Max Verstappen, after his disappointing qualifying, in which he set the fourth fastest time, seemed to be on his way to relinquishing his leading position in the world championship to Charles Leclerc again. In Monaco, however, the Dutchman finished ahead of his rival, who started on pole position. Christian Horner breathed a sigh of relief afterwards.
Ferrari had the faster car in Monaco, but during the race proved unable to defend the front two places. While Carlos Sainz still managed to secure second place, Leclerc finished in fourth place.
It means for Verstappen that he maintains a lead over the Monegasque in the rankings. Although Horner knows that there are still plenty of Grands Prix on the program, he is happy for the reigning world champion that the weekend ended positively.
"Max hasn’t quite had the car where he wanted this weekend, but he’s pleased with that result," Horner informed Red Bull's press release. "He’s beaten Charles and kept his championship lead which was the goal. Through great teamwork from the drivers, on the pit wall, in the garage and back in Milton Keynes we optimised our performance this weekend, so we are very happy."