Picture Credit: Twitter/@F1
The streets of Monte Carlo, like always, witnessed a dramatic weekend in round 5th of the season. From a cruising practice session to an incomplete qualifying lap and then the pole position holder missing out on getting the car back on track on the race day. What else we could have asked for!
Max Verstappen was moved to top of the grid after Ferrari reported an issue with the left driveshaft that sidelined Charles Leclerc. Max grabbed the opportunity with both hands and led the race throughout the 78 laps, and finally broke the 'Curse of Monaco' after being the first to cross the chequered flag. The win was sweeter, with Lewis Hamilton only managing P7 (won a bonus point for the fastest lap).
Max takes a dig at Hamilton after victory
Hamilton recently indicated that Verstappen is driving a little too hard, referring to their wheel-to-wheel fights so far this season. The Red Bull champion, on the other hand, was having none of it, speaking to Sky F1 after crossing the Serena Williams-waved chequered flag.
"Well, first of all, actions always speak louder than words, That's a good lesson after this weekend. You only have to talk on the track. That's what I like." said Max after the race.
"We as a team so far made the smallest mistakes. That's why we are ahead. So I hope we can keep that going for the rest of the season," he added.
Verstappen registers first podium finish in Monaco
For the first time, the Belgian-born driver finished on the podium at the Monaco Grand Prix ensuring that he leads the World Drivers' Championship – 105 points to Lewis' 101. He had finished second here in the 2019 edition, but a time penalty dropped him to fourth. Hamilton had won the race, followed by Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes.
Verstappen displayed his delight by responding, "It's nice, I've never been on the podium here, and then first time straight away a win, so it's a bit of redemption for all the other races here because I've never really had a lovely feeling on a Sunday here."
"We will need to see how competitive we're going to be in Baku. Of course, there are a few lessons to be learned from here as well, how we started on Thursday – we don't want that to happen there," Max concluded.