The 2022 Monaco Grand Prix is noted for its hot dry summers. But this is Monaco, this is Monte Carlo, this is the south of France principality that overlooks the Ligurian Sea. Monaco is subject to the occasional changing whims of the Mediterranean climate. A rainstorm appeared as if from nowhere to disrupt the opening proceedings. The Ferrari’s of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz locked out the front row of the grid after dominating qualifying. Max Verstappen could only muster 4th, behind his teammate Perez. The race is always where the real business is conducted during a Grand Prix weekend.

The wet conditions caused the race to be delayed, eventually starting under a safety car. Just 1 lap later the race was red-flagged because it was deemed too wet to race safely. Another delay ensued for the weather to improve. Over an hour later it was re-started under ‘better’ wet conditions behind the safety car.

It was a rolling start, on full wets, however, Pierre Galsy, running last in his Alfa Tauri, rolled the dice and pitted for intermediates. But this is Monaco, despite being 5 seconds a lap faster Gasley was unable to use his superior pace to move up the field. Monaco is and always will be a difficult circuit to overtake.

Meanwhile, leader Leclerc was skilfully steering his Ferrari on full wets, building a 4-second buffer to his teammate Carlos Sainz. That charmed life changed by lap 19 as Red Bull pitted Perez on lap 17 for intermediates. Ferrari decided to wait until the track dried to change to slicks, but it would prove to be a mistake.

With superior intermediate tyre pace, Perez used his early pitstop to take the lead as Ferrari’s indecision finally ended on lap 22 to pit from wets to slicks. That meant the Red Bulls would have to change tyres again. However, the time spent running on intermediates allowed both Red Bulls to gain track time.

Sergio Perez narrowly retained the lead from Sainz who was just ahead of Verstappen. Charles Leclerc fell down the order to 4th. It seemed as though the race would end in a Red Bull Ferrari procession. But this is narrow, this is Monaco and the race was red-flagged after Mick Schumacher crashed heavily in the swimming pool section on lap 27.

The race was red-flagged and another delay ensued. At the restart, the Red Bull Ferrari sandwich lasted until the chequered flag. Perez had flat-spotted his tyres, his pace slowed and he had to contend with the prowling Ferrari of Carlos Sainz for the final 40 minutes of the race.

Perez held his nerve, Sainz didn’t do anything dumb, Max didn’t “send it”. Leclerc could only watch closely behind in 4th as victory slipped through his fingers. In the end, the top four were separated by just three seconds as the chequered flag waved to declare Perez the rightful winner.

2022 Monaco Grand Prix: Race Result

1 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:56:30.265

2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1.154s

3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1.491s

4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 2.922s

5 George Russell Mercedes 11.968s

6 Lando Norris McLaren 12.231s

7 Fernando Alonso Alpine 46.358s

8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 50.388s

9 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Racing 52.525s

10 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 53.536s

11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 54.289s

12 Esteban Ocon Alpine 55.644s

13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 57.635s

14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 60.802s

15 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1 lap

16 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo Racing 1 lap

17 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1 lap

Did not finish

Alex Albon Williams

Mick Schumacher Haas – crash

Kevin Magnussen Haas – leak