2023 Monaco Grand Prix | 6 talking points | GRR
Rain created jeopardy and enlivened what had been a typically processional Monaco Grand Prix. But there was no stopping Max Verstappen, who scored his fourth Formula 1 victory of the season and the 39th of his career, which surpasses Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull total. Fernando Alonso was a threat for Aston Martin as he took his fifth podium in sixth races, while Esteban Ocon banked a timely third place for an Alpine team that has been under scrutiny from its senior management in recent weeks.
1. Verstappen deals with Alonso challenge
As is often the case on these tight streets, qualifying on Saturday played a large part in dictating the result on Sunday as Verstappen only just pipped Alonso to pole position – by just 0.084 seconds. But Aston gave Red Bull an extra headache in the race by choosing an alternative tyre strategy, sticking Alonso on the hard-compound Pirelli tyre from the start, meaning the Spaniard would go long on his first stint.
The choice ruled out what was already a long shot of Alonso beating the medium-shod Verstappen into Ste Devote off the start, but the Aston’s pace was decent on the white-walled rubber. Around the half-way mark, Alonso was still only about eight seconds off Verstappen’s lead. Now the reigning champion, who was beginning to struggle on his tired mediums, just had to wait for Aston to blink and bring Alonso in, then cover that strategy with his own stop to ensure the Dutchman wouldn’t cede track position, which is all important at Monaco. Incoming rain made that necessity only greater and gave this race a much-needed dose of tension. This wasn’t done yet, despite Verstappen’s superiority.
2. Rainfall creates havoc around Monaco
Would the rain arrive and shake up what had so far proven a standard Monaco GP? Yes – around lap 52 of 78 – but at first only on certain parts of the track and initially not enough to make the tyre call a clear-cut decision. Suddenly the race came alive as cars slithered on a newly treacherous surface as drivers gauged when to come in and which tyres to take on.
Alonso was among a group of frontrunners to pit on lap 54, but the right choice was still debatable. Aston stuck him on mediums, a call he questioned but didn’t disagree – but almost immediately both team and driver realised it was the wrong decision. In he came again for a set of intermediates on the next lap, as Verstappen clipped the barrier at Portier on his way to making his single stop too. It raised the question, had Aston picked intermediates at the first time of asking could Alonso have jumped into the lead? It might have been close. Verstappen likely had enough of a gap to maintain his lead, but he did lose around five seconds to Alonso on his last tricky lap running on slicks.
In any case it was academic. Verstappen’s single stop for the green-walled rubber versus Alonso’s two left the Red Bull comfortably ahead, Max then managing the gap to win by an utterly dominant 27.921 seconds. Still, Alonso had every reason to smile: this was his first second place in a grand prix since Hungary 2014, nearly nine years ago!
3. Ocon answers the boss’s criticism
Behind the top two, Ocon put in a near-perfect weekend to score his first podium since his Hungarian GP win in 2021. What a way to respond to the rocket sent up by Alpine big cheese Laurent Rossi in Miami! This was just what Ocon – and his team principal Otmar Szafnauer – needed in the wake of such a public dressing down from their own boss.
The Frenchman was briefly a contender for pole position on Saturday and had been due to start fourth behind Charles Leclerc. But when the Ferrari was bumped back three grid slots for impeding Lando Norris’s McLaren in qualifying, Ocon was promoted to third and negotiated the challenges created by the rain to keep the place in the race. He was understandably delighted with what was also his team’s first podium in more than a year.
4. Good day for Mercedes, a bad one for Ferrari
At the start of the weekend, Lewis Hamilton had been the subject of speculation over a potential future in Ferrari red – a prospect he quickly batted away. There was also scrutiny over the introduction of Mercedes’ big aerodynamic upgrade package – the W14 now has proper sidepods! – although it was always unlikely to make a massive difference around the Monaco streets. Still, Hamilton lined up fifth after Leclerc’s penalty, having outqualified his team-mate George Russell who was back in seventh.
Hamilton started on the mediums and stopped on lap 31, then was forced to pit again for inters at the same time as Alonso (lap 55), but gained a place as Carlos Sainz Jr’s race unravelled. The Mercedes finished fourth, right on the gearbox of Ocon. Russell rose to finish behind him in fifth, despite a five-second penalty for rejoining from a moment at Mirabeau straight into the path of Sergio Perez, who collided with the Black Arrow. Russell still finished five seconds ahead of Leclerc, who once again endured a deflating home race.
Sainz too was in the doldrums. Both Ferraris had started on the hard tyre, but the Spaniard stopped as early as lap 33 to cover off the team’s paranoia over the threat posed by Hamilton, having already damaged his front wing with an ill-judged move on Ocon at the chicane. Sainz was vocal on the radio about the early pit call and then when the rain came he slithered off at Mirabeau. Eighth from fourth on the grid, behind Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, was a disastrous return and only adds to the air of gloom hanging over Maranello right now.
5. Poor weekend for Perez
Last year, Sergio Perez stole the limelight from Verstappen by winning for Red Bull. This time, just when he needed to prove he could be a genuine title rival, he dropped the ball and suffered a stinker. A mistake in Q1 left the Mexican starting from the back. The team tried a different strategy, pitting him at the end of the first lap for the hard tyre with the intention of running all the way through to the flag.
But nothing went right for him. On lap 34 he hit Kevin Magnussen’s Haas on the way out of the chicane, claiming the Dane had brake-tested him. That allowed an in-the-wars Lance Stroll back past, although the Red Bull had only passed the Aston a lap earlier by cutting the chicane anyway. Then when the rain came Perez incurred further damage in the incident with Russell. In all, the second Red Bull stopped five times on his way to 16th, leaving Perez 39 points down on Verstappen in their title ‘fight’. It appears ‘Checo’s’ long-shot title hopes are likely already gone.
6. Double score for McLaren
There was some cheer for McLaren on the weekend the team changed its livery in a reflection of its Triple Crown past glories, ahead of what turned out to be a disappointing Indianapolis 500 for the team later that day. Lando Norris picked up ninth from Yuki Tsunoda, the AlphaTauri driver struggling with his brakes. “Are you trying to crash me or what?” fumed the Japanese to his non-plussed team following an order to change a brake bias setting.
Tsunoda then went off at Mirabeau as Oscar Piastri found himself promoted to 10th to complete a McLaren double-score. Slim pickings for the Woking team, but that’s about the best it can realistically hope for right now.
Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.