Nico Hulkenberg, Zhou Guanyu and Sergio Perez all pitted for hard tyres on Lap 2, in a bid to run them for the remaining 76 laps. Hulkenberg was served a 5 second penalty for barging into Logan Sargeant, and later another 5 seconds for not serving the original penalty. Being a narrow circuit, there’s usually not much overtaking at Monaco.
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There was no action till Lap 12 when Carlos Sainz damaged his front end-plate, clipping with Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, and the Ferrari pit crew was ready with a replacement front wing in the pits. However, the Spaniard decided to stay out and soldier on with a broken front wing. Another driver that suffered from a broken wing was Sergio Perez, whose Red Bull went into Kevin Magnussen’s rear-end. Perez claimed that he was brake checked by Magnussen, and had to make a pit stop to get a new nose for his car, moving down to P19.
Here are all the point scorers at the 2023 Formula One Monaco Grand Prix –
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:48:51.980
2. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
3. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5. George Russell (Mercedes)
6. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
8. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
9. Lando Norris (McLaren)
10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Lap 53 saw some rain pouring down, resulting in a lot of menace for drivers on used rubber! Valterri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were the first ones to switch to Intermediates. Fernando Alonso made a gamble by switching to Mediums, however, soon regretted the decision and went for another pitstop to switch to Inters. Magnussen and Perez soon pitted to Wets. What followed was some great action, with lots of wall clippings and slides.
In the end, Max Verstappen registered his fourth win of the season, with Fernando Alonso finishing behind him on second, almost 28 seconds behind the race winner! Alonso’s ex-teammate Esteban Ocon completed the podium at the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix. Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll were the only two drivers that did not finish the race. Lewis Hamilton took home the extra point for setting the fastest lap time.
Max Verstappen now leads the standings with 144 points to his name, having further increased his lead from his teammate Perez on second with 105 points. Fernando Alonso sits on third with 93 points.
Stay tuned to TOI Auto for all updates on the 2023 Formula One season, including all Qualifying and Race reports.
