{"id":7486,"date":"2021-05-23T10:00:56","date_gmt":"2021-05-23T10:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/?p=7486"},"modified":"2021-05-23T10:00:56","modified_gmt":"2021-05-23T10:00:56","slug":"max-verstappen-wins-monaco-gp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/max-verstappen-wins-monaco-gp","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen wins Monaco GP"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Red Bull and Netherland native, Max Verstappen celebrates on top of his car at the Monaco racetrack after winning the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.<\/p><\/div>\n

After a qualifying session that saw Lewis Hamilton dropping to seventh, and Charles Leclerc earning pole, only to exit before the start of the race with a gearbox problem, pole position went to Red Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen, who drove it home from beginning to end.<\/p>\n

As the lights went green, Max Verstappen<\/a> held off a hard charging Valtteri Bottas and went onto a dominating finish at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday. Verstappen managed to close the door for Bottas by maneuvering in front and blocking his chance of getting a leap on the Dutch driver.<\/p>\n

The win was Verstappen\u2019s first ever win at Monaco and the first time he has ever been in the lead in his F1 driving career. This was Verstappen\u2019s second win of the 2021 season and his twelfth of his career.<\/p>\n

With the win, Verstappen took over the drivers\u2019 championship lead putting Lewis Hamilton down into second. After crossing the finish line, Red Bull principal Christian Horner<\/a> could be heard over the team radio congratulating Verstappen on the win, saying,<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was master class and you’re leading the championship. Well done, mate.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The historic win for the Dutchman was also the first time since 2018 that a Mercedes didn\u2019t lead an F1 race. The Mercedes was uncharacteristically unreliable all weekend, a track, known for offering few places to pass, the timing couldn\u2019t have been worse.<\/p>\n

The weekend only got worse for Mercedes after Hamilton was pushed down to 7th on the starting grid. Their only remaining hope, Bottas, sat in the number two pole position. However, his race was short-lived after his pitstop resulted in early retirement from the race due to a right-front wheel stub axle getting stripped.<\/p>\n

RaySports F1<\/strong><\/p>\n