Pérez became the fifth Latin American to win in Monaco. Photo REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
Sergio Pérez was the big winner and Charles Leclerc, the big loser of a Grand Prix of Monaco chaotic, with two red flags – the first at the start, when after the previous two laps behind the Safety Car and in the rain, the start was delayed due to bad weather; and the second, after a remarkable accident by Mick Schumacher, who split his Haas in two and escaped unscathed – and ended up running against the clock. red bull got the approach to the wheel right and the Mexican celebrated his first win during Formula 1. ferrari He mistaken him and Monegasque, who started at pole, finished fourth, gave up the championship, still led by Max Verstappen, and left furious.
“It’s a dream come true. As a driver, since you start racing your dream is to win here. After the home race, there is no more special weekend than this one. I’m happy”, commented Pérez, who was escored on the podium by Carlos Sainz and his partner, the reigning champion.
On the seventh date of the year, Checo got a victory that seemed unlikely after a classification in which Ferraris flew, where Leclerc was the fastest and Sainz was the second fastest time. In addition, Monte Carlo has historically been a very strong circuit for Scuderia, which dreamed of seeing the local driver win and regain the lead in the world championship. But a series of events on Sunday played in favor of Red Bull and the Mexican.
A few minutes after 3:00 pm in Monte Carlo, the time scheduled for the start, rain appeared, which, according to forecasts, was not expected until the race started smoothly. And the races started in the pits, because all the cars had to be changed to full rain tires.
Only two turns can be made, behind Safety Vehicles, before the first red flag appeared. “It’s raining like crazy,” Leclerc warned on the radio, while other drivers complained about the very poor visibility.
Fearing that the wet track would add too much hazards to an already complex circuit, Race Direction waited more than an hour to finally launch the test, which began with another two laps behind the Safety Car. Because the asphalt was still wet and everyone was very careful, the Monegasque settled to the front and led without any major problems. But on lap 22, came the mistake that would change everything.
Ferrari prompted its drivers to pit a second time -they stop for medium parts when the asphalt starts to dry, like the rest of the grid- to put on hard tires. But he made the mistake of calling the two. Sainz came in first and Leclerc had to wait for his turn, he lost a lot of time and returned to track fifth. And anger was not spared, which he downloaded on the radio. “Why !!! What are they doing !!!”shout.
After a few laps, the second red flag came. Schumacher lost control of his Haas, rolled on its side and hit the front of his car on one side of the barrier. It started circling around the track and went to another section of the barrier, which split the car in half. It was a powerful blow, but the pilot was not hurt and got out of the car without any problems.
After a few laps in the Safety Car, the race was suspended while the barrier that was destroyed was fixed. The vehicles returned to the pit and traces of anger on Leclerc’s face as he got out of his vehicle. To quell his anger, Ferrari once again erred in strategy for the restart.
It was that while the Red Bulls came off the track with new medium tires, the Ferraris came back with the same used hard tires they put on before the stoppage. And when the test was relaunched, with about 40 minutes on the clock ending, around 4:00 pm local time, it was clear that the Austrian team’s cars had better speeds.
Sainz, too, gave up against Pérez, who had to cope with the pressure of a Spaniard less than five -tenths behind the Mexican. But even the possibility of using DRS does not allow the Ferrari driver to overtake Checo.
In hindsight, the story is similar to Verstappen and Leclerc. Monegasque, though frustrated, did not stop searching for the podium, but the Dutchman, who in turn attacked Sainz when he could, did not give him a chance and optimized the performance of his wheels with less running.
Finally, when the clock hit zero, Pérez was able to celebrate his third victory in the premier class. “I’m excited because it’s been a big day for me and for my country,” said the Mexican, who became the fifth Latin American to climb to the top of the podium, behind Brazilian Ayrton Senna (winner in 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993), the Argentines Juan Manuel Fangio (1950 and 1957) and Carlos Reutemann (1980) and the Colombian John Paul Montoya (2003).
“I felt that we did everything we have to do … a lot of frustration. But I’m not going to complain too much. Checo had a great race,” said Sainz, who also had an impressive performance, but was again left with the desire to add the his first win.
Verstappen, who was third, took 15 points and extended his championship lead over Leclerc to nine points (125 to 116), admitted: “I did everything I could. The complex team must have been very happy with everyone. happened last weekend.A good result to keep the top of the championship and a great for CzechI’m happy for him. “
Leclerc couldn’t stand the anger and was very tough on his team. “It was a bloody disaster. The victory was clear on our hands, we had the performance, we had everything. I just don’t understand the call I had and I need explanations for now. It is clear that it was the wrong decision .We can’t do it, “he said. mixed with anger and frustration Monegasque, who after winning two of the first three dates, only achieved one podium in the last four (second place in Miami).
Red Bull won. Ferrari lost. And the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is coming up in two weeks, at the Baku circuit, one of Pérez and Verstappen’s favorites. So sure rank recover in time from this Sunday’s disaster? Or will it lag behind the Austrian team, which could add a fifth straight win to it?
Source: Clarin
