The final qualifying session of the 2023 Monaco GP was one of the most thrilling encounters of the season. Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, and Charles Leclerc were so evenly matched during the session. As a result, it needed some additional brilliance from the Dutchman to claim pole position. Verstappen recently revealed in an interview how he deliberately moved a wall ever so slightly to find more pace.
Recalling his approach in the clip posted by u/OutlandishnessPure2 on Reddit, Verstappen said, “There’s one chicane where I hit the wall a few times. So from experience, I know when you touch it at a certain point that you can push it inwards a little. And in the last lap, it worked out perfectly. Hitting it, I noticed my steering wheel… I saw, turning in, that one wheel turned back. But that wall bounced a little so that worked out perfectly.”
That little shunt ended up making the difference between him and Fernando Alonso. The cameraperson stationed at the end of the pool section of the track captured the moment which became one of the most iconic shots of the season.
Although the RB19 was a ‘rocketship,’ it too had a weakness. That Achilles Heel was the speed in slower corners. Evidently, the Monaco street track is a nightmare for a car with that characteristic.
Moreover, it perfectly suited Alonso’s AMR23. The Spaniard, who’s been chasing his 33rd race win for a decade, had the opportunity to capitalize on this factor, but Verstappen denied him with extraordinary application.
Owing to relatively lower chances of overtaking in Monaco, the reigning champion put a massive dent in Alonso’s hopes even before the start of the race on Sunday. Furthermore, the eventual victory was one of the most crucial ones that set the tone for many records that Verstappen broke in the season.
Monaco GP set the tone for a record-breaking season for Max Verstappen
The hard-fought win in Monaco was the second in the 10 consecutive races Max Verstappen went on to win. In the process, he broke Sebastian Vettel’s decade-old standing record of nine consecutive wins. Vettel too congratulated the 26-year-old Dutchman for the extraordinary feat.
Moreover, one of the biggest records Red Bull broke at the end of the season was the highest win rate over a season. The Milton Keynes outfit finished with a 95% win rate, thereby defeating McLaren’s previous record of 94% from 1988.
However, following the 10-race win streak, Verstappen suffered a massive loss in Singapore. Not only did he lose the race, but he also failed to clinch a podium. The same did not affect him though as he had already inflicted the required damage on his rivals.
All he required was a win in the Qatar GP sprint to seal the championship, which he went on to achieve. In his own opinion, a repeat of this season in 2024 is highly unlikely. Team boss Christian Horner holds a similar opinion.
However, the advantage that Red Bull have over their rivals suggests a different story. No team has come close to challenging Red Bull in 2023 and, as the ground-effect era continues, it is highly improbable that a team will pose a serious threat any time soon.
