F1 News: Verstappen Takes Title Lead As Hamilton Registers Humiliating Loss At Monaco GP

The recent Monaco Grand Prix has changed the narrative of this year’s Formula One championship.

Red Bull put on an impressive show on Sunday after Verstappen sealed a dominating win at the Monaco GP.

The Dutchman has now taken the lead in the Formula One title race for the first time in his soaring career, USA Today reported.

Starting the race from the second position, Verstappen never looked back and took entire control of the race.

The said win is Verstappen’s second of the season and 12th of his career. After the race, the 23-year-old reflected on the “special” moment and admitted he has been dreaming of copping a victory in the historic track.

"It is so special to win here. Of course, I’m very proud,” Verstappen said. “But I’m thinking ahead to the rest of the season.”

“It’s so special around here to win,” he added. “It’s my first time on the podium here. I remember when I was very little, you always want to win this one.”

Thus far, Verstappen is four points ahead of his ultimate rival Hamilton in the standings.

The Red Bull driver has overtaken the seven-time world champion, who trailed in the championship for the first time since the German Grand Prix in 2018.

Far from the usual, the Mercedes talisman didn’t manage to stay close to Verstappen in Monaco, having uncharacteristically finished at seventh place.

Addressing his rare defeat, Hamilton admitted that the entire Mercedes team “underperformed” since day one of preparation for the Monaco GP.

"We do all our talking in the background and we'll work together and try to come out of this stronger,” Hamilton told reporters, including Sky Sports after the race. “We underperformed as a team all weekend from the get-go and we'll just put our focus on to the next race.”

"Congratulations to Max [Verstappen] and his team, they did a great job," he added.

Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff, meanwhile, insisted that the crew, as well as Hamilton, did a great job during the race. However, he also admitted that “it just wasn’t enough.”

"With Lewis, we just didn't have the pace in the car,” Wolff explained. "The undercut looked like the only feasible way of clearing [Pierre] Gasly with the tyre warm-up and just the gap that he had before, the 1-1.5s, was sufficient for him to stay ahead.”

"There wasn't any mistake, the out lap was good, the pit stop was ok, it just wasn't enough."