Max Verstappen’s walk and how “bad” it is for the World Cup

2023-05-29 21:24:11

Max Verstappen flourished from end to end to take victory at the Monaco Grand Prix this Sunday and the Red Bull driver extended his lead as leader of the Formula One championship.

The resurgence of the Spanish Fernando Alonso was confirmed when he entered second, his best result of the season with Aston Martin, getting on the podium for the fifth time in six races. Esteban Ocon was third, giving Alpina a rare podium finish.

Red Bull has monopolized victory in each of the six races held this year.

Max Verstappen and his Red Bull dominated the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix at will. (AP)

“It’s great to have won in this way, in this weather and keeping the poise to come out on top,” said Verstappen.

For most of the race, the Dutchman had no problems on the principality’s street circuit, the most difficult for overtaking in F1.

Max Verstappen receives the greeting from Fernando Alonso, after his victory in Monaco 2023. The Spaniard was his escort. (AP)

But Monaco almost always provides some kind of incident and the rain caused chaos with 20 of the 78 laps to go. Some drivers made the mistake of switching to medium compounds on their tires before the downpour and started to slip.

“It got very slippery,” Verstappen said.

Problems at the Monaco Grand Prix

For example, the Spanish Carlos Sainz Jr. went into the barriers and was lucky that his Ferrari did not break down. Kevin Magnussen lost control of his Haas and Lance Stroll retired after damaging his Aston Martin.

Red Bull got it right when it changed Verstappen’s tires on lap 56, using more versatile compounds for wet conditions. It was thus that the reigning two-time champion scored his second victory in Monaco. The first was in 2021.

Lewis Hamilton came fourth in Mercedes and grabbed the bonus point for setting the fastest lap. His teammate George Russell entered fifth after he nearly crashed into the Red Bull of Mexican Sergio Perez when track visibility was reduced by rain.

Max Verstappen celebrates on the Principality’s podium a new victory that allows him to escape in the championship. (AP)

On Saturday, Verstappen just overtook Alonso, preventing the 41-year-old Spaniard from taking his first pole position in 11 years.

The worst race for Sergio Pérez

Perez, the winner of last year’s race, had to start from the back of the grid after a crash in qualifying and finished 16th.

The Mexican recognized that he had a weekend to forget.

“A day that we lost all of yesterday with my mistake,” Pérez said. “The race was a disaster, but we couldn’t have done anything either. There was a lot of chaos. My total mistake and it only remains to accept it and now to think about Barcelona”.

Verstappen leads the championship with 144 points, ahead of Pérez (105), Alonso (93) and Hamilton (69).

“One more result like this in the year and we can forget about the championship,” Pérez said. “It can’t happen to us again in the remainder of the year.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuHM0PP6Yj0

Verstappen’s 39 F1 victories have come with Red Bull, dating back to his debut with the team at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016 when he became the youngest F1 driver to win a race at the age of 18.

He set the team’s record for wins by surpassing the 38 mark Sebastian Vettel set for the team by winning four titles in a row between 2010-13.

The summary of the race

This is the World Championship of Pilots

This is the Constructors’ World Cup

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