Verstappen claims Monaco race was a “lottery”

F1 Grand Prix, GP Monaco, Monte Carlo Circuit

Although Red Bull came up with a host of strategy moves for Max Verstappen, the reigning champion finished from where he started the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix.

The Dutchman qualified fifth, but he moved up the grid thank to a three-place grid penalty for Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen maintained his starting position at the start, and spent the majority on the race behind the trio of Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri.

However, Red Bull came up with an ambitious strategy that saw Verstappen play the long game. With fifth-place Hamilton having rejoined the track almost 40 seconds behind the race leader following his last pit stop, Verstappen stayed out on the Monte Carlo track until the penultimate lap.

The Dutchman led the race from Norris and Leclerc, and was waiting for a potential red flag period which would have handed him the race victory. However, there was no interruption in the closing stages of the race, and the four-time F1 champion was forced to complete his second and last tyre service on Lap 77, ending the race in fourth place.

“It wasn’t the most exciting race for me today. At the end we stayed out waiting as I had a huge gap behind me, so was free to do what we wanted with our final pit stop.

“We had nothing to lose; the tyres were quite old and we couldn’t push so much but we had a big gap behind. We just kept at it to see if we got lucky with the safety car or a red flag.

“We did everything right and there wasn’t much more we could have done to change the result. Overall, the two stop format didn’t change much for me, it is a lottery about what is going to happen in the race as it is impossible to overtake here. You don’t push the car to the limit as you can’t pass the car, so we didn’t learn too much from the car today.

“It was not the most exciting race and I felt pretty neutral. This is not our track, it’s as simple as that and it is just not made for our car. In Barcelona we should be able to race more, so we will see what happens in the final race of the triple header."