Max Verstappen withstood a rain shower and two brushes with the barriers to extend his Formula 1 points lead with victory in a dramatic Monaco Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver pulled away from front-row partner Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in the first half of the race as Esteban Ocon’s Alpine held the rest of the pack up, effectively neutralising the potential strategic intrigue of Verstappen being on mediums but Alonso running hards in that stint.

Both were still on their original tyres when the rain arrived with 26 laps to go. Verstappen escaped clouting the Portier barrier while Alonso initially pitted for fresh medium slicks even though everyone else was taking on intermediates at that moment.

Alonso was back in the pits for inters on the next lap, but had such a big margin over Ocon that he didn’t lose second place.

Verstappen tagged the wall again coming out of the Swimming Pool section in the closing stages, also without damage, as he headed for victory by 28 seconds.

Alonso pulled clear of Ocon following his additional stop, while the Frenchman completed a race under constant pressure to take Alpine’s first podium of the 2023 F1 season.

Another angle on that contact between Sainz and Ocon