Charles Leclerc took pole in front of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Sergio Pérez. The race started with a rolling start after a 65-minute delay. Leclerc lost the race lead to strategy error and dropped down to fourth place behind Max Verstappen and Sainz, as Pérez won the race.[2]
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.[5]
Practice
Three free practice sessions were held per the sport's regulations. In defiance of Monaco tradition, for the first time the first two sessions were not held on Thursday but on Friday, in balance with the other Grand Prix weekends during the season.[6] The first two practice sessions took place at 14:00 and 17:00 local time (UTC+02:00), respectively, on 27 May.[7]Charles Leclerc led both sessions, ahead of Sergio Pérez and Carlos Sainz Jr. in the first session,[8] and ahead of Sainz and Pérez in the second session.[9] Both sessions also had one red flag each; in the first session, it was after Mick Schumacher stopped by the pit lane with a gearbox issue,[10] while Daniel Ricciardo had a crash in the second session.[11] The final session took place on 28 May, 13:00 local time, ahead of the qualifying practice session.[7] Pèrez was the fastest ahead of Leclerc and Sainz.[12]
The race was due to start at 15:00 local time on 29 May and was scheduled to last for 78 laps.[7][24][25] The race start was first delayed to 15:09, as heavy rain was identified approaching the circuit. The delay was to give teams time to switch to wet tyres before the start.[26] Two formation laps were run at 15:16, before the decision was made to suspend the start procedure due to the rain intensity, and all cars were directed to the pit lane.[24][25] In the interval between 15:16 and 16:05, a power failure to the start signalling systems, including the starting gantry and signal light panels, caused further delay. This failure, even after repaired, cast doubt on the ability to perform a standing start at all, and rolling starts were used for the rest of the race session.[27] The two formation laps reduced the scheduled distance of the race by one lap, to 77.[24][25]
On lap 17, Pérez pitted for intermediate tyres, followed by Verstappen and Leclerc on lap 19. This left Sainz in the lead, the only driver in the top four still on wet tyres.[24][25] Further back in the field, Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton collided without damage on lap 18, and Ocon was given a five-second time penalty for the contact; on lap 20, Hamilton attempted to pass Ocon but did not succeed.[29][30] On lap 21, race leader Sainz was instructed to pit, to swap from wet tyres directly to slick tyres. Leclerc, his teammate behind him in third, was first told via team radio to pit, and then not after he had already committed to the pit lane;[31][32] both Ferrari cars pitted, with Sainz and Leclerc switching to the hard tyre.[24][25] Due to Leclerc pitting immediately after Sainz (causing a delay to his servicing) and the lapped cars of Alexander Albon and Latifi on their out lap,[33][34] Leclerc fell back to fourth behind Verstappen, while Sainz re-joined the track in second, behind Pérez and ahead of Verstappen, with Red Bull's overcut succeeding.[24][25]
On lap 26, Mick Schumacher lost control of his car through the swimming pool section, crashing into the barriers.[35] Although the car lost the rear and split in half,[36] Schumacher came out of the accident unscathed.[37] This led to a virtual safety car, then a full safety car, before the race was suspended with a red flag, given the need to repair the barriers. In red flag conditions, teams are permitted to change tyres as they choose. Both Ferrari cars kept the hard tyres they had been running on, while the Red Bull cars switched to new medium tyres.[24][25] The race resumed at 17:15 under the safety car with a second rolling start. At the restart, Pérez led Sainz, ahead of Verstappen, Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris, and Fernando Alonso, who was able to maintain track position despite having a slower pace of several seconds.[24][25][38] On lap 51, Norris went to the pits for medium tyres, while Zhou tried to overtake Yuki Tsunoda at the exit of the tunnel but almost lost control of the car.[24][25] In the final laps, Pérez suffered graining on the tyres but was able to keep the lead and win the race,[39] ahead of Sainz, Verstappen, Leclerc, and Russell completing the top five.[40] Norris, Alonso, Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, and Sebastian Vettel completed the top ten, with Ocon falling to 12th.[24][25] Due to the numerous delays, the three-hour time limit for the race (including stoppages) was reached, and only 64 laps were completed.[24][25]
After the race, Leclerc described the race as "a freaking disaster",[41] and Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said they would investigate the strategical error.[42] At the same time, Ferrari lodged a protest against Red Bull, alleging that both cars went over the line at the pit exit, asking for a five-second penalty, in reference to the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix,[43] and a clarification of the rules.[44] The stewards dismissed both protests after Ferrari conceded that the Red Bull cars tyres' did not go over the white line.[45] The race director's notes had been wrongly copied and pasted from 2021, and the rule had been changed from 2021 from "any part of the car" to "any tyre of the car" may not cross the line; had the rules not changed, Verstappen would have broken the rule.[46][47] The FIA underwent further criticism, including by Formula One owners and Hamilton,[48] for delaying the start.[49]
^4 – Alexander Albon received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. This time penalty did not apply as he retired from the race.[50]
