MONACO

Sergio Pérez wins in Monaco at the end of a Grand Prix disrupted by rain, Charles Leclerc fourth

Lots of rain, red flags, twists and turns, and in the end, great happiness for Sergio Pérez. The Mexican won a prestigious victory in the streets of Monaco, Sunday, May 29, after a very eventful Grand Prix. Delayed by an hour because of a violent downpour which fell on the principality, the race finally resumed on a wet track.

It all happened in the pits with the different stopping strategies. A little game that smiled on the Red Bull driver, the big winner of the day. Sergio Perez ahead of Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and his teammate Max Verstappen at the end of the clock, since the race ended on time, after three hours of testing. Charles Leclerc, who started from pole position, finished in fourth place following a gross error in his team’s strategy.

Monaco was criticized for its boring courses in recent seasons. This year, the Monegasque track offered a compendium of adventures and emotions for motorsport lovers. With the wait, first, when the start of the race was compensated for by one hour because of the rain, before the start was exceptionally given in a produced way.

An unusual situation that benefited the Red Bull single-seaters, when the race got even more excited from the 15th lap, during the pit stop game. Sergio Pérez, third at the start, dived first to change his tires (from full wet intermediate, more suited to a dry track), and managed to overtake the two Ferrari drivers, who returned to their pits too late. The Italian team responded by putting on hard tires first on a drying track, just a few laps later. But, the Scuderia was caught up in its strategic mistakes. An imbroglio between Charles Leclerc and his engineer caused a traffic jam in the red pits (and the driver’s anger). Red Bull took the opportunity to bring out Sergio Perez once again in the lead.

The Mexican did not let go of the controls, despite a second interruption of the race caused by the violent exit from the track of Mick Schumacher (Haas) on the 27th lap. The accident of the German driver also precipitated the Grand Prix in an unconventional end of race, since it ended on the clock, after three hours of testing, as provided for by the FIA ​​regulations since this season. Sergio Pérez thus withstood the mad pressure put on by his three pursuers, Sainz, Verstappen, and Leclerc, in the dying minutes, when he was struggling on worn tires. At 32, he won the third victory of his career, undoubtedly the most prestigious, in the legendary streets of Monaco.

Streets that could not celebrate their local hero, Charles Leclerc. Once again, the Monegasque driver, the big loser of the day, had bad luck in the streets of his childhood town. Starting from pole, the Ferrari driver lost everything, weighed down by his team’s poor strategy. A poor performance all the more painful as he sees his teammate Carlos Sainz climb to second place on the podium, and his rival Max Verstappen take off in the championship standings (125 points against 110). Finishing the Monaco Grand Prix for the first time in his Formula 1 career, after two retirements and an unsuccessful start, will be little consolation.

The race was not happy either for the French, who finished just outside the points. Pierre Gasly (11th) spent most of his race blocked behind Sebastian Vettel, while Esteban Ocon was penalized for a collision when overtaking Lewis Hamilton at the start of the race. They will have the opportunity to relaunch in two weeks on another urban circuit, in Baku, during the eighth round of the season.

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