PANAJI
Red Bull's Max Verstappen put on another impressive display to win the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday at Monte Carlo.
The Dutchman trumped Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, his only challenger by a sizable gap while Alpine's Esteban Ocon finished in third after managing to hold off Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.
The Circuit de Monaco was touted to provide the likes of Aston Martin and Ferrari an opportunity at glory as the narrow circuit's tight corners and short straights enabled teams to get closer to the dominant Red Bull.
Fernando Alonso had a great shot at disrupting the Austrian outfits winning streak starting on the front row along with Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman opted for the Medium tyre while main contender Alonso chose to begin on the Hards, handing the Spaniard several strategic options later in the race which was earlier considered to be a one-stopper.
Bar a few minor incidents in the midfield, the order at the top remained unchanged for a major chunk of the race with Verstappen pulling nearly a ten-second lead to Alonso.
But as parallels were beginning to be drawn to the Miami GP where there were no incidents resulting in a clean race, rain was reported on turns 6 and 8 on Lap 50 giving the Grand Prix a new turn.
By Lap 52, it began to pour with all eyes now fixated on Verstappen and Alonso as the probability of incidents and stoppages shot up which provided Aston Martin renewed hope.
However, the team suffered the first casualty of the race as Lance Stroll was the first car to retire. The wet track caused several other cars to hit the barriers at different locations as they struggled to maintain a grip on slick tyres.
With the battle between Alonso and Max getting intense, the Spaniard was the first to head into the pits, boxing for Mediums rather than the conventional Intermediate tyres, raising eyebrows across the paddock and the grandstands. Red Bull reacted to Aston Martin's move as Max laboured his car into the pits with the Dutchman confirming that it was time for the inters.
Alonso's error led the Aston Martin to pit him once again, this time for the intermediate tyres putting Verstappen in a comfortable position as he went on to pick up his 39th win as a Red Bull driver surpassing Sebastian Vettel's record.
