Monaco GP: Defending F1 champion Max Verstappen on Sunday extended his World Champion lead in the 2023 season of Formula 1 as we won the Monaco GP. The Dutchman Verstappen took the chequered flag in a rain-affected race as he finished with the timing of 1:48:51.980. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso marked another podium finish and took second place behind the Red Bull driver.
Verstappen made a clear start and kept his lead from Alonso. He went for the medium tyres, while the Aston Martin driver took the hard ones. But the rain came down with 20 laps to go in the 78-lap race. Verstappen followed the one-stop pit strategy and took the intermediates. The Red Bull driver kept his lead and took the chequered flag thereafter.
He now extends his lead in the championship standings with a 39-point advantage over teammate Sergio Perez. Max now has 144 points, while Perez finished in 16th and scored no points. Alpine's Esteban Ocon took third place ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc came home 6th ahead of Pierre Gasly and teammate Carlos Sainz. McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took the final two-point finishes.
After the race, Verstappen opened up on his victory. "It’s super nice to win it in the way we did today with the weather and everything to stay calm and bring it home. It was incredibly slippery," the Red Bull driver said.
Before this race, the previous one in Italy was cancelled due to floods there. "Following discussions between Formula 1, the President of the FIA, the competent authorities – including the relevant Ministers, the President of the Automobile Club of Italy, the President of Emilia-Romagna Region, the Mayor of the City, and the promoter – the decision has been taken not to proceed with the Grand Prix weekend at Imola," F1 Said after cancellation.
