F1 Monaco GP: Sergio Perez becomes first Mexican to win in Monte Carlo
29th May 2022Red Bull’s Sergio Perez secured his first win of the season in the Principality of Monaco, becoming the first Mexican driver to do so.
How the race unfolded…
The formation lap was delayed by nine minutes, and instructed to begin behind the safety car, as the weather forced the mechanics to swap over their slick tyres for the wet weather tyres. Due to the fact the cars were instructed to follow the safety car, on the formation lap, all of the drivers were issued with the extreme, blue-ringed, wet weather tyres.
The race finally got its formation lap underway 16 minutes after the hour (2pm BST). However, it was shortly stopped as race control brought out the red flag to suspend the session due to the amount of standing water.
After more than 45 minutes under red flag conditions, the race was finally back underway behind the safety car – on another formation lap. The safety car continued to lead the pack around the circuit but Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the Williams of Nicholas Latifi suffered contact with the barriers.
The former clipped the side of the barrier at Massenet, while the Williams driver went nose-first into the techpro barrier at the grand hotel hairpin.
At the end of the second lap, the race was finally underway – in green flag conditions – with a rolling start. Leclerc managed to lead into the first corner despite his car losing traction under acceleration.
After Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly set the fastest lap on the intermediate, green-ringed, tyres, it started a slight chain reaction amongst some of the cars at the bottom of the table. However, while five drivers changed to the inters, the majority of the field remained out on the full wet tyres.
On lap 12, Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou went down into the Nouvelle chicane with too much speed and couldn’t make it the corner. As a result, the Chinese driver went straight on, while Gasly managed to make it around the corner. However, the Alfa Romeo failed to yield the position but the French driver managed to make a move stick and secure P13 into Mirabeau (turn five).
When he completed the move, Gasly set his eyes on his next target; the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo. It wasn’t long until the Frenchman managed to make a move on the Australian on the exit of Tabac, with the Alpha Tauri down the inside, as they quickly approached the swimming pool chicane.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton soon pitted on lap 16 to swap his wet tyres for the intermediates. Fortunately, Hamilton only lost track position to Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who moved up to P8 when the seven-time world champion returned to the track.
The race leader, and home hero, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finally pitted for the intermediate tyres at the end of lap 18.
As the Monegasque driver returned to the circuit, he lost track position to Perez who inherited the race lead when he returned to the track. However, it went from bad to worse for the hometown hero as he pitted behind his teammate, Carlos Sainz, as both Ferrari’s came into the pit lane for the hard, white-ringed, slick tyres.
At the end of lap 24, backmarkers hindered Red Bull’s Sergio Perez from traversing the final corners. As Perez and Sainz raced down the main straight, the Spaniard moved onto a wet patch of the track and lost control of his rear tyres. Fortunately, the Spanish driver managed to counter steer, keep his car out of the barriers and regain control of his F1-75.
On lap 25, Alexander Albon was given a five second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
The Virtual Safety Car was brought out on lap 27 as the Haas of Mick Schumacher was found in the barrier on the final swimming pool chicane, with his car in two pieces. As the young German driver raced around the swimming pool, he lost control of his rear tyres and went into a spin before his car made contact with the techpro barrier. Thankfully, Schumacher was fine and okay. The full safety car was soon deployed to allow the track marshals to clear away the debris.
After the debris had been cleared away, the race was soon red flagged to allow the track marshals to repair the barriers, on lap 30.
The red flag was soon lifted and the race was back underway, with a rolling start, led by Perez, Sainz and Verstappen in P1, P2 and P3 respectively. As the Mexican driver went into Mirabeau, he locked up his front left tyre in dramatic fashion but the #11 Red Bull was able to make the corner and remain out ahead of Sainz into the famous hairpin.
After the restart, Ocon was issued with a five-second time penalty for causing a collision. The likely verdict was a result of during his battle with Hamilton, where the two drivers banged wheels into Sainte Devote, turn one.
Due to the effects of the weather and red flags, the race was no longer limited to the amount of laps completed. Instead, the session was given a time limit in which it would be completed.
Despite Sainz’s best efforts, the Spanish driver could not find a way past the Mexican Red Bull who had established a name for himself in his defensive race-craft.
That’s it for the article: F1 Monaco GP: Sergio Perez becomes first Mexican to win in Monte Carlo! What did you enjoy, although it was Monaco, about the race? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula One here!
- F1 Monaco GP: Charles Leclerc takes pole as Perez crashes
- F1 Monaco GP: Sergio Perez pips Leclerc in final practice
- F1 Monaco GP: Charles Leclerc tops second practice
- F1 Monaco Practice 1: Charles Leclerc goes top in hometown
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
