Mark Hughes: Max handled masterfully in all conditions

Mark Hughes, in the pages of The Race, analyzed the results of the Monaco Grand Prix, without limiting himself to the praise of Max Verstappen, who achieved another victory, and in difficult conditions.

Behind was already about 65% of the distance of the Monaco Grand Prix when the rain came down in torrents and the vagaries of the weather once again played their old cruel joke and chaos ensued on the track.

The drama lasted for three laps, during which there were finicky pit stops, the cars turned off the track, the race leader hit the barriers before Portier corner and tried to make it to the pits on worn slicks. But this little adventure did not detract from Max Verstappen’s total superiority in Monaco.

In fact, it only emphasized it, as Aston Martin decided to take a chance and put slicks on Fernando Alonso’s car during a series of pit stops – hoping the rain would stop as quickly as it started. And then everyone would have to pit again to get rid of the intermediate tires, which would allow the Spaniard to take the lead. But of course the rain didn’t stop, so Fernando had to return to the pits for the Intermediate kit on the next lap. However, he lost nothing, as the lead over Esteban Okon, the Alpine driver, who was running third, made an extra pit stop well possible.

Verstappen acted masterfully, and it’s not just that he confidently controlled the course of the race, both when the track was dry and when the asphalt was covered in rain. Max also had excellent tire behaviour, which was a critical factor last weekend as the teams had a very wide choice between Medium tires (which started the two-time world champion, as well as Ocon and Lewis Hamilton) and Hard (which Alonso preferred, Ferrari drivers and George Russell).

The weather radar predicted precipitation in the second half of the race, so when the thermal caps were removed from the wheels on the grid and it became clear who had chosen which tyres, Red Bull was shocked that the hard rubber – unlike the Medium – could allow you to stay on the track until it starts to rain.

But even if it hadn’t started to rain and everyone pitted for fresh slicks, Alonso’s stiffer Aston Martin tires could have given him a few fast laps, while Verstappen would have been forced to replace his worn Medium tires early .

But the Red Bull team need not worry. Max kept everything under control, drove fast enough and managed to create the necessary gap in case the safety car appeared, which allowed him to pit one lap later than the Aston Martin.

At the same time he worked quite accurately with rubber and when it started to rain he was able to immediately switch from slicks to intermediate tyres. It was also noticeable that his old slicks were in better condition than the hard tires that had been removed from Alonso’s car.

Of course it’s easier for whoever is in the lead to save rubber, and even if his car generates more downforce, but it’s also about Verstappen knowing how to work with tires correctly, master the granulation process, load the front and rear axles in turn. On the radio he complained that the rubber was starting to have problems, but his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase assured that he was still keeping the right pace.

At the same time, Max was far from full throttle in the first segment. That became clear compared to the pace of Sergio Perez, his teammate, who started last. After the first lap, the Mexican switched from Medium to Hard tyres, and if it hadn’t rained, he would have raced to the finish on this set.

After such an early pit stop, he had to play about 20 seconds to overtake the peloton, and he completed laps in 1 minute 16 seconds, while Verstappen – in 1’18. But even in this situation, Max’s pace was fast enough to pull away from Alonso by 3.3 seconds after ten laps. Fernando, in turn, was more than 10 seconds ahead of Ocon.

So it was not just the pace itself, but also Verstappen’s ability to keep everything under control and make the right decisions. Once the tires on his RB19 were properly warmed up it went fast enough that Alonso was in “no man’s land” as Max was way ahead and Esteban preferred to save tires and keep a moderate pace, and this is an advantage over the Alpine rider who was surpassed in the time it took to pit, allowing Aston Martin to take the risk when it started to rain.

The risk was not justified as the rain started to get heavier, more and more water came onto the track and Alonso returned to the pits for intermediate tires on the next lap.

As Fernando went to his first pit stop, Red Bull decided to wait one more lap, giving Verstappen a dangerous episode at the Portier corner on his way to the pits. But Max’s advantage was so great that they could afford such a luxury. Even if Alonso had switched to Intermediate tires right away, the gap was still big enough that Verstappen would hardly have felt any serious pressure.

Now Max’s lead in the individual standings has grown to 39 points and he has more victories in Red Bull cars than any other driver who has played for this team. He has already surpassed Sebastian Vettel’s record of 38 wins for Red Bull.

Esteban Ocon finished third in Monaco, and this result, as well as Verstappen’s victory, heralded an excellent performance in qualifying. The Alpine driver started on medium tyres, kept a steady pace, fended off Carlos Sainz’s attack and was able to switch to intermediate tires at the perfect time.

The Ferrari drivers could probably have finished the Grand Prix higher than 6th and 8th, but due to good pace in qualifying the cars of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were set to too low ground clearance, so they were not too good to to ride. comfortable.

Despite this, Leclerc showed the third result, which was very good, but everything was ruined by a penalty for disturbing the track during qualifying. This happened because the team misinformed Charles about the track situation, causing him to lose three positions at the start.

Sainz made a miscalculation early in the race by attacking Okon, which could have cost him more than a broken front wing endplate. But his irritation is also understandable: the team called him to the pits too early after Okon’s pit stop, although the Spaniard was on hard tires and if he had stayed on the open track he could have added, and then, when the started to rain, immediately drove on intermediate tires, so saved a pit stop.

And then he also ended up off track in the Mirabeau corner, losing several positions, including to his partner.

Ferrari miscalculations allowed Hamilton and Russell to move up to 4th and 5th, although George also spun out at Mirabeau corner and additionally hit Perez’s car on the way back to the track and was fined for an unsafe return to the track.

Pierre Gasly didn’t quite match Ocon’s level this weekend, but managed to earn points for Alpine for 7th, sandwiched between two Ferraris. The McLaren drivers were capable of excellent pace on the intermediate tires – on the wet track Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were fastest and eventually took the last two prizes.