Verstappen led every lap, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, but had to negotiate his way through a heavy rain shower. He clipped the wall just before pitting for intermediate tyres but benefited when Alonso stopped for slicks just before the rain arrived.
Verstappen had one more wall hit with nine laps to go at the exit of the Swimming Pool section, but survived for his 39th F1 victory, his fourth of 2023.
2023 F1 Monaco Grand Prix results
Cla | Driver | Laps | Time | Gap | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | 78 | 1:48'51.980 | 25 | |
2 | Fernando Alonso | 78 | 1:49'19.901 | 27.921 | 18 |
3 | Esteban Ocon | 78 | 1:49'28.970 | 36.990 | 15 |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | 78 | 1:49'31.042 | 39.062 | 13 |
5 | George Russell | 78 | 1:49'48.264 | 56.284 | 10 |
6 | Charles Leclerc | 78 | 1:49'53.870 | 1'01.890 | 8 |
7 | Pierre Gasly | 78 | 1:49'54.342 | 1'02.362 | 6 |
8 | Carlos Sainz | 78 | 1:49'55.371 | 1'03.391 | 4 |
9 | Lando Norris | 77 | 1 lap | 2 | |
10 | Oscar Piastri | 77 | 1 lap | 1 | |
11 | Valtteri Bottas | 77 | 1 lap | ||
12 | Nyck de Vries | 77 | 1 lap | ||
13 | Zhou Guanyu | 77 | 1 lap | ||
14 | Alex Albon | 77 | 1 lap | ||
15 | Yuki Tsunoda | 76 | 2 laps | ||
16 | Sergio Perez | 76 | 2 laps | ||
17 | Nico Hulkenberg | 76 | 2 laps | ||
18 | Logan Sargeant | 76 | 2 laps | ||
Kevin Magnussen | 70 | ||||
Lance Stroll | 53 | ||||
View full results |
How the 2023 F1 Monaco Grand Prix unfolded
Verstappen, who started on medium slick tyres, held his pole position advantage ahead of Alonso (on hards) and Esteban Ocon (Alpine, on mediums). Carlos Sainz (Ferrari, on hards) just held off Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes, on mediums) for fourth.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was penalised three grid positions after impeding Lando Norris in qualifying, ran sixth from Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and George Russell (Mercedes).
Starting at the back of the grid after his qualifying crash, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez didn’t make any progress at the start and pitted for hard tyres at the end of lap one.
Sainz attacked Ocon at the Nouvelle Chicane on lap 11, clipping the rear of the Alpine and damaging the left-side front wing endplate, which flew off a few corners later at Beau Rivage. Sainz was shown the black and white flag for causing a collision.
Verstappen’s lead over Alonso stretched to over 10s by lap 25, with Ocon over 17s further back.
Hamilton pitted for hards just before half distance, as did Ocon – who suffered a slow stop – and Sainz.
Further back, Perez collided with Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin at the Nouvelle Chicane, and then clashed at the same spot with Kevin Magnussen’s Haas a few laps later, breaking his front wing and forcing him to pit again. Stroll then hit Magnussen at Anthony Nogues, damaging his wing.
After encountering traffic, Verstappen’s lead fell to 7s, but extended his advantage again when he worked through it by half distance.
Leclerc pitted from third on lap 45, just before rain started to fall on the far side of the circuit at the top of the hill, from Mirabeau to Portier, on lap 52. Stroll and Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) were the first to jump to intermediate tyres.
Alonso pitted for medium slicks, just as Ocon stopped for intermediates as the rain spread right across the circuit. Sainz suffered a half-spin at a drenched Mirabeau, dropping behind Leclerc.
Verstappen made his sole pitstop for intermediates on lap 55, after clipping the wall at Portier, while Alonso pitted for a second time for inters too. Ferrari were forced to stack its cars, while Magnussen tried to brave it on slicks but hit the wall at Rascasse, just being able to drag his car into the pits for full wet tyres.
After the pitstops were complete, Verstappen led Alonso by 22s, Ocon, Hamilton, Russell, Leclerc, Gasly and Sainz. Russell went off down the escape road at Mirabeau and was hit by Perez has he rejoined – for which Russell was given a 5s penalty for rejoining in an unsafe manner.
Verstappen cruised to victory, 27s ahead of Alonso, Ocon, Hamilton and Russell, who stayed clear of Leclerc to negate his penalty despite a damaged car. Behind the battling Gasly and Sainz, the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri passed a brake-troubled Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri for ninth and tenth respectively inside the final 10 laps.
Stroll was the first retirement, as his Aston cried enough after several encounters with the barriers and other cars, while Magnussen also didn’t see the chequered flag.
2023 F1 Monaco Grand Prix fastest laps
Cla | Driver | Lap | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | 33 | 1'15.650 | |
2 | Charles Leclerc | 46 | 1'15.773 | 0.123 |
3 | Pierre Gasly | 49 | 1'15.831 | 0.181 |
4 | Sergio Perez | 5 | 1'16.269 | 0.619 |
5 | Carlos Sainz | 43 | 1'16.449 | 0.799 |
6 | Esteban Ocon | 41 | 1'16.528 | 0.878 |
7 | Max Verstappen | 23 | 1'16.604 | 0.954 |
8 | Alex Albon | 24 | 1'16.672 | 1.022 |
9 | Fernando Alonso | 43 | 1'16.674 | 1.024 |
10 | George Russell | 48 | 1'16.798 | 1.148 |
11 | Zhou Guanyu | 5 | 1'16.926 | 1.276 |
12 | Nico Hulkenberg | 6 | 1'16.991 | 1.341 |
13 | Logan Sargeant | 32 | 1'17.302 | 1.652 |
14 | Oscar Piastri | 47 | 1'17.513 | 1.863 |
15 | Nyck de Vries | 43 | 1'17.561 | 1.911 |
16 | Yuki Tsunoda | 36 | 1'17.680 | 2.030 |
17 | Lance Stroll | 18 | 1'17.769 | 2.119 |
18 | Valtteri Bottas | 19 | 1'17.824 | 2.174 |
19 | Lando Norris | 46 | 1'17.844 | 2.194 |
20 | Kevin Magnussen | 41 | 1'18.351 | 2.701 |
View full results |