F1 2023 | Verstappen wins in Monaco to make it six out of six for Red Bull
The Hindu
Double world champion Max Verstappen led a soggy and slippery Monaco Grand Prix from start to finish on Sunday to stretch his Formula One lead to 39 points and earn Red Bull a sixth win in as many races this season.
Double world champion Max Verstappen led a soggy and slippery Monaco Grand Prix from start to finish on Sunday to stretch his Formula One lead to 39 points and earn Red Bull a sixth win in as many races this season.
In a race livened up by a downpour after a processional 51 laps in dry conditions, Spaniard Fernando Alonso finished second for Aston Martin but a massive 27.9 seconds behind at the chequered flag.
Frenchman Esteban Ocon completed the podium in third place for Renault-owned Alpine, their first of the season, with Mercedes' seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton fourth and taking a bonus point for fastest lap.
"That was a real Monaco," Verstappen said after a 78-lap race that lasted an hour and 48 minutes.
"It was incredibly slippery and when you are that far in the lead you don't want to push too hard but also you don't want to lose too much time so it's quite difficult in that scenario.
"I clipped the wall a few times and it was super difficult out there. But that's Monaco."
The win was Verstappen's fourth of the season, second in Monaco and 39th of his career. Mexican team mate Sergio Perez, his closest title rival, started in last position after a qualifying crash and finished two laps down in 16th.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.