team as they aim to achieve higher status on the grid in the following seasons to come, as Otmar Szafnauer has outlined.
A result for Gasly as well finishing P7 ahead of Carlos Sainz, overall meaning a solid result for Alpine and they’ll hope to keep the form up for the upcoming race in Spain.
Too Close For Comfort
As Monaco is one of the most unforgiving F1 circuits the sport has ever seen, it is no surprise that contact with the barriers is often common when we race in Monaco but two drivers seriously struggled with that today.
Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll had absolute nightmares while racing today. From Lap 1 to the end of the race they made contact so often it must have broken a record! Lance would go on to DNF during the wet weather period with a broken front suspension making contact with the barrier at the hairpin.
However, even before the DNF, he’d had multiple close encounters with the wall as well as collisions with other drivers. The same goes for Perez who’d damaged his wing a numerous amount of times during the race.
He would go on to finish the race but he wasn’t even close to scoring points, finishing P16 as well as being lapped by his teammate twice will be fairly demoralising for someone who’s attempting to challenge for the title.
Neverthelledss, next race week is a fresh start and both Perez and Stroll will put the race behind them and move on.
Stroll will be determined to help Aston Martin and achieve a good result as after today’s race, Aston Martin only lead Mercedes by 1 point in the constructors championship, every point counts and you never know how close it could get at the end of the season.
Monaco added in with the rain provided what all fans want to see! An exciting race with overtakes and strategy playing a huge part. What did you think of the race? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
