Max Verstappen wins again, but could Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin have stopped him on a different strategy?
Max Verstappen took his second victory at the Monaco Grand Prix with a dominating performance despite a chaotic final 30 laps with the arrival of heavy rain.
Pole-getter Verstappen had beaten second-starting Fernando Alonso off the line easily and was on badly worn medium tires when the showers arrived on lap 50, but he had Fernando Alonso around 10 seconds behind him, depriving him the freedom of immediately responding to weather.
It was a dream scenario for the pursuing Alonso, who had started the race on the hard tire in the hope of running longer than the Dutchman and capitalizing on a late race disruption or the need to switch to intermediates.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen pips Fernando Alonso to pole position after an all-time classic qualifying session to set us up for a fascinating race.
Max Verstappen beat Fernando Alonso to pole position with a last-gasp lap at the end of a thrilling and unpredictable qualifying session at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Pole position changed hands five times after the end of the first runs, with Alonso, the Ferrari drivers and even Esteban Ocon rotating through top spot before Verstappen’s final lap.
Track grip was ramping up constantly, and Red Bull hatched a plan to have Verstappen be the last driver on track to take advantage of the conditions.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen is fastest on Friday, but with Ferrari and Aston Martin right in the fight for the all-important pole position.
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez controlled final practice at the Monaco Grand Prix before a Lewis Hamilton red flag ended the session six minutes early.
Red Bull had changes made overnight to drastically improve the balance of the RB19, having started the weekend unusually wide of the mark, and Verstappen made great use of his new setup to top the timesheets with a lap of 1m 12.776s.
Perez rotated through top spots during the session but ended up a wafer-thin 0.073s adrift of his teammate.
Continue reading on RACERMax Verstappen edged out Charles Leclerc for top spot in second practice at the Monaco Grand Prix after FP1 leader Carlos Sainz crashed out of the session.
Verstappen set the benchmark late in the soft-tire runs at 1m12.462s, though it was enough to pip Leclerc by only 0.065s. The Red Bull driver’s slender advantage was through the first two sectors, with the Ferrari again the car to beat in the final split.
Sainz was third, 0.107s off the headline time, but crashed shortly after setting his fastest lap. The Spaniard, who was comfortably fastest in the first practice hour, clipped the inside apex exiting the second Swimming Pool chicane and snapped his suspension, which sent him careening into the exit barrier.
Continue reading on RACERCarlos Sainz edged Fernando Alonso to top spot in first practice at the Monaco Grand Prix as the Red Bull Racing drivers struggled for composure around the serpentine street track.
With medium tires bolted on, Sainz and Alonso spent the final 15 minutes trading fastest laps, gradually separating themselves from the chasing pack. But with around five minutes to go Sainz set a sizzling final time of 1m13.372s to put top spot beyond reach of the Aston Martin driver, the margin 0.338s.
Despite setting the quickest time in the first split, Alonso lost the opportunity to respond when Alex Albon put his Williams in the barriers at Sainte Devote, bringing out red flags with four minutes remaining.
Continue reading on RACERLewis Hamilton and Ferrari both respond to rumours the Briton could switch to Italy at the end of his Mercedes deal in December.
Featuring Mark Hughes, grand prix editor, The Race. Sergio Perez wins his first Monaco Grand Prix after Ferrari bugles pole-getter Charles Leclerc’s strategy not once but twice.
We launch an investigation into the origins of Klaxon Man and come up with several ways to improve the Monaco Grand Prix that will be typically ignored.
Sergio Perez won a chaotic Monaco Grand Prix in mixed-conditions after polesitter Charles Leclerc conceded the lead in a series of strategic bungles.
The race started 65 minutes late thanks to a burst of heavy rain during the start procedure, and race control got action underway with a rolling start behind the safety car to keep the field on the full wet tire.
Leclerc led Carlos Sainz, Perez, and Max Verstappen easily at the start, but the track was drying quickly, and the timing of the switch to intermediates was looming as the major flashpoint of the race.
Continue reading on RACERSergio Perez blocked Charles Leclerc from whitewashing practice at the Monaco Grand Prixby setting the fastest time in FP3.
The Mexican went to the top of the time sheets by just 0.041s with a lap right at the death of the hour-long session to fire a warning shot across Ferrari’s bows ahead of qualifying.
Perez and Leclerc traded quickest times for the final 10 minutes of the session as they squeezed the final drops of performance from the soft Pirelli rubber.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc swept Friday practice by leading a Ferrari one-two in second practice at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The home favorite set a time of 1m12.656s to edge teammate Carlos Sainz by just 0.44s. His best effort was also less than a second slower than last year’s FP2-topping time, suggesting this year’s new-generation car isn’t as maladapted as feared.
The two Ferrari drivers were in a class of their own on single-lap pace, with Sergio Perez 0.379s off the pace as the next quickest driver. The Mexican bested Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen by just 0.68s.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc narrowly beat Sergio Perez to the top spot in opening practice for the Monaco Grand Prix. The Monegasque’s best lap of 1m14.531s was just 0.039s quicker than the Mexican, with both setting their times on the medium compound in the final 10 minutes of the session.
Carlos Sainz completed a tightly knit top three, just 0.07s behind his Ferrari teammate, but the Spaniard left time on the table. He was set for the fastest lap, complete with purple sectors at the first two splits, when he encountered traffic exiting Swimming Pool and had to abandon the effort, leaving him fractionally adrift.
Both Ferrari drivers complained of bouncing early in the session, but some setup changes halfway through seemed to improve matters, with Leclerc’s floor coming off the car for a time for further configuration work.
Continue reading on RACERCharles Leclerc will start the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position after a Sergio Perez crash ended qualifying early.
Perez was pursing the dominant Leclerc for pole when he lit up his rear tires at Portier, spinning his car and rear-ending the barrier. His broken car came to rest blocking the track, triggering the red flags that brought qualifying to a premature close.
But Leclerc already had the session well in hand. Not only had he put 0.225s on the field after the first flying laps, but he opened his final attempt with a purple first sector that put him another 0.2s up on everyone else before the red flags flew and called off the session.
Continue reading on RACERHost of the Strategy Report Formula 1 podcast and FIA-accredited journalist Michael Lamonato joined Paul Heath on Sports Drive to review all the action from the Monaco Grand Prix
Max Verstappen leads the drivers championship for the first time in his F1 career to finally make good on Red Bull Racing’s early-season pace.