Monaco Grand Prix – Race: Perez superb winner

An uncertain departure

For the first time of the weekend, rain made its appearance in Monaco. These new conditions prompted the FIA to delay the start and to do several formation laps behind the safety car in order to evaluate the track. Ultimately, the heavy rain got the better of the proper start, which was therefore delayed.

After an hour of waiting and two laps behind the safety car, the drivers could finally start. The two Canadians, Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi, had a difficult pre-start. Indeed, both of them hit the barriers, which forced them to go to the pits.

Given the conditions, the race was underway, allowing Charles Leclerc to easily maintain the lead. His teammate, Carlos Sainz, was struggling to keep up with the other Ferrari. After 10 laps, the gap between the two was about 3 seconds.

The start of the race was also enlivened by Pierre Gasly’s comeback in the pack. Starting from 17th position, the Frenchman stopped as soon as possible to put on intermediate tires. This choice was motivated by a drying track at that moment in the race. Overtaking Guanyu Zhou, Daniel Ricciardo, and Kevin Magnussen in succession, the Normandy native had climbed up to 11th position by the 20th lap.

The strategic games of leaders.

Frustrated about not being able to get back on Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, Sergio Perez decided to pit on the 17th lap. The Mexican’s undercut worked perfectly. The Red Bull driver gained so much time on his intermediate tires that it allowed him to overtake Leclerc, who was slower on his wet tires.

The other great move of the race was made by Carlos Sainz, who decided not to stop for rain tires but instead go straight for hard tires. This allowed him to save a pit stop and overtake his garage mate, Charles Leclerc.

Now the two leaders of the race are the number two drivers of Red Bull and Ferrari: Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz.

The middle of the race disrupted

Around halfway through the race, Mick Schumacher was the author of a very impressive spin-off. The first crash of this Grand Prix occurred in the swimming pool section. On the wet track, the young German driver lost control of his car and crashed into the barriers. It was a very violent impact that resulted in the Haas splitting in two. Fortunately, the Vufflens-le-Château native emerged unharmed from his car.

After long minutes under the red flag, the race finally resumed. Once again, the start was not stopped but rather rolling. Sergio Perez, with his new medium tires, managed to hold onto the lead of the race, but was unable to pull away from Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari. The Spaniard remained within one second of the Red Bull ahead of him.

In the final moments of the race, Sergio Perez’s tires were degrading significantly, which allowed Carlos Sainz to gain a lot of time on the Mexican. This loss of speed led to the four leading cars coming together.

Having perfectly managed the latecomers, Sergio Perez managed to win in the streets of Monaco. It is the Mexican’s third victory in Formula 1. Carlos Sainz replicated his 2021 performance by finishing 2nd once again. Max Verstappen continues to gain points on Leclerc by finishing in 3rd position, while the Monegasque could not do better than 4th today.

The result of the Monaco 2022 F1 Grand Prix: