When the lights went out, the departure was relatively cautious for everyone. No one seemed crazy enough to act heroic at the first turn on a wet and dangerously slippery track. George Russell managed to maintain his first place ahead of Max Verstappen.
The start was less clean for the other Red Bull. Sergio Perez, completely cornered on the right at the exit of the second turn, was unable to avoid contact with the Alpine of Pierre Gasly. Fortunately for both drivers, this small collision had no major impact and both managed to resume their race having simply lost a few positions.
Apart from the two Haas, everyone decided to put on intermediate tires for the start. started on intermediate tires apart from the two Haas which opted for full wet. This strategic gamble on Ayao Komatsu’s men’s side showed promise at the start of the relay but very quickly when the rain subsided, the two began to fall slightly in the hierarchy. The first victim of these tricky conditions was Logan Sargeant’s Williams. The American hit the barriers at turn 6 without breaking his front wing. A small miracle in itself.
Verstappen gradually returned against a struggling George Russell. Finally in the DRS zone, the Dutchman made a small mistake at the first corner. This little blunder allowed Russell to get some air. From now on, the McLaren of Lando Norris was very pressing in the mirrors of the Red Bull stamped with number 1. The winner of the Miami Grand Prix signed an impressive start to the race by consecutively overtaking Verstappen and Russell with ease to take the lead. the race.
On lap 25, Logan Sargeant found himself stopped in the middle of the road following aquaplaning. The safety car intervenes, everyone goes through the pits to change tires except Lando Norris who did not have time to return. He lost his leading position and fell back to 3rd position.
As the safety car was about to disappear, Charles Leclerc made a surprising stop to swap his rain tires for slicks. The stop is endless, the Monegasque is last. This decision is incomprehensible, Leclerc is the only one in sticks while the rain starts to fall again. It doesn’t take long to stop again to hand over intermediaries. The winner of the Monaco Grand Prix sees her streak of consecutive Top 5 finishes end in one of the worst ways imaginable. The Ferrari driver was caught out by the drivers against whom he had been fighting for victory for two weeks. the final nail in the coffin was his team’s request to return to the garage to retire. From dream to nightmare, this is how to summarize Leclerc’s last two weeks.
The return of the sun
Pierre Gasly was the second driver on the grid to opt for hard tyres. On the 40th lap, the Alpine driver dove into the pits to get rid of his green-striped tires and try to take advantage of the return of the sun which made it possible to create a dry line on the track. The French clan’s strategy was surely slightly premature because the Norman did not gain any time on his rivals.
Noticing his inability to cross the papaya-colored wall in front of him, Lewis Hamilton took the same risk on the 43rd lap to try his luck with the medium tires.
Norris did the exact opposite of his direct rivals Hamilton and Verstappen and extended his stint in intermediate. The British driver pushed his car to its limits to come out of the pits at the head of the race as could be seen by the particularly agile rear of his car. This brilliant strategic bet was enough to overtake Russell but not enough to come out ahead of the Dutchman’s Red Bull.
On lap 48, only four seconds separated Verstappen and Norris. Surprisingly, the dry conditions favored the Mercedes more than the McLarens. After almost pushing Norris at the hairpin of turn number 10, the Grand Prix pole-sitter regained his second place and seemed to be moving back at high speed on the Red Bull. His progress was ruined by a small driving error in the chicane at turn number 8. This little squabble between the British allowed the three-time reigning world champion to take off.
Chaos again
Eliminated in Q1 yesterday, Sergio Perez extended a catastrophic weekend with an exit from the track with terrible consequences. Grinding his rear wing into the barriers, the Mexican arrived at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit with a brand new contract and a sporting performance far from living up to his employer’s expectations. Fortunately for Red Bull that the two Ferraris did not reach the finish because the outcome could have been much more severe for the Austrian team.
Alexander Albon, who was running a perfect race until the 54th lap which, without incident, should have rewarded him with the two points for 9th place, turned into a disaster when he crossed paths with Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard had the misfortune of touching a wet part of the asphalt at the entrance to the 6th turn. Losing control, the Ferrari driver was unable to catch up with his car in time. Although careful, Albon did not manage to avoid the rear end of the red car. The two made contact, with the Thai crashing into the wall. This incident caused a second safety car to come out.
Verstappen’s three seasons of domination have allowed him to perfectly master the art of restarting. Lando Norris was completely helpless against the Red Bull at the exit of the last chicane. At the end of a complete loop, the Dutchman could boast of being more than a second and a half ahead of his closest rival.
Behind during the first half of the race, Lewis Hamilton appeared more and more threatening as the sun heated up the track. Overtaking Oscar Piastri at first, he was unable to think of Lando Norris’ single-seater, having to defend against his neighbor in the garage. The two Mercedes drivers
It was finally Max Verstappen who came to get a well-deserved victory. After facing the two Mercedes and the two McLarens alone, the young world champion went for his 6th victory of the season on a circuit where the latter was not necessarily announced as the favorite. If the Dutch anthem has sounded again this season, it is appreciable to note that from now on the Red Bulls no longer seem to be able to win comfortably.
The other small success of the day is obviously the double finish in the points for Alpine. After Bahrain, such a feat was difficult to imagine.
