Heavy rain couldn’t dampen Max Verstappen’s spirits as he clinched his fourth victory of the 2023 Formula 1 season.

The Dutch driver finished a full 27 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso in second, but to hear him tell it, nothing about the afternoon came easily.

“That was a real Monaco,” Verstappen laughed at the race end. “It was incredibly slippery. When you are that far in the lead you don’t want to push too hard, but you don’t want to lose too much time, so it’s quite difficult in that scenario. I clipped the walls a few times, it was super difficult out there, but that’s Monaco!”

The race started out calmly, with most drivers maintaining their positions in the opening laps. Monaco is one of the narrowest circuits on the Formula 1 calendar, meaning that overtakes are few and far between; the race is often feels like a glorified parade.

But as the leaders approached the 50th lap of 78, everything changed. Heavy rain blew in from the mountains and doused the track. Drivers slid across the circuit as if it was made of ice as they scrambled to pit for wet weather tires. Dozens of small collisions scattered car debris left and right.