Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has admitted that he feels ‘super happy’ to have clinched victory at the Monaco Grand Prix for the first time.
Following Charles Leclerc’s failure to start from pole position for Ferrari after suffering a driveshaft failure, Verstappen was able to comfortably claim the lead at lights out and race away to a dominant first win around the streets of Monaco after being denied a podium finish in his five previous visits to the Principality.
Verstappen consequently inherited the championship lead from Lewis Hamilton by only four points, after the Brit finished seventh and claimed the point for fastest lap.
Speaking on how ‘super happy’ he felt to have finally climbed onto the podium in Monaco to gift Red Bull their second win in Formula One’s last three visits, Verstappen said; “It’s such a tricky track and you need a smooth weekend so I’m very pleased with what we have achieved as a Team and of course with Honda.”
Verstappen only relinquished the lead for one lap as he made his stop on lap 35 but the 23 year-old admitted that although his performance ‘all looked under control’, he felt that staying focused was the toughest part of his race in order to avoid making any race-ending mistakes.
Reflecting on his race pace, Verstappen commented; “I think pace wise, we were always in control because every time someone tried to push me in terms of lap time, we were able to respond and increase the gap.
Verstappen though was slightly cautious in looking ahead as he predicted Mercedes to be ‘still the ones to beat’ heading into Baku, particularly given how quick their cars are on ‘normal’ circuits.
Team Principal, Christian Horner praised Verstappen for how he responded to a ‘frustrating’ conclusion to Qualifying, which left the championship leader ‘disappointed’ before ‘driving faultlessly’ from lights out to seize victory and Red Bull’s fifth win around Monaco.
Sergio Perez meanwhile was the last driver of the top eight drivers who started the race to make his pit stop, earning him a fourth-placed finish, having been able to have ‘saved’ his tyres and utilised them in the form of qualifying style laps to leapfrog Sebastian Vettel, Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton in the pit stops.
Perez also saw a chance to overtake McLaren’s Lando Norris for third go begging because the Brit had denied him ‘a clear chance’ to overtake because he too had good tyre life to claim the final podium position.
Although Perez missed out on the podium, the Mexican however admitted that he was thinking of the ‘long game’ and banking points for the team in regards to their constructor fight against Mercedes and praised Verstappen for doing a ‘mega job’ up front to put the team top of both driver and team standings.
Horner echoed Perez’s thoughts as he praised him for his ‘brilliant pace’ to record what he described as ‘an incredibly strong’ drive.
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