It was the first win for Max Verstappen in the Formula One championship as Lewis Hamilton conceded the championship lead to the Dutchman. Charles Leclerc, who had qualified on pole, had to withdraw before the race started.

In the championship, Verstappen currently leads Hamilton by four points after winning his second race of the season and 12th of his career. On a not-so-good day for Mercedes, the seven-time champion finished seventh.

During the course of the race, his team botched a tire change, and Valtteri Bottas fell out of the race.

In second place, Verstappen held a 9.7-second advantage over Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr., while Lando Norris of McLaren finished 19.4 seconds in front. As a result, it was their third career podium, while Red Bull’s Sergio Perez finished one second behind Norris in fourth place.

Hamilton qualified just seven positions behind Verstappen on Saturday, and he thus effectively ended his chances of winning the race after the pair have finished 1-2 in five of the five races this season. After pulling out of pole position because of a gearbox problem, Leclerc ended his hopes of winning the race in his hometown.

18 seconds after qualifying ended, Leclerc crashed into it. Ferrari said he could race with the gearbox if it was changed, which meant a five-place grid penalty. He pulled out shortly before the race after Ferrari gave up. The first year Leclerc was at Ferrari, he retired early in Monaco.

Verstappen was not moved up from second to pole, leaving Bottas more room to overtake on the inside, as the race director decided not to move him up. Verstappen held him off despite his good start.

It is notoriously difficult for F1 drivers to overtake on the 3.4-kilometer (2.1-mile) course Hamilton was in sixth position and stuck behind Pierre Gasly on Lap 30