Red Bull Racing's Sergio Perez drove brilliantly on Sunday to win the 2022 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, marking the third win of his career and the first at the prestigious Monaco race.
It was a hard-fought victory as Perez was not only faced with an all-Ferrari front row but also heavy rain, safety cars and fading tires. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz finished second only 1.15 seconds behind while third place went to fellow Red Bull driver Max Verstappen approximately 1.5 seconds behind the winner.
The race start was delayed for over an hour due to rain, and when the green light was given the drivers faced very wet conditions. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was on pole, at a track where it's notoriously difficult to pass, and early on it looked like he would comfortably win his home race.
However, the track started to dry and, what turned out to be brilliant strategy, Perez on lap 16 and at in fourth position was the first of the front runners to pit and switch from Wet to Intermediate tires. Leclerc made the same change two laps later, as did Verstappen, which allowed Perez to catch up them. Sainz however stayed out until lap 22, switching straight to slicks and then in a surprising move Ferrari decided to do the same with Leclerc, calling him in at the same time for a double stop.
2022 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix
This played into Red Bull’s hands as Perez managed to get ahead of Sainz to claim the lead spot and Verstappen did the same with Leclerc to move into third. The race was more or less over at this point, although it was stopped one more time after Haas' Mick Schumacher had a major accident at Swimming Pool on lap 27, from which he fortunately suffered no injuries though his car was ripped in two.
Perez controlled the race after the restart, though his tires started to fade around lap 55. This allowed Sainz, Verstappen and Leclerc to close in, with Sainz almost making a pass at the hairpin but getting denied by Perez. After the top three finished, Leclerc crossed the line fourth while Mercedes-Benz AMG's George Russell rounded out the top five.
Following the weekend's action, Verstappen saw his leading points tally in the 2022 Drivers' Championship grow to 125 points. Leclerc is second with 116 points and Perez is third with 110 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull leads with 235 points, versus the 199 of Ferrari and 134 of Mercedes.
The next round on the calendar is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a fortnight.
Red Bull Racing's Sergio Perez at the 2022 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix
Below are the full results from the 2022 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix:
1) Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
2) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +1.154 seconds
3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +1.491 seconds
4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +2.922 seconds
5) George Russell, Mercedes-Benz AMG +11.968 seconds
6) Lando Norris, McLaren +12.231 seconds
7) Fernando Alonso, Alpine +46.358 seconds
8) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz AMG +50.388 seconds
9) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo +52.525 seconds
10) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin +53.536 seconds
11) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri +54.289 seconds
12) Esteban Ocon, Alpine +55.644 seconds
13) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren +57.635 seconds
14) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +60.802 seconds
15) Nicholas Latifi, Williams +1 lap
16) Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo +1 lap
17) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri +1 lap
NC) Alexander Albon, Williams - DNF
NC) Mick Schumacher, Haas - DNF
NC) Kevin Magnussen, Haas - DNF
