Alonso fails to beat Verstappen at Monaco

The race, which is very similar to the ones held in the Beylik and where there is almost no chance of overtaking, A few incentives until the rain appears in the final episode. After the sensational spectacle delivered by Verstappen and Alonso in Saturday’s ‘qualifiers’, only the weather factor added ‘obscenity’ to the race. Today, Fernando had no choice but to attack Max, despite earning a worthy second place on the podium completed by Esteban Ocon.

Strategy to attack Max

Verstappen started with the same tools as Ocon. Alonso and sainz They barely chose a different strategy. The start was clean, Max was ahead and Alonso was holding Ocon away. Hamilton put pressure on Sainz on the climb, but the Madrid man held out very well.

stroll14th behind, He touched Albon and returned to the penalty area before completing the first lap.. They also stopped Hülkenberg and Pérez, who were in last place on the grid after Saturday’s qualifying crash. The Mexican was still a long way from entering the points zone, but returned to the track with two wins.

Sainz’s touch

The Ocon’s tires began to fail prematurely and Sainz attacked the Frenchman, but with such force the Alpine lightly struck and his front wing came off the hook. ferrari He chose to keep Carlos on track, trying to minimize damage and receiving a warning from the FIA ​​”for causing a collision”.. Soon after, it was Alonso who set off the alarm when he detected a roughness problem in the left front wheel: “Could this be a puncture?”

The radios of the teams began to warn that it would rain. Sainz and Ferrari ‘bait’ implying two pit stops, but Ocon did not ‘bite’ and continued to manage his tyres.

Tension at Ferrari

Verstappen began downshifting as he found himself with a ‘train’ of doubles riders, including teammate Pérez. Seeing the opportunity, Alonso “kill” to close the gap with Red Bull’s leader. Ocon lost time with a slow pit stop, but Sainz was unable to take advantage of the situation to gain position as he pitted. Carlos denounced his team for a vicious tactic: “Why did you stop me?”. They stated from the Scuderia wall that it was more about defending himself from Hamilton, who was 1.7 seconds behind, rather than attacking Ocon: “I don’t care about Hamilton!” ‘ Sainz replied angrily.

Rain is coming… and chaos

With 26 laps to go, the first drops began to fall and the danger skyrocketed on the Monaco asphalt. No one dared to stop, and Alonso, who was the first to do so, failed in the middle ride, while all his opponents chose wet Pirellis. While the Asturian driver’s time margin allowed him to correct his mistake and return to the penalty area without giving up the position, teammate Stroll crashed even during the time-outs.

Alonso returned to the track 22 seconds behind Verstappen, but Ocon was only 3.8 behindSainz, who was very aggressive trying to cross the Alps in flood, opposed the guards. The Madrid man became one of the ‘victims’ due to the chaos of the stops and was relegated to eighth place.

Fernando took extreme risks to knock Max down by 3 seconds per lap, but with 17 seconds to spare, the champion kept his cool in increasingly difficult racing conditions with a lot of water in the first two sectors of the track.

Russell, who is fifth behind teammate Hamilton and ahead of Leclerc, was given a 5″ penalty for maneuvering on the track. Stroll got out of the car to add his second dropout of the season..

33 in Barcelona?

Finally, Verstappen, Alonso and Ocon took the podium without rest in the Principality race, the event of the year for Alonso and Sainz, which will lead to a Spanish Grand Prix that will be more exciting than ever before. weekend. Circuit de Barcelona’s stands will be waiting for Alonso’s long-awaited 33rd win.ten years ago, the last time he entered this stage and got behind the wheel of a Ferrari.