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The Monaco GP has a new winner and it's not the one everyone anticipated (or secretly wanted). Sergio Perez clinched his first race win of the season by timing his pitstops to perfection in the changeable conditions while Ferrari made a mess once again.
Charles Leclerc got done in once again at Monaco, this time because of strategy as he trailed home in fourth, not even on the podium. In a race that featured multiple stoppages and incidents, there is a lot to unpack. So, in case you missed it, here's what happened!
2022 F1 Monaco GP: Here's what happened!
#1 FIA Race Control handles the Monaco GP in the worst possible way
Minutes before the start of the race, the teams, the drivers, and the fans were greeted by a small shower. It did leave teams in a Catch-22 situation because the track was wet, but the shower wasn't going to hang around for long, so a few teams opted for slicks while others gambled on inters/wets.
Shockingly for everyone, the race start was suspended and within minutes, with the rain intensifying, the session was Red Flagged altogether as there was just far too much water on the track. This was not the last of questionable decision-making for Race Control.
Later in the race, Mick Schumacher's crash near the swimming pool left the entire Tecpro barrier damaged and the conditions demanded the Red Flag be brought out. Yet, the whole thing took 5 laps under the safety car for the Race direction to realize that the damage cannot be repaired under SC conditions. For the new Race Director, his was probably the worst display of acumen if there was one ever needed.
#2 Sergio Perez wins on strategy as Charles Leclerc loses out
The Monaco Curse must be a real thing as it struck Charles Leclerc once again during the race. Everything was going to plan for the Ferrari driver and he held a commanding lead before he put his race in the hands of the strategists.
As it turned out, the strategy people sitting at Red Bull had the edge over the ones in Ferrari this time around as while Leclerc was brought in a lap too early, it allowed the Red Bull drivers to overcut him and gain track position. In all of this, Leclerc lost out severely as he was out of podium contention once it was all said and done.
In all of this, Sergio Perez, who had without a doubt looked like the faster Red Bull driver all weekend, used the pitstop timings to pull off impressive laps before picking up his first win of the season. Carlos Sainz followed Perez home in second while Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen finished the race in 3rd.
#3 George Russell keeps his run of top-5 finishes going while Lewis Hamilton has another disappointing race
George Russell kept his impressive run going in the Monaco GP as well. The Mercedes driver had a strong race pace throughout the race and was able to jump Lando Norris in the pitstop timings to finish P5 in the Monaco GP.
Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, had a frustrating race as he spent his race staring at the back of Fernando Alonso's rear wing. The Briton finished the race P8, an end to another frustrating weekend.
#4 Fernando Alonso scores points for Alpine while Esteban Ocon incurs a 5-second penalty
Fernando Alonso completed yet another strong weekend as he finished the race in P7. The Spaniard had a strong race pace whenever he could show it. In the second phase of the race, he did a rather impressive stint where he intentionally slowed the chasing pack down by close to 3 seconds per lap so that his tires don't grain later in the race.
Esteban Ocon had a rather underwhelming weekend. After struggling with a lack of speed throughout the weekend, the same problem resurfaced in the race and Ocon did not have the speed of his teammate in the wets. In the end, a 5-second penalty for his collision with Lewis Hamilton led to his points finish getting thrown out of the window.
#5 Mick Schumacher suffers a major crash near the swimming pool
Mick Schumacher had a second horrific crash of the season as the Haas driver lost control of his car near the swimming pool area and clattered into the barriers so viciously that the car broke in half.
This was the second major crash for the German after what happened in Saudi Arabia and left everyone worried. The driver did however walk away from the crash unscathed but it did bring out a safety car.
# Honorable mentions
Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas sneaked into the points for the Monaco GP with Esteban Ocon's 5-second penalty. Pierre Gasly had an eventful Monaco GP with the AlphaTauri driver being one of the earliest to make the switch to inters. He also pulled off a few impressive overtakes during the Monaco GP on drivers like Daniel Ricciardo and Guanyu Zhou that were struggling on the wet tires.
Speaking about Ricciardo, his race went as predicted. The driver could not make much progress in the traffic and ultimately finished outside of points. All in all, it was a rather fun Monaco GP.
