Pérez claims maiden Monaco GP win, Verstappen at 3rd

This year’s Formula 1 race at Monaco saw two Red Bull drivers achieve a podium finish with Sergio Pérez claiming his maiden Monaco win while Max Verstappen seized third place.

Sergio Pérez is the first Mexican to have won the Monaco Grand Prix, and the first North American to win it since Gilles Villeneuve in 1981. Checo is now the most successful Mexican driver in F1, surpassing Pedro Rodriguez.

“Winning Monaco, it’s a dream come true as a driver; when you come into F1 and when you come to Monaco and when you drive for the first time, you always dream about one day winning the race or racing in here,” said Pérez.

“So, it’s just incredible, such a big day for myself. I was driving with Pedro Rodriguez’s helmet today and I’m sure that up there he will be super proud of what we have achieved in the sport. I’m the only Mexican or even Latin-American driver on the grid. So, it just shows how difficult it is for us – not saying that for European drivers it is easy — but it just shows how difficult it is for us to make it into the sport and to have a successful career in this sport is quite hard. But I have to say, I’m extremely proud of it,” Pérez added.

For Max, the 2022 Monaco GP is the first time the Dutch racer has reached the finish of a race this year without winning it as Christian Horner’s favorite driver has delivered win after win since the start of this year’s race season.

The 2022 Monaco Grand Prix also saw the continued rivalry between Red Bull and Ferrari. Leclerc smashed the qualifiers, landing him in pole position while Sainz, his fellow Ferrari driver, stood next to him at P2. Behind them were the Bulls Checo and Max.

Heavy rain delayed the race by more than an hour and the pack started off on a wet track — with wet tires — and behind a Safety Car.

The boys in the Prancing Horses maintained a good lead leaving both Red Bull drivers behind. However, it was when the cars started switching to dry tires that the Ferrari drivers began to lose their lead.

Pérez, at the end of lap 16, was the first of the leaders to switch to intermediate (dry) tires. Leclerc pitted at the end of lap 17 and switched to the same set of rubber. He was followed by Verstappen who also took on a similar set of tires. The exchange saw Sainz move to P1 with Pérez trailing at P2.

It took the new race leader, Sainz, three more laps before switching to dry tires, ultimately leaving the Red Bulls leading the race. At the end of lap 20, both Ferrari drivers were called to box, but at the last moment, the Italian team’s engineers changed their minds, and Leclerc was told to stay out. It was too late, however, and the Monegasque driver was already in the pit lane. He was switched to hard tires and released.

Mick Schumacher lost control of his Haas and hit the wall in the swimming pool section on lap 27. The Virtual Safety Car was initially deployed but soon the physical version appeared. A red flag was raised at the end of lap 29, and during the stoppage, Red Bull ordered its drivers to take on medium tires while Ferrari left its drivers running on used hard tires.

Unfortunately, Leclerc did not end his home race jinx and fell from pole to P4. Despite his dominant qualifying performance, Leclerc did not win the Monaco GP, nor did he get a podium finish.

“It was a freaking disaster today,” said Leclerc.

“The win was clearly in our hands: we had the performance, we had everything. I just don’t really understand the call that I had and I need explanations for now. I couldn’t do much, I was called just before the last corner, so I couldn’t react or ask for any information, but that was clearly the wrong choice… We need to get better,” he added.

Pérez enjoyed a steady lead with Sainz behind him and Verstappen tailing at the rear. Leclerc was now at P4. The pace continued as such and Pérez, despite running on fading medium tires still managed to finish first.

The 2022 driver’s standings now see Verstappen lead at 125 points followed by Leclerc with 116 points. The race winner, Pérez, now has 110 points followed by Mercedes’ Russell with 84 points. Sainz sits at fifth place with 83 points with seven-time World Champion Lews Hamilton at sixth with 50 points. Youngblood Lando Norris is at seventh with 48 points followed by old wolf Valtteri Bottas at eighth with 40 points. Esteban Ocon and Kevin the “Viking” Magnussen sit at ninth and tenth with 30 and 15 points, respectively.

Photos from the FiA and Formula 1

Also read: 

Changes coming as FIA releases statement on 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, Sprint Qualifying, etc.

Leclerc leads Ferrari 1-2 finish in F1 opener, Hamilton is 3rd

Russian racers get go signal to compete in FIA-sanctioned events in ‘neutral capacity'