This is the Monaco Grand Prix, not the splish-splash show.
There’s nothing like just a little rain to upset what looked to be another routine parade around the historic and iconic street circuit.
It’s clear (as the skies were at the start) that modern F1 cars have outgrown the tight and treacherous confines of Monaco and with Max Verstappen in the midst of another historical season you’ve got the equation for what should have been an anti-climactic weekend.
Although the double-defending world champion won from pole position for his fourth victory of the season Sunday, the streets of Monaco turned into a slip ‘n’ slide during the late stages to add a bit of chaos and drama.
Verstappen crossed the finish line in his Red Bull with a nearly 28-second advantage over Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, whose team gambled and lost by switching from hard to medium tires only to have to pit again in quick succession to slap on a set of intermediates to deal with the rain.
It’s hard to say if Alonso would have won had he gone straight to the intermediate tires but it at least gave us the opportunity to believe Verstappen and Red Bull are still beatable this year. Let’s not forget Verstappen also tagged the wall at one point and was lucky to avoid any damage.
Here are some other takeaways from Sunday’s Monaco GP.
OH SO CLOSE FOR ALONSO
Alonso was on the provisional pole as the final session of Saturday’s qualifying was set to wrap up until Verstappen snagged P1 at the buzzer.
Oddly enough, the driver starting second has been victorious at Monaco more times than the pole-sitter in recent years — that is to say, there was much hope and hype for Alonso.
Although Alonso and Aston Martin lost the pit stop gamble, they at least didn’t lose ground as they were well ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who finished a distant third.
Alonso’s best finish in almost nine years, and his fifth podium of the season, bodes well heading into his home track next Sunday for the Spanish Grand Prix where Alonso-Mania will surely be running wild.
PUZZLING PEREZ
There’s only one King in Monaco and it’s not Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. The “King of the Streets” crashed during qualifying and was forced to start from the back of the pack making it all but impossible for him to even contend for points never mind run it back and repeat last year’s victory.
Perez, the only driver besides Verstappen to win this season, was also a tad too aggressive on the pedal. He came close to crashing into Lance Stroll and then illegally overtook the Aston Martin only to “give” the place back after he ran into the rear of Kevin Magnussen’s Haas car (which also forced Stroll to drive through the debris).
There was also a close call with George Russell although the Mercedes driver was found to be at fault for that incident and penalized.
It was a forgettable weekend and one that allowed Alonso to cut into the deficit for second place in the standings with Perez now just 12 points ahead.
OCON AND ALPINE A-OK
Alpine had its best weekend in a long time with not only Ocon on the podium but teammate Pierre Gasly finishing P7, which also happens to be his best result since joining the team this year.
Ocon seems to be known for pulling off the odd surprise podium following a second-place result in Sakhir in 2020 and a yes-that-did-actually-happen victory in Hungary in 2021.
Alpine is now trending in the right direction — having also scored double points in Miami three weeks ago — and leapfrogged McLaren for fifth place in the constructors’ standings and “best of the rest.” It’ll be interesting to see if they can maintain that momentum next week in Spain.
THIS WEEK IN FERRARI FLUBS
Oh Ferrari, how did you disappoint this time? How about before the Grand Prix even started?
Charles Leclerc, who earned pole position during the previous two years at Monaco, was issued a three-spot grid penalty this time for impeding McLaren driver Lando Norris during qualifying. That bumped Leclerc down to a P6 start, which is also where he ended up finishing.
Carlos Sainz, who started fourth and finished eighth, wrecked his front wing early when he rammed into the rear of Ocon’s car and continued to bicker with the team over strategic decisions. Sainz was also a victim of the rain as he slid across the track and lost a position to Leclerc.
On a positive note, Ferrari did manage to pull off a clean double-stack pit stop (unlike last year) so there’s at least that going right for them.
PIT STOPS
• Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton flew under the radar going about his business as he finished in fourth and also snagged the fastest lap bonus point. You don’t need to remind Hamilton how much every point matters.
• McLaren was all decked out to celebrate its 60-year history and triple crown achievement with a livery inspired by their winning cars from the past at the Monaco GP, Indy 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours. An inspiring effort as it led to just their second double points finish of the season and a turnaround from Miami where they left empty-handed. Norris finished ninth and rookie Oscar Piastri was right behind him in P10.
• Who says you can’t pass at Monaco? Everyone seemed to be able to get by Williams driver Logan Sargeant just fine as the American rookie started 16th and dropped down the order as the last across the line in 18th (thanks to retirements from Stroll and Magnussen). It’s been quite the dreadful season for Williams, which has scored only one point courtesy of Alex Albon at the season-opener in Bahrain.
• Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas is also on a five Grand Prix points drought after a solid P8 in Bahrain. Bottas came close to snapping the streak in Monaco but came up just short in P11. Teammate Zhou Guanyu gained six spots on the day (yay) but it’s somewhat of a moot point as he still ended up in unlucky 13th (nay).
• Speaking of A-teams that look anything but, what is up with AlphaTauri? Yuki Tsunoda had a strong stint Saturday in qualifying to start ninth but ended up finishing down two laps in 15th. Rookie teammate Nyck de Vries fared slightly better in 12th but remains pointless on the year.
