Cloudy. Dry track. Air +21C, Highway +28C
Long before the start of the weekend, everyone said the 2022 cars were not suitable for the Monaco track. Wide, heavy, using the bottom to generate downforce, requiring minimum height and high suspension stiffness. The racers felt the relief of the track with their whole body, every bump.
The rigid suspension did not compensate for the unevenness of the surface, after the attack of the curb, the wheels sometimes got into the air, and the rider – into the barrier. However, this only contributed to the interest.
On Friday, Leclerc was in the lead, on Saturday morning Perez led the protocol. Qualifying ended early and under red flags as Perez crashed into the barrier before the tunnel first and Sainz flew in seconds later. The riders were not injured, the cars had to be restored.
Leclerc confidently took pole and Sainz confirmed Ferrari’s speed – the Maranello team’s cars coped well with Monaco’s difficulties, occupying the entire front row of the grid. The Red Bull Racing drivers started from second – Perez was ahead of Verstappen for the second time this season, so the championship leader only started the race in fourth.
On Friday and Saturday it was very hot in Monaco and on the day of the race it got colder. The forecast promised a good chance of rain on Sunday – it started ten minutes before the start, when the cars were already on the grid.
Pirelli brought the softest compositions to the stage – C3, C4 and C5 in the role of Hard, Medium and Soft. Before the start, the race was declared a rain race. First they put intermediate tires on everyone, then they changed them to wet tires – it took time.
16 minutes after the scheduled start time, the racers completed a formation lap behind the safety car, then another – and failed to start. The rain grew more intense. There were red flags. The riders returned to the pit lane and exited the cars
Half an hour later the rain stopped. At 4:05 pm local time – more than an hour before the scheduled start time – the racers left the pit lane on wet tires after the safety car – and the race started. Such a long delay was caused by a power outage.
On the first lap, Latifi crashed into a guardrail at the chicane, but was able to continue. Walk hooked the barrier, punctured the right rear wheel – and turned into the pits, changing tires. Latifi changed the front wing.
On lap 3 the safety car left the track. Gasly and Latifi switched to intermediate tires. Stroll and Latifi nearly collided in the pit lane.
Top ten in round 4: Leclerc – Sainz – Perez – Verstappen – Norris – Russell – Alonso – Hamilton – Vettel – Ocon.
On lap 5 Schumacher switched to intermediate tires, on lap 7 Vettel and Tsunoda.
On lap 10, Latifi entered a safety pocket at turn one, on lap 11 Albon, with no impact on the cars.
On lap 12, Gasly caught up with Zhou in the battle for 13th position – trying to get ahead of Ricciardo but initially Daniel was ahead and on lap 14 Gasly was ahead of him too – the intermediate tires worked better than wet tires.
On lap 16 Hamilton switched to intermediate tires, on lap 17 Perez, on lap 18 Norris, Leclerc and Verstappen. Schumacher was the first to switch to slicks.
Hamilton overtook Ocon and charged, the cars landed and held their positions. Later, the stewards punished Esteban with a five-second time penalty.
On lap 19 Albon switched to slicks, on lap 20 Ricciardo, Zhou and Latifi, on lap 21 Bottas and Magnussen.
The engineer called Leclerc into the pits and then urgently canceled the team, but Charles had already entered the pit lane.
On lap 21 Sainz and Leclerc pitted, on 22nd – Russell, Alonso, Ocon, Verstappen, Perez and Norris, on 23rd – Hamilton and Gasly, on 24th – Vettel.
After the pit stop, Leclerc, who was in the lead, was only fourth – and expressed his outrage to the engineer.
Magnussen put the car in the pits and pulled out – due to a leak in the ERS cooling system, the power station began to overheat.
Top ten in round 25: Perez – Sainz – Verstappen – Leclerc – Russell – Norris – Alonso – Hamilton – Windows – Stroll.
On lap 25, Stroll switched the tires. Albon was given a five-second penalty for going out of bounds and failing to take the lead.
On lap 27 Mick Schumacher had a serious accident. After a bend in Turn 14, the car hit the guardrails several times and lost the gearbox in 15th – it was torn off along with the wheels.
Mick left the cockpit alone and was sent to the medical center for a checkup. The safety car drove away. On lap 30 the race was stopped with red flags – it was necessary to clear the debris and repair the barrier. The riders returned to the pit lane and exited the cars.
The mechanics have changed tires. Verstappen, Perez, Russell, Alonso, Tsunoda, Zhou, Hamilton, Okon, Latifi and Albon chose Medium, the rest stayed on Hard.
The intermission lasted twenty minutes. The drivers left the pit lane behind the safety car. The launch was announced.
Top ten at restart: Perez – Sainz – Verstappen – Leclerc – Russell – Norris – Alonso – Hamilton – Ocon – Bottas.
On lap 32, the riders continued to fight. At the restart, Perez kept the lead, but made a braking error that blocked the rubber. All riders have kept their positions.
In the 39th round DRS was allowed to be used, but the pack stretched, this did not affect the situation.
Alonso followed Norris by two seconds per lap and thirty seconds behind Norris and gathered a large group of riders behind him, then picked up the pace and set the fastest time on lap 51. The aim is to defeat teammate Okon, who receives a five-second penalty. so he can win them back and escape from Bottas when Fernando adds. But in the end the plan didn’t work.
On lap 51 Albon stopped the car in the pits and pulled out.
On lap 52, Norris switched tires.
Top ten in round 53: Perez – Sainz – Verstappen – Leclerc – Russell – Norris – Alonso – Hamilton – Ocon – Bottas.
On lap 56, Tsunoda pulled into the safety pocket of the first corner, rolled back into last place and then returned to the pits, switching tires.
In the closing laps the top four were in a close group – the interval between cars was no more than six tenths, but there were no overtaking opportunities.
The finish was announced after the expiry of the two-hour limit – the riders managed to complete 64 of the 77 laps – an extra formation lap at the start of the race was immediately deducted.
Sergio Perez won the Monaco Grand Prix with his third career win. Carlos Sainz climbed to the second step of the podium, Max Verstappen finished third, extending his lead in the individual classification.
Charles Leclerc finished at home for the first time in his Formula 1 career, but only fourth.
In two weeks, the fight will continue on another city circuit – in Baku.
Race results
| pilot | Team | Time | Speed | Piet |
| 1. C.Perez | Red Bull | 1:56:30.265 | 109,987 | 3 |
| 2. K. Sainz | Ferrari | +1.154 | 109,969 | a |
| 3. Mr Verstappen | Red Bull | +1.491 | 109,964 | 3 |
| 4. Sh. Leclerc | Ferrari | +2.922 | 109,941 | 2 |
| 5. D. Russell | Mercedes | +11.968 | 109,799 | 2 |
| 6. L. Norris | McLaren | +12.231 | 109,795 | 3 |
| 7. F. Alonso | alpine | +46.358 | 109,263 | 2 |
| 8. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +50,388 | 109,200 | 3 |
| 9. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +52.525 | 109.167 | a |
| 10. S. Vettel | Aston Martin | +53.536 | 109.151 | 2 |
| 11. P. Gasly | AlphaTauri | +54.289 | 109.140 | 2 |
| 12. E. Okon * | alpine | +55,644 | 109.119 | 2 |
| 13. D. Riccardo | McLaren | +57,635 | 109,088 | a |
| 14. L. Walk | Aston Martin | +60.802 | 109,039 | 3 |
| 15. N. Latifi | Williams | +1 circle | 108.114 | four |
| 16. G. Zhou’ | Alfa Romeo | +1 circle | 108.106 | 2 |
| 17. Y. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +1 circle | 107,764 | four |
* added five seconds to the result, as the culprit of the incident
best lapTime: Lando Norris (McLaren) – 1:14.693 (lap 56, 160,834 km/h)
Reasons for leaving
| pilot | Team | circles | Cause |
| K.Magnussen | Hare F1 | 19 | ERS cooling system |
| M. Schumacher | Hare F1 | 24 | accident |
| A.Elbon | Williams | 48 | mechanical problems |
Championship position : Individual
Championship position : Constructors’ Championship
| Team | engine | Glasses | |
| † | 1 Red Bull Racing | Red Bull powertrains | 235 |
| † | 2 Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | 199 |
| † | 3. Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team | Mercedes | 134 |
| † | 4 McLaren Racing | Mercedes | 59 |
| † | 5. Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN | Ferrari | 41 |
| † | 6 Alpine F1 Team | Renault | 40 |
| † | 7 Scuderia Alpha Tauri | Red Bull powertrains | 17 |
| † | 8 Haas F1 Team | Ferrari | fifteen |
| † | 9. Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | Mercedes | 7 |
| † | 10 Williams Racing | Mercedes | 3 |
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
