© Vladimir Rys

Max Takes P4 In Monaco, P5 For PierreMax and Pierre took their best ever Monaco Grand Prix results with fourth and fifth places respectively.

ButwhiletherewasdelightforPierreashecamebackfromapre-racegridpenaltyandtookfastestlap,therewasfrustrationforMaxassecondplaceatthefinishlinewastransformedtofourthplaceduetoatimepenalty.

• MAX STEALS P2 FROM BOT UNDER SAFETY CAR FOLLOWING LECLERC PUNCTURE
• MAX DROPS FROM P2 TO P4 AT FLAG AND PIERRE FINISHES P5
• MAX HANDED 5S TIME PENALTY FOR UNSAFE RELEASE IN PIT STOP
• PIERRE MAKES MOST OF ‘FREE’ PIT STOP TO TAKE SOFT TYRES AND SCORE FASTEST LAP

Max and Pierre took their best ever Monaco Grand Prix results© Vladimir Rys

When the lights went out for the start, polesitter Lewis Hamilton got away well and held his advantage as the leading drivers swarmed towards Sainte Devote. Max tried to pressure Mercedes P2-starter Valtteri Bottas as they approached the first turn but the Finn held the line and Max was forced to back off and stay in third place ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Behind them, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo got the jump on Haas’ Kevin Magnussen to steal fifth place, but Daniil Kvyat, starting seventh, made a poor start and dropped to ninth. The Russian’s drop boosted Pierre to seventh.

Further back Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, starting in 15th, was a man in a hurry. He quickly climbed to 13th and then began to chase down Haas’ Romain Grosjean. Going into Rascasse, Grosjean left a tiny gap and Leclerc exploited it, brilliantly slipping down the inside of the Haas to steal the place.

With the move proving successful the Monegasque driver decided to try the same overtake on Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg. This time, though, the gap was too tight, and as he went to pass, Leclerc clipped the barrier with his rear right wheel.

He passed the pit entry but it soon became clear that he’d sustained a puncture. With the whole track to navigate before he could pit for repairs, his tyres quickly began to disintegrate, and also tear chunks from the floor of his Ferrari. He pitted, taking on medium tyres, but with debris all over the track the safety car was deployed.

Max and Pierre took their best ever Monaco Grand Prix results© Getty Images

Mercedes opted to pit and stacked their drivers with Hamilton and Bottas pitting in rapid succession for medium tyres. That provided Max with an opportunity. With Bottas marginally delayed, Max was able to fit hard tyres and get out just ahead of the Finn.

They met in the pit lane, though, and there was contact as they vied for position. Max took second ahead of Bottas but the incident was placed under investigation by the stewards. Bottas sustained a puncture in the coming together and pitted again at the end of the following lap for hard tyres. He dropped to fourth behind Vettel.

Under the safety car, the Team opted to leave Pierre out on track and he soon rose to fifth place behind Bottas and ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat.

At the end of lap 22, the stewards returned a verdict on Max’s pit release and handed the Dutch driver a five-second time penalty. Looking for the most effective way of negating the penalty, Max then began to apply pressure on racer leader Hamilton, who was trying to nurse his medium tyres.

By lap 30 Max, on hard tyres, was 0.5s behind the Mercedes driver and forcing the champion to stress his tyres more than he would have wished. But as Max applied the pressure he too also began to work his tyres harder than he might have liked and by half distance he was experiencing some graining to his front-right tyre and could find no way past Hamilton.

During this spell, Pierre made his pit stop, for medium tyres, and emerged in ninth. But as those ahead of him peeled off to pit for new tyres, he gradually rose up the order again, coming to rest in fifth place.

Further ahead, Max continued to pressure Hamilton, trying to force a mistake from the leader and his severely worn medium tyres. Hamilton began to insist that he could not continue on the damaged tyres but was told to hang on.

On lap 61, with Pierre enjoying a comfortable gap back to McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, was brought in for a second ‘free’ pit stop. He took on soft tyres, rejoined in fifth once more, and set off in pursuit of the fastest lap of the race. He claimed it with six laps to go, setting a time of 1:14.279 to claim an extra point.

Max was now running out of time. Behind him Vettel and Bottas were closing up and the Dutchman’s hopes of claiming a podium position began to fade as Bottas got well within five seconds of the Red Bull.

Pit Stop in Monaco© Getty Images

The only possibility of hanging on to silverware rested in getting past Hamilton. Max tried to make the move two laps from home. He braked late into the Nouvelle Chicane, trying to get down the inside of Hamilton’s Mercedes. Max made the move, but with the gap too tight as Hamilton covered, they touched and continued through the chicane.

They both kept going but Hamilton was able to keep the chasing pack at bay over the final two laps and crossed the line to take his 77th career win.

He was followed by Max, but with the five-second penalty immediately applied, he dropped to fourth behind Vettel and Bottas.

Pierre followed to take an excellent fifth place at the end of a spotless drive, while behind the Frenchman Sainz took sixth place for McLaren. Toro Rosso enjoyed a profitable day with Daniil Kvyat seventh and Alex Albon eighth, while Daniel Ricciardo took ninth place ahead of Grosjean.

OURRACEINNUMBERS:

4 – Is Max’s best ever finish in Monaco. His previous best was fifth in 2017.

4 – It’s also his fourth P4 finish of the 2019 season from six races. He’s only finished in P3 or P4 so far this campaign.

5 – Is Pierre’s best Monaco finish and his best finishing position of the season so far.

1:14.279 – Pierre’s fastest lap is the second of his career. He joins Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as the only driver to score multiple fastest laps so far this season.

MonacoGrandPrix-RaceResultTop10:

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Sebastian Vettel
3. Valtteri Bottas
4. MAX VERSTAPPEN
5. PIERRE GASLY
6. Carlos Sainz
7. Daniil Kvyat
8. Alex Albon
9. Romain Grosjean
10. Daniel Ricciardo