Perez holds his nerve to win classic damp Monaco Grand Prix
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Sergio Perez has won an elongated classic Monaco Grand Prix after Red Bull outsmarted Ferrari in the pitstop strategy battle. In what could be the last F1 race in the streets of Monaco, home favourite and pole-sitter Charles Leclerc failed to finish on the podium after falling victim to a strategic blunder. His teammate Carlos Sainz and World Championship rival finished in second and third respectively after all four were nose to tail in the final 10 minutes of the race.
If this was the last ever Grand Prix in the streets of Monaco, Formula 1 made the most of their time within the principality. An hour delay was required before the race actually started due to some last-minute rain. A second red flag was waved when Mick Schumacher crashed into the barriers. The marshalls needed some time to repair the barriers.
Red Bull managed to overcut Ferrari in the pit stops for dry tyres. Sainz wanted to go from wet to dry tyres, whereas the other leaders went to dry via intermediates. Leclerc was the biggest loser after some confusion on the Ferrari radio as he dropped behind his teammate and the Red Bull drivers. For the rolling restart, Red Bull opted for new mediums whilst Ferrari stayed with the hards. Perez's mediums started to grain with around 10 minutes left which closed the top four together. Perez kept his cool to win his first race in Monaco.
George Russell finished in fifth, with Lando Norris claiming sixth place. Alonso managed to keep Hamilton in his mirrors, as Ocon and Bottas rounded out the top ten.
Rain at the start
Umbrellas were lifted on the grid ten minutes before scheduled lights out to the delight of everyone except Ferrari. Fans were treated to high temperatures and sunshine throughout the weekend, but cloud cover lowered the mercury in the thermometres on race day. In contrast, the stress levels increased as teams had to fetch the full wet tyres and brand new visors for the drivers.
The safety car did two formation laps before stopping under red flag conditions as the rain got worse. After a one hour delay period in the pit lane, the track went green again behind the safety car. It stayed out for two laps and Leclerc commenced a rolling start.
Pierre Gasly was the first driver to go onto the intermediates and started to fly. He set fastest lap after fastest lap before joining the back of the pack. He then made impressively overtakes through the field proving to the front runners that it was the tyre to be on. However, the question remained as to whether to go to dry tyres or hard tyres.
Carlos Sainz made the decision to stick with the wets, but the other front runners went for intermediates on lap 19. Though on lap 22, Leclerc double stacked with Sainz for the dry tyres. Red Bull did the same a lap later. Leclerc lost out massively as he lost a position to his teammate and the two Red Bull drivers. Perez got ahead of Sainz to take the lead. The safety car came out on lap 27 for Schumacher's accident.
For the rolling restart, Red Bull opted for new mediums whilst Ferrari stayed with the hards. Perez's mediums started to grain with around 10 minutes left which closed the top four together. Perez kept his cool to win his first race in Monaco.