Track Torque: Max wins the jewel in the crown of grand prix racing
It was a tremendous cut-and-thrust event.
Max Verstappen comfortably won the Monaco Grand Prix last Sunday in his Red Bull Honda.
This is a very special race on the calendar and is known by the Grand Prix circus as the jewel in the crown of all the year’s events.
Monaco is perhaps the most demanding race of the year with hardly any run off area and is confined mainly by Armco barriers all around the track.
Top speed on one section is about 280km/h which is slow compared to most Formula One circuits around the world.
At Monaco you need to be inch perfect to make it to the finish in this extremely challenging street track.
It is a great honour to be on the podium here, surrounded by royalty in the principality which is a Millionaires’ Paradise.
This year’s coveted podium saw Verstappen joined by the old man Fernando Alonso in second place in his Aston Martin with Esteban Ocon in third spot after he had been awarded the driver of the day trophy.
Ocon was overjoyed and did indeed feel very proud of his achievement in the Renault Alpine.
In fourth position was a very determined Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes with team mate George Russell 17 seconds behind him in the sister car.
With a much updated car, the Mercedes team are trying very hard to regain their position of pride in what is proving to be a very competitive season.
While Red Bull continue to have the edge, the others are all just fraction of a second apart.
Of course, Monaco is a great equaliser, putting more emphasis on driver skill.
Five seconds back in sixth place was Charles Leclerc in the first of the Ferraris which sandwiched the other Alpine of Pierre Gasly.
Hence Carlos Sainz’s Prancing Horse made it home in eighth.
The two Mclaren Mercedes are also trying to regain confidence and speed. They did well to both make it in the points in ninth and 10th positions.
It had been a great weekend’s event with one of the best qualifying sessions ever, which Jensen Button described as the most wonderful he had ever watched.
It was a tremendous cut-and-thrust event.
We now move on to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix, just seven days after leaving Monte Carlo station, heading for the Spanish sun.
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