That’s all for our live coverage. Here are the final standings in full.
FINAL CLASSIFICATION (LAP 78/78)
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 28, 2023
Superb driving (all weekend) from @Max33Verstappen 👏#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/mP3k7SXUjE
Speaking to Sky Sports, Verstappen says it was a “super difficult” race owing to the challenging conditions. “We thought to play a long game with our strategy, but Max drove really well on the medium tyres over that first stint,” says Alonso, who shares an embrace with his rival.
Max Verstappen wins the Monaco GP!
Verstappen claims victory by a country mile, with Alonso in second, Ocon third, Hamilton fourth and Russell fifth. Verstappen celebrates a “pretty well-executed” race, waving to the crowd.
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Lap 77/78: The curtain is about to fall on a rain-lashed race. And the winner is …
Lap 76/78: Magnussen has joined Stroll in retiring, heading back to the pits.
Lap 75/78: A top three of Verstappen, Alonso and Ocon now looks almost certain. Hamilton is still fourth, with Russell in fifth.
Lap 74/78: Four laps to go and Verstappen is free to enjoy his inevitable victory.
Lap 73/78: Pérez has changed from wets to intermediates. He’s now 17th.
Lap 72/78: Verstappen’s win is a formality now. Alonso is still well ahead of Ocon, with Hamilton and Russell jostling for an advantage.
Lap 71/78: Given he’s 25 seconds ahead, Verstappen doesn’t need to take any more risks. The car seems fine, thankfully.
Lap 70/78: Verstappen hits the wall, but looks to have got away with it. “I clipped the wall with the right rear, check pressures,” he says.
Lap 69/78: Tsunoda runs in to trouble, seemingly because of faulty brakes. He has to reverse back on to the track and drops down to 13th, with Norris up to ninth and Piastri close behind in 10th.
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Lap 68/78: With 10 laps to go, Norris, Tsunoda and Piastri are battling it out for ninth.
Lap 67/78: Verstappen is 22 seconds ahead of Alonso, who is 17 seconds ahead of Ocon. Hamilton and Russell are hot on Ocon’s heels.
Lap 66/78: Hülkenberg has been given a 10-second penalty for not serving an earlier penalty correctly.
Lap 65/78: We’ve got 13 laps to go and things have settled down again. The rain is easing off and the drivers seem to be back in control.
Lap 64/78: In conversation with his team, Sainz is told: “We expect rain to stop in two to three minutes.” Behind Verstappen and Alonso, Ocon, Hamilton and Russell continue to round off the top five.
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Lap 63/78: Pérez nicks the barriers but it doesn’t look like he’s sustained any damage. Verstappen’s lead is now up to 20 seconds.
Lap 62/78: Verstappen ups the pace, restoring his lead to over 18 seconds. Stroll is the first to retire from the race, trudging back to the pits.
Lap 61/78: It’s chaos out there, the cars slipping and sliding. Alonso continues to close the gap.
Lap 60/78: Verstappen’s lead is down to just over 17 seconds. Alonso is flying, albeit from quite a way back.
Lap 59/78: The heavy rain is set to last five minutes, according to the latest chatter coming over the radio. Russell has got a five-second penalty for an unsafe rejoin in front of Pérez.
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Lap 58/78: Magnussen has damaged his front wing and is back in the pits, losing time, after hitting the barriers at Rascasse.
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Lap 57/78: Verstappen is now 21 seconds out in front, with Alonso, Ocon, Hamilton and Russell making up the rest of the top five.
Lap 56/78: The pit lane is a mess at this point. It’s raining quite heavily now. Alonso stops again for intermediates.
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Lap 55/78: Ocon comes in to the pits for a second time. He’s also on intermediates now.
Lap 54/78: Alonso comes in for a tyre change. It’s all go in the pits all of a sudden.
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Lap 53/78: Multiple teams come in and change to intermediate tyres. How will the pit stops shake up the standings?
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Lap 52/78: Lots of drivers seem to be considering tyre changes in light of the weather. There’s a note of alarm to much of the radio chatter.
Lap 51/78: “It’s raining more and more,” says Russell. It could start to get slippy before long.
Lap 50/78: Verstappen gets another rain update. “Maybe drops of rain about turns six to eight.”
Lap 49/78: Red Bull warn Verstappen of impending rain. Russell is up to third, with Ocon now fourth.
Lap 48/78: Gasly makes a pit stop, which heralds another reshuffle in the chasing pack.
Lap 47/78: Verstappen is pulling ahead once again. Alonso is still his only credible challenger.
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Lap 46/78: Leclerc’s pit stop allows Gasly to nip into third, with Russell in fourth.
Lap 45/78: Leclerc makes a pit stop and comes back on to the track just behind Hamilton in eighth.
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Lap 44/78: Verstappen maintains his lead. Alonso is still gunning for him.
Lap 43/78: Weather latest: there are pockets of rain 20 minutes away. Almost all the radio chatter is still precipitation-related.
Lap 42/78: The top five are yet to pit. Verstappen’s advantage is creeping up again.
Lap 41/78: Stroll gets a black and white flag after making contact with Magnussen. Stroll is now 14th, with the Danish driver one place ahead of him.
Lap 40/78: Verstappen, Alonso, Leclerc, Gasly and Russell make up the top five as things stand. Still no rain.
Lap 39/78: Verstappen still has an eight-second advantage at the front. Alonso has widened the gap to third.
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Lap 38/78: Leclerc is up to third after Ocon’s slow pit stop. Ocon has dropped down to sixth.
Lap 37/78: Pérez has damaged his front wing after contact with Magnussen. Pérez is forced to pit.
Lap 36/78: Verstappen and Alonso are still way out ahead, with the former doing his best to restore his former advantage.
Lap 35/78: Sainz isn’t happy after Ocon remains ahead at the stops. There are several bleeps over the radio.
Lap 34/78: Ocon pits in third, but there’s a delay and he comes back out in seventh. That could cause him all sorts of difficulties.
Lap 33/78: The latest is that there’s a risk of rain with 20 laps to go. One to keep an eye on.
Lap 32/78: Verstappen’s lead has been cut to eight seconds. Alonso is still going for it.
Lap 31/78: There’s still a lot of talk of rain. Pérez is lapped by Verstappen, which will sting.
Lap 30/78: Verstappen is still talking to his team about his tyres, but is told that, if he pits now, Alonso will go ahead. “I’m sure you understand the situation.” Well, indeed.
Lap 29/78: Verstappen is still 11 seconds ahead but seems to be fretting about the state of his front tyres. His front left has endured a fair bit of graining.
Lap 28/78: There could be rain in the next 20 minutes, apparently. Sainz is still out there, despite his earlier crunch.
Lap 27/78: Pérez is still fighting for position, but is yet to find another opening.
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Lap 26/78: McLaren warn Norris of “possible rain”. Someone get Gianni Infantino’s umbrella.
Lap 25/78: Verstappen is cruising now. His lead is up to 11 seconds.
Lap 24/78: There’s been no movement at the top of the standings, as expected really.
Lap 23/78: Pérez, Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, is still in 16th. The race has been much choppier for those at the back.
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Lap 22/78: Verstappen’s lead on Alonso is now over 10 seconds. It’s been a smooth run for him so far.
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Lap 21/78: There are some ominous clouds drifting in, apparently. One for the meteorologists.
Lap 20/78: Verstappen continues to extend his lead, which looks unassailable.
Lap 19/78: Albon heads in for a pit stop. Sargeant is being hunted down at the back of the field.
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Lap 18/78: Sargeant is in trouble. Stroll and Hülkenberg also make hay, leaving him in 18th.
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We’ve got some correspondence from Anne Williams. “This is the first race I’ve been able to watch live and, wow, it’s really boring so far!” Try live blogging it!
Lap 17/78: Sainz gets a black and white flag for causing a collision. Meanwhile, overtake klaxon! Magnussen nips into space to get ahead of Sargeant at Mirabeau and is now up to 15th.
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Lap 16/78: There’s a lot of talk about graining. Repeat: there’s a lot of talk about graining.
Lap 15/78: The top six are still unchanged, but, little by little, Verstappen continues to extend his lead.
Lap 14/78: Verstappen now has a five-second lead. Alonso discusses a potential puncture with his team, but gets the all clear.
Lap 13/78: Sainz has lost his front end plate but he’s still out on the track. Not ideal.
Another angle on that contact between Sainz and Ocon 👀#MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ex7mQsXMLu
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 28, 2023
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Lap 12/78: Verstappen and Alonso have opened a big gap to Ocon. It’s looking like a two-horse race already.
Lap 11/78: Sainz has run into the back of Ocon at the Nouvelle Chicane and damaged his front wing, which could wreck his race. The yellow flag is out but Sainz is trying to carry on.
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Lap 10/78: Pérez continues to push, catching up with the following pack at the back of the field.
Lap 9/78: Pérez, having already made a pit stop, is up to 18th, but struggles to advance further.
Lap 8/78: Russell is given the all clear over his starting position, which will come as a relief.
Lap 7/78: The advertising hoardings are starting to fray as the cars hug the limited width of the track. The drivers push and probe for an opening with little success.
Lap 6/78: The race resembles a car park early on. The top six are still unchanged.
Lap 5/78: Hülkenberg is given a five-second time penalty after a bump with Sargeant.
Lap 4/78: There are groups forming here and there but, as predicted, little room for a successful overtake.
Lap 3/78: The top six are unchanged. Settle in for a cagey race.
Lap 2/78: The race starts to settle down, Verstappen still leading with Alonso, Ocon, Sainz, Hamilton and Leclerc behind him. Russell has been noted by race control for an incorrect starting position.
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Lap 1/78: There’s contact between Hülkenberg and Stroll early on, with the former making up four places and the latter losing four. They both go into the pits, as does Pérez.
Lights out!
Verstappen tears away, with Alonso making a fast start ahead of Ocon. Let’s do this.
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In case you’re unfamiliar with the race, the circuit is just over two miles long and we’ve got 78 laps to come. It’s notoriously difficult to overtake given its tight and sharply twisting bends, making track position especially important. Even so, it’s one of the most iconic circuits in F1 and the archetypal street track.
The grid
For those who need a reminder, here’s the grid in full:
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
3 Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
4 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
5 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
6 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
7 Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
8 George Russell (Mercedes)
9 Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
10 Lando Norris (McLaren)
11 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
12 Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri)
13 Alex Albon (Williams)
14 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
15 Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
16 Logan Sargeant (Williams)
17 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
18 Nico Hülkenberg (Haas)
19 Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
20 Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
As ever, there are a host of famous faces hanging about. Kylie Minogue, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Gianni Infantino, Orlando Bloom. Quite the fantasy dinner party. For someone, probably.
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Giles Richards has some thoughts on Mercedes’s ongoing struggles and the arrival of the “B-spec” of the Mercedes W14. They make for interesting pre-race reading.
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Verstappen has been talking to Sky Sports about living in lovely, sunny, opulent Monaco. “It’s really nice for me to live here: the quality of life, food, training, it’s just good to be around here,” he purrs.
Asked about his future in F1, he demurs, admitting he has ambitions elsewhere and may want a new challenge at some stage. “I love racing, otherwise I wouldn’t be on the simulator at home doing other kinds of stuff,” he says. “But that’s exactly the thing, I also like to do other kinds of racing, not only Formula One … I’m really a person who loves to be at home and, let’s say, maybe at one point – I like to be competitive, I like to win – but if you can’t fully motivate yourself to get to every race then that’s the point where you have to question whether you want to continue.”
Discussing Red Bull’s dominance, he says: “That’s what we always wanted, right? To be the dominant team. I think this weekend is very different though … this is definitely one you want to win, at least once. Luckily I’ve already done that.”
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Preamble
The sun is shining, the summer vibe shift is well under way and the Monaco Grand Prix is about to begin. Max Verstappen starts on pole after an exhilarating final lap in qualifying, with Fernando Alonso in second and Esteban Ocon in third. The Red Bull principal, Christian Horner, called Verstappen’s last-gasp coup over Alonso “probably the best qualifying lap of his career” and the Dutchman now holds all the cards. Lewis Hamilton is back in fifth, with his Mercedes teammate George Russell in eighth.
