Max Verstappen claimed the win and the championship lead with victory at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Dutchman began as the lead car after polesitter Charles Leclerc retired before the start due to a driveshaft problem on his Ferrari that wasn’t spotted following his crash in qualifying.
And having held off Valtteri Bottas on the run to Sainte Devote, it was a fairly comfortable drive to the chequered flag for the Red Bull driver.
On the contrary, it was a disastrous day for Mercedes as a sticking front-right wheel nut forced Bottas into retirement from second at his pit stop.
As for Lewis Hamilton, he was unable to make up any ground at the start but for the place gained by Leclerc’s absence.
Then, a decision to pit first for hard tyres backfired hugely as he failed to undercut Pierre Gasly ahead and was in fact overcut by Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez, dropping to seventh.
Bottas’ demise promoted Carlos Sainz up to second and Lando Norris to third. Perez, who started ninth, improved to fourth following his later first pit-stop.
Vettel and Gasly ran side-by-side up Beau Rivage when the Aston Martin emerged from the pits, with the German just getting in front in fifth and the AlphaTauri sixth.
With a free pit-stop, Hamilton switched back to soft with 10 laps to go, securing the point for the fastest lap but that was scant consolation as the Briton fell four points behind Verstappen in the championship standings.
Lance Stroll was eighth as Aston Martin enjoyed their best race of the season so far. Esteban Ocon held off Antonio Giovinazzi for most of the race as they completed the top 10.
