Verstappen ends on Leclerc with third place in wet Monaco, victory Pérez | NOW

Max Verstappen finished third on Sunday in the chaotic Monaco Grand Prix. His Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez took the win, as competitor Charles Leclerc fell victim to his Ferrari team’s bumblings to finish fourth in the rain-plagued race.

The race on the street circuit in Monte Carlo was the first this season that was not won by Verstappen or Leclerc. For Pérez it was the third victory of his career. The 32-year-old Mexican kept his cool in a race that started wet, but finished dry. Carlos Sainz finished second.

Due to his third place, Verstappen is three points ahead of Leclerc in the World Cup position. The reigning world champion from the Netherlands is now in the lead with 125 points, while his rival from Ferrari has 116 points. Pérez occupies third place with 110 points.

George Russell finished fifth behind the Red Bulls and Ferraris. The Mercedes Briton finished ahead of his compatriot Lando Norris, who did set the fastest lap. Fernando Alonso finished seventh, much to Lewis Hamilton’s frustration. The seven-time world champion was faster for a long time, but did not pass the shrewd Spaniard.

Booty just before start, hour delay

Just before 3 p.m., the time for the race to start, it started to rain in Monaco. After a small delay, a warm-up lap was started, but it came so hard that the start was postponed. At 4.05 pm the field really took off, from behind the safety car and with Leclerc in the lead.

The asphalt soon started to dry up, so a number of drivers decided to go for intermediate tires. The top four, at that time in the order of Leclerc, Sainz, Pérez and Verstappen, were left out on wet tires.

Red Bull took the initiative by bringing in Pérez after sixteen laps. The Mexican was then so quick that he closed a seven second gap within one lap and was already ahead of Leclerc when the Monegask came out of the pits two laps later. Verstappen did not gain any places with his stop.

Ferrari strategic misses cost Leclerc podium place

Ferrari then went strategically wrong. Sainz switched directly from wet tires to slicks, but the Italian team also called Leclerc back in on the same lap.

Sainz then lost the lead to Pérez as the Spaniard ended up behind a straggler. Ferrari quickly ordered Leclerc to stay outside, but by then it was already too late. Due to the delay in the pits, Leclerc came onto the track behind Verstappen.

With the whole top on hard tires it seemed like a matter of driving to the finish, until Mick Schumacher shot hard off the track with his Haas. The car broke into two pieces, but the German got out unharmed. The race management stopped the race due to repair work on the barriers.

Calm ride to the end

At 5.15 pm the Grand Prix was resumed behind the safety car, in the knowledge that the finish would be finished anyway due to the time limit for a race at 6 pm. During the break, the Red Bull drivers switched to new medium tires. The Ferrari drivers kept the hard tires on the car.

After a quiet phase, the top four came very close to each other in the final laps, especially because the medium tires of Pérez started to give way slowly. With pain and effort and under fierce pressure from Sainz, the Mexican held on and took his first win of the season.

The next Grand Prix is ​​in Azerbaijan in two weeks.