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Sunday Debrief: Max Verstappen wins in Monaco with a 27-seond lead.

  • mallikarull
  • May 28, 2023
  • 2 min read
Verstappen takes his fourth win of the season, followed by Alonso who finished in P2 for the first time this season. Esteban Ocon completing the podium in third, making his first podium since his maiden victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.

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image credit: motorsport.com

Max Verstappen lines up in pole position for Sunday’s race, his first pole start in Monaco after he took the position from Alonso in the final seconds of Qualifying, after Alonso took the place from Leclerc. Leclerc qualified third for Sundays race but the Monegasque started his home race in P6 after receiving a 3 place grid-penalty for impeding Norris in Q3. Perez started the race from the back of the grid after he put his Red Bull into the barriers after carrying too much speed in Q1.

An early collision on Lap 1 as Hulkenberg makes contact with Sargeant as he tries to get past the rookie driver, Lance Stroll also getting tagged in the process. Hulkenberg was given a 5-second penalty as a result of the incident.

Perez made the first of his pit stops for the race on Lap 2, pitting on to the hard compound tyres, the team hoping to have a one stop race. Zhou and Hulkenberg following Perez into the pits.

Sainz with damage on lap 12, with his end plate falling off after the Ferrari clipped the back of the Alpine of Esteban Ocon., Sainz coming into the pits for a new front wing on lap 34, coming out of the pits in P7, ahead of Lewis Hamilton who pitted on lap 32.

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image credit: motorsport.com

On lap 34, Perez temporarily passes Stroll, before he was noted by race control for leaving the track and gaining position. Perez shortly ran into the back of the Haas of Magnussen causing damage to his front wing, Perez pitted again on lap 36 for a new front wing putting his Red Bull back into P19.

With just over 20 laps to go, the rain started pouring on lap 52, race leader Max Verstappen being told on the radio that he should “let [us] know if you need to box to stay on the track, it is as simple as that.”.

The rain bringing chaos, as Verstappen clips the barriers at Portier but was able to hold on to the lead, while Sainz spins off track. Lance stroll bringing out the yellow flag, putting an end to his race after losing the front wing of his Aston Martin. Magnussen goes into the barriers on lap 58 at Rascasse the Haas then making its way into the pits after wrecking his front wing.

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image credit: motorsport.com

Russel received a 5-second time penalty for unsafely re-joining the track, the British driver still holding a safe gap between himself and Leclerc behind him.

Verstappen was the first to take the chequered flag, finishing 27-seocnds ahead of Alonso, who took his first P2 finish of the season. Alonso followed by his former teammate Ocon, as the French driver completed the podium.


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