Max Verstappen had yet another flawless weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix, putting his car in pole position during the qualifying session and leading the race for every single lap until the checkered flag. Usually, Sergio Perez would be right up there with his teammate, but crashing out in Q1 meant the entire grid was a Red Bull sandwich.
Given Monaco's tight confines, Checo only managed to finish in 16th. Considering his win last year, it must have been a punch in the gut.
Perez's mistake left the door wide open for Fernando Alonso to finish in second place. The weekend's biggest surprise was Esteban Ocon qualifying in P3 and holding on to the position despite having two Mercedes-AMGs on his tail during the latter half of the race.
There were hopes Alonso would be able to claim a victory, and starting on the hard compound tires, we knew the race would be a long game effort from the Aston Martin driver. But when rain fell, and his team pitted him for medium compound tires instead of intermediates, all hopes of a win faded, and he had to settle for second, despite an exemplary drive.
The rest of the points-scoring positions went to Lewis Hamilton in fourth (with the fastest lap), George Russell in fifth, Charles Leclerc in sixth, Pierre Gasly in seventh, Carlos Sainz in eighth, Lando Norris in ninth, and Oscar Piastri in tenth.
Having secured at least first or second in every race before Monaco, the Red Bull racers retain the two top spots in the Drivers' Championship. Verstappen is way out in front with 144 points, and despite scoring no points at the Monaco Grand Prix, Perez remains in second with 105 points. Alonso is the closest to upsetting the battle for second on 93 points.
The battle for the Constructors' Championship is rather one-sided. Red Bull has already amassed 249 points, more than double Aston Martin's 120-point second place. Mercedes is in third with 119 points and ready to overtake the British team after Stroll's Monaco race ended prematurely. Aston Martin may have Alonso, but Hamilton and Russell score more consistent points than Stroll.
As a race, the Monaco Grand Prix was dull. We know it's the crown jewel in F1's calendar, but the cars are too big for the Monegasque streets these days. The cars ground to a halt through the Grand Hotel Hairpin, and that's not something that should happen during an F1 race. It would have been a better race if every driver had been given a Honda Civic Type R. Now that the Japanese brand is back in the big leagues, the FIA should investigate this option.
The F1 circus is finally done with street circuits until September as we head to the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona this coming weekend. The two Spanish drivers on the grid will certainly want to score a victory in front of a home audience, but Red Bull will most likely stop that from happening.