Dominant Verstappen wins rain affected Monaco Grand Prix

Max Verstappen took his 4th victory of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix, which was saw rain flood its streets in the closing 25 laps on Sunday.

MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS IN MONACO!!! 🏁🏆🎉

The Dutchman wins a dramatic dry/wet race with Fernando Alonso finishing second and Esteban Ocon taking third with a stellar drive 👏👏👏#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/09wqvTFp6f

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 28, 2023

Verstappen held off second-placed Fernando Alonso, who in comparison to the leader started on the hard tires, and established an early lead in the dry.

However, Aston Martin may rue their strategic decision as Alonso was called before Verstappen for a pit-stop, when the majority of the track was already severely damp. To the surprise of everyone the Spaniard put on a set of dry mediums, which forced him to do another stop just a lap later.

More on this topic:

Verstappen climbs from 17th to win Brazil GP under the rain

This gave Verstappen even greater advantage at the front of around 20 seconds, which he comfortably preserved to the chequered flag. But had Aston Martin not made that strategic blunder, then Alonso would have had a real shot of victory today and might as well have found himself in front of Verstappen after the pit-stops.

Esteban Ocon completed the podium places after a stellar drive, which saw the Frenchman fend off Carlos Sainz in the opening stint and then Lewis Hamilton in the wet.

The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and George Russel were next with Russel receiving a 5-second penalty for unsafe rejoining at the track.

The Ferrari came in disappointing 6th and 8th for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, while Sergio Perez had a day to forget as his race was plagued with incidents and driver errors, which forced him to visit the pits on multiple occasions.

The Mexican eventually finished 17th and pointless as he now trails his teammate Verstappen by a massive 39 points in the Drivers Championship.