That’s the lot from me. Thanks for reading and thanks for all the emails and tweets. That was emotional! See you next time.
Binotto of Ferrari is now having a chat with Sky and saying they believe it was clear that Red Bull crossed the line illegally when exiting the pits. And also: “We made some mistakes, and I take responsibility. Overall it has been a difficult race.”
Leclerc speaks to Natalie Pinkham on Sky:
“Let down is not the word, some mistakes can happen, but there have been too many mistakes today, overall. In those conditions you rely a little bit on what the team can see ... I’ve been asked questions whether I wanted to go from medium wet to the slicks, and I said yes, but not now, later on in the race, I don’t understand what made us change our mind and go on the intermediates. We got undercut and I stopped behind Carlos. I mean, there’s been a lot of mistakes and we cannot afford to do that. It’s hard, as it’s been the other years here, so I’m getting used to getting back home disappointed.
“But yeah, we cannot do that, especially in the moment we are in now, when we are extremely strong, we need to take these opportunities, and it’s not even first to second, it’s first to fourth, because after the first mistakes we’ve done another one.
“I love my team and I am sure I will come back stronger but it hurts a lot.
“I think the first one was a very clear decision, and a very wrong one, and from that moment onward the mess started. I don’t know if it’s panic, I don’t know, I obviously don’t hear all the background in the team ... this is not up to me to judge ... the last message that I had wasn’t clear, because I was told to stay out, but I was already in the pit lane, and that’s where I basically let it all out on the radio and screamed, because I knew I was done.”
Updated
Sergio Pérez took victory at the Monaco Grand Prix after a race in treacherous wet conditions, decided in moments of intense strategic decision-making where his Red Bull team pulled off a coup against Ferrari. He beat Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz into second place while the Spaniard’s teammate Charles Leclerc, who had started from pole, managed only fourth behind his title rival Max Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz speaks to Sky after finishing second for Ferrari: “We stayed patient on the wets, we took the right decision to go on the slick ... a terrible out lap [after pitting] there, stuck behind a lapped car, cost me the race win today. You can understand the frustration, a clean out lap would have secured me the race win today, but that’s what this sport is sometimes.
“I’m not going to complain too much, I know this sport is like that, Checo was unlucky in the other [races] ... he did a great race, and in this sport, it will turn around one day or other.”
Updated
Horner speaks on the strategy that grabbed the win: “We didn’t want to be exposed at the restart and we believed the medium would be enough ... so proud of Checo, he’s been on fire all weekend. We didn’t have the quickest car, but we got it right, it was all about teamwork.
“It was all about getting the in-lap and the out-lap.”
In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen now has 126pts, Leclerc in second place has 116, Perez 110, Russell 84, Sainz 83, and Hamilton is in sixth with 50pts.
Sergio Perez - clearly a very popular figure in the paddock – is pictured in tears on the top step of the podium.
It was fantastic performance, no question about it, although the slightly haphazard way in which he was vaulted into the lead is perhaps ammunition for those who are not massive fans of the racing at this circuit.
Leclerc is presumably locked in talks with Binotto, his team principal. He has not emerged to speak to Sky, to give his reaction, and now we’re having the podium ceremony.
Top 10:
Perez
Sainz
Verstappen
Leclerc
Russell
Norris
Alonso
Hamilton
Bottas
Vettel
🏁 END OF RACE 🏁
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 29, 2022
TOP 10
Perez
Sainz
Verstappen
Leclerc
Russell
Norris
Alonso
Hamilton
Bottas
Vettel #MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/rhgjN3v1Xt
Sergio Perez won a chaotic and thrilling Monaco Grand Prix as Leclerc’s dreams of winning on home soil were shattered by his flat-footed Ferrari team. Leclerc navigated a rain-hit start - delayed by more than an hour following a deluge of rain just 12 minutes before the lights were due to go out on Formula One’s most famous race - to control the early stages.
But the Monegasque’s race fell apart when Ferrari’s strategy was exposed by Red Bull. Perez moved from third to first in the switch from wet to slick rubber, with Leclerc’s team-mate Sainz second and world champion Verstappen third. Leclerc crossed the line in fourth, one place ahead of Russell, with Lando Norris sixth. Lewis Hamilton started eight and finished in the same position. (PA)
“It’s a dream come true,” says Perez, today’s winner. “It’s a massive day for myself and my country ... I’m just very, very happy.”
Max Verstappen speaks to Sky: “I did the best I could ... once you got blocked by the red flag in qualifying.
“I did the best I can, as a team we did a good job with the strategy ... we can be very happy with the Sunday. I extended my points lead [in the drivers’ championship], which I didn’t expect last night, so I can be very happy with that.
“Overall, quite a decent day ... an amazing result for Checo, so very happy for him.”
“Why does this Grand Prix have a timer? Is that specific to Monaco? Is it because of the rain? Does the race end at the timer, or the 77 lap marker?” Steve asks via Twitter.
It’s not specific to Monaco. Once the race starts, the regulations state there is a three-hour window to finish. With what happened today - they started under a safety car, then it was red flagged with heavy rain, there was a long delay - then plus Schumacher’s big crash – they were not going to have the time to finish the race inside the allotted three hours. So the countdown starts.
Updated
Leclerc has a few choice words for his Ferrari team on the radio: “We cannot do that. We cannot do that.”
Reaction to come. That race had pretty much everything, really.
“This is us! Come on! Vamos! Well done guys!” Perez shouts on the radio.
“Checo, you have won Monaco! Unbelievable drive! What a brilliant drive” hoots Horner on the radio.
“So happy to be part of this team, thank you guys,” he replies.
Updated
Sergio Perez wins the Monaco Grand Prix for Red Bull!
Christian Horner and his team gambled on their tyre strategy and it paid off handsomely. Carloz Sainz is second for Ferrari, the world champion Max Verstappen third for Red Bull. A satisfying win for the Mexican driver and his team! Charles Leclerc, in contrast, will be absolutely furious after his own team’s blunder over the pitstops cost him what looked a certain victory.
Updated
1 min to go: Hamilton is still running in eighth.
3 min remaining: Verstappen has nearly gone into the back of second-placed Sainz a couple of times. All things being equal, though, Perez is going to the the win.
6 min remaining: Perez, Sainz, Verstappen and Leclerc are all bunched up at the front! This is great racing ... Sainz is pushing for the win, Verstappen is pushing for a Red Bull one-two. Leclerc is sitting in fourth, waiting for a chance, but it probably isn’t going to come at this rate.
Updated
9 min remaining: Ocon gets a five-second penalty for the earlier collision with Hamilton. He doesn’t sound happy on the radio, but they never are, are they?
Updated
Can’t beat a retro computer game reference:
@LukeMcLaughlin Re: doing away with Monaco - so Sega were fibbing to me with Super Monaco GP?
— Darren Leathley (@DarrenLeathley) May 29, 2022
12 min remaining:
Perez of Red Bull leads Sainz of Ferrari by less than a second. Verstappen is 1.3sec down Sainz ... Leclerc is another 1.1sec back as they start to run into a few back markers.
15 min remaining: “Wish they would pull the plug on this BORING circuit for good,” emails Rachel. “Hope they don’t renew the contract - it not even worth it for the band in silly hats or the marinas looking like scruffy car parks. Will no one save us from this backside of a circuit? The drivers deserve better.”
Controversial!
Updated
17 min remaining:
@LukeMcLaughlin any news on penalties for the red bull guys for crossing the pit exit?
— Aaron (@ozmusiq) May 29, 2022
Good question. As far as I can see, no action have been taken. But there is certainly plenty of criticism on Twitter, with people claiming that Leclerc should be in front of Verstappen.
Updated
22 min remaining: Lewis Hamilton is in eighth at the moment, on the tail of Alonso. Alonso meanwhile is a full 31sec down on Norris in sixth.
If you are just joining us, we had a long delay when rain arrived just before the scheduled start. After that, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari looked to be streaking away to victory from pole position, but the team got their tyre strategy horribly wrong, and he was asked to pit twice in quick succession. This bumped him down to fourth. Sergio Perez now leads the race for Red Bull. The race is now on a timer, rather than ending at the end of the allotted laps, as per the regulations. And we have 25 minutes remaining.
Red Bull were more decisive with the tyre strategy: Perez switched on straight to slicks, which was a gamble with rain in the air, but it paid off handsomely.
Updated
29 min remaining - live standings:
1 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 3
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +1.399 2
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +2.728 3
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +4.750 3
5 George Russell Mercedes +7.362 2
6 Lando Norris Mclaren +9.874 3
7 Fernando Alonso Alpine +27.375 2
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +27.989 3
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine +29.568 2
10 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +30.968 2
11 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +33.047 3
12 Pierre Gasly Alphatauri +33.797 3
13 Daniel Ricciardo Mclaren +34.488 2
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +34.860 4
15 Yuki Tsunoda Alphatauri +35.340 3
16 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo +35.927 2
17 Nicholas Latifi Williams +40.028 4
18 Alexander Albon Williams +43.974 3
19 Mick Schumacher Haas F1 Team-- 2
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team-- 1
(Number on right denotes number of pitstops)
Updated
31 min remaining: Sainz, in second, trails Perez by a second.
Instead of the lap countdown we now have a timer on the screen, and currently it’s at 33 minutes. We’ll take it as read that if there are no more stoppages, we’ll make it through to full points being awarded, of course, which would have been 58 laps.
Updated
Lap 32/77: The good news is that the track is drying out very nicely. The top four is Red Bull/Ferrari/Red Bull/Ferrari, in that order. The bad news for Leclerc is that his team completely messed up their tyre strategy, and a seemingly nailed-on home win for the Monégasque is now looking like a podium at best, and maybe not even that. He is fourth.
Updated
Top five as it stands:
Perez
Sainz
Verstappen
Leclerc
Russell
Lap 31/77: The safety car is out on the track. All the lapped cars are overtaking the frontrunners and having a bit of a sort-out. Brundle points out that it’s going to be interesting as the drivers try to warm up their tyres.
Lap 30/77: We are back. Ready to restart. Looks like more rain on way. They have to complete 58 laps for full points to be awarded.
Updated
Lap 30/77, red flag: We’ll have a rolling start in a little under 10 minutes. I’m going to make a cup of tea.
Red flag: It was very worrying indeed when we first saw those pictures of Schumacher’s car. Thankfully he didn’t hit the wall at top speed, having spun a few times.
Anyway, on Sky Sports Ted Kravitz points out that there is less than an hour remaining in this race.
Leclerc is pictured, standing in the pits, gently shaking his head. He clearly cannot believe what unfolded with those pitstops. He is furious. As you would be.
Lap 30/77: Tom emails in to point out, re: tyres: “Slick tyres have the most grip in *dry* conditions - they have been banned in the past - they have the most grip on a dry track because they have no tread therefore contact between rubber and tarmac is the greatest.”
Updated
Lap 30/77: Red flag! Schumacher’s crash has stopped the race.
Updated
Lap 30/77: “New to F1. Could you tell me what the differences are between the tires. How they affect the car on the track,” emails Gary.
Sure. Slick tyres would have the least grip in the wet, but they are the fastest type, so they are right for dry conditions. Wet tyres have the most grip, as they are grooved rather than smooth, and need to be used in wet weather, but are slower in the dry. Intermediates are in the middle.
Updated
Horner of Red Bull: “We got the crossover right ... we managed to jump both Ferraris. That was great teamwork.”
Lap 28/77: Safety car! Mick Schumacher (Haas) has spun off and smashed into a barrier, and his car has split in half. The rear wheels have detached from the front of the car. That looked absolutely horrible but he appears to be ok, thank God. Schumacher has walked away.
“F**ck, is he OK?” asks one of the drivers on the radio, obviously having seen the mess on the track. Yes, he is OK.
Updated
Lap 26/77: So after a frankly dizzying series of pitstops, Perez leads the race. Sainz second, Verstappen third, Leclerc fourth. I cannot understand what Ferrari were doing by making Leclerc pit twice in such quick succession ...
Lap 23/77: Perez leads the race. Sainz second, Verstappen now leads Leclerc, who must be fuming. “Overcut” has worked perfectly for Red Bull ... four seconds separates the top four. This is intense.
Updated
Lap 20/77: Hamilton is right on Ocon’s tail as the British driver tries to take eighth place. Ocon is having none of it. “Are any of these moves being investigated?” Hamilton asks on radio.
Up front, Sainz pits. He takes slick tyres ... and Leclerc pits again too! And takes slicks. Perez and Verstappen now lead the race in first and second respectively but will have to pit again ... Leclerc is furious at having been asked to pit twice in quick succession, and why wouldn’t he be? His teammate, Sainz, is now ahead of him.
Updated
Lap 19/77: Leclerc pits for intermediates. Sainz leads the race. Moments ago, Hamilton was trying to get past Ocon, and said on the radio he ‘turned in on me’ and he fears his front wing is damaged.
“He’s just put me in the wall, man,” Hamilton tells his team on the radio. “It looks OK,” they reply.
Updated
Lap 17/77: Perez pits for intermediates, and reemerges in fifth place, just ahead of Russell. That means Verstappen is up to third for now, 3.9sec behind second-placed Sainz.
Lap 14/77: Leclerc now has 4.7secs on his teammate Sainz and he is looking very assured indeed as he benefits from having a clear road ahead of him. Perez (Red Bull) is 2.6sec behind second-placed Sainz, with Verstappen a couple of seconds further back.
Updated
Lap 12/77: Hamilton is running eighth, behind Alonso. Ninth-placed Ocon (Alpine) is a sizeable 14sec behind Hamilton having overtaken Bottas (Alfa Romeo).
Updated
Lap 11/77: Ferrari’s Leclerc is looking good up front and has stretched his lead over Sainz to 4.1sec.
As they stand on Lap 10/77:
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +3.580
3 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +5.220
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +6.928
5 Lando Norris Mclaren +14.352
6 George Russell Mercedes +15.743
7 Fernando Alonso Alpine +19.801
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +22.916
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine +34.219
10 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +37.584
11 Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team +38.470
12 Daniel Ricciardo Mclaren +41.960
13 Alexander Albon Williams +42.653
14GuanyuZhou Alfa Romeo +43.632
15 Pierre Gasly Alphatauri +44.159 1
16 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +51.884 1
17 Mick Schumacher Haas F1 Team +54.488 1
18 Yuki Tsunoda Alphatauri +56.138 1
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +63.166 2
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams +68.357 2
Updated
Lap 8/77: The racing line is now drying out nicely. That will only encourage more cars to come in and switch from wets to intermediates.
Updated
Lap 8/77: Verstappen is asked about the conditions: “Dry, but still tricky on these tyres,” he says.
Lap 7/77: There are no time gaps ... oh, now there are! Leclerc is 3sec ahead of Sainz. Perez is 4.9sec back.
Lap 6/77: Gasly sets the fastest lap on intermediates. Vettel is overtaken by Esteban Ocon and is now in 10th. Now Sainz clocks a new fastets lap, 1.37.998sec.
Lap 5/77: Judging by the clouds over Monaco I think we’ll definitely get some more rain before too long. But as Horner said it is very unpredictable in Monaco.
Schumacher and Latifi have pitted for intermediates, but according to Sky, they are not looking much quicker than those on wets.
Lap 5/77: “Yes it’s my real name, with suffix too,” emails Montague Gammon III.
“Google it if you doubt me, but more importantly, I am truly delighted to be published internationally!”
“No more rain for the next 20 to 30 minutes,” our race leader Leclerc is informed on the radio.
Updated
Lap 4/77: Leclerc clocks a fastest lap. Looks like there is some misinformation on the graphics about which cars are running wets or intermediates.
Lap 3/77: Stroll and Latifi nearly crash in the pits!!! Stroll had a puncture, and Latifi needed a new nose. That was sketchy. It’s sketchy out on the track too, you can see the cars are struggling for grip ... but Leclerc has fashioned a 2.2sec lead on his teammate Sainz.
Updated
Lap 3/77: We’re racing! Safety car disappears. It’s very slippery ... Leclerc and Sainz one and two.
Whoops. Nicholas Latifi (Williams) has gone into the barriers at the Loews Hairpin ... meanwhile the safety car is still out, but the race has officially begun and the laps are ticking down. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) has a puncture.
Lap 1/77 is displayed on screen. The cars crawl around Loews hairpin bend and then through into the tunnel.
Updated
The cars are rolling back out on the famous Monaco circuit. Let’s race! Please, let’s race.
So with a start under the safety car in a couple of minutes, do we think that rain shower was the most exciting this afternoon is going to get?
No! “We do expect more rain,” comes the ball on Ricciardo’s radio from his McLaren team.
So that means in theory that the two laps done under the safety car will be taken off the race tally.
The race resumes behind the safety car at 15.05 UK time.
Meanwhile ... an idea on Twitter from my colleague Beau Dure:
@LukeMcLaughlin Split F1 into two circuits with 16 races each, with the top eight from each circuit moving into a unified "playoff" stage. More cities get to host, and you can still have an arbitrary officials' decision on the last lap of the season that decides the title.
— Beau Dure 🇺🇦🏳️🌈🕊🔬 (@duresport) May 29, 2022
Ted Kravitz, on Sky, observes that we don’t know what kind of start we’re going to have ...
So, we are going to get a race in under 10 minutes. It looks to be drying up for now ... but the threat of more heavy rain hangs in the air.
Oh the glamour of the Monaco GP. Hiding under a bin bag in an open stand.
The 10 minute signal is shown 3.55pm – warning to start.
Email round-up below. Opinion is split.
Michael Hughes emails: “You can’t be an F1 driver and not take risks. The cars are very safe, the spectators protected. Let them race!”
“Montague Gammon” (not their real name?):
“1) We’re over the “danger shows how brave the drivers are” mentality. We’ve lost too many over the decades I’ve been paying attention.
2) It would have been in effect a sprint qualifying race before the inevitable red flag, and the history of race control screw ups of late does not inspire confidence that would have been managed well.
Back to 1) What would Lauda say? What would Stewart? I think we both know the answer to that.”
Andrew Benton: “The no-start could have been due to strategic thinking, using the rain to make the point that Monaco circuit isn’t as fit for purpose as it could be. It’s only still in the calendar because of its heritage, Christian Horner said here. Wondering, have there been any F1 races stopped by snow?”
David Hepp: “This is, after all, gladiatorial combat on four wheels. Spectacle, gentlemen. Pan e circo.
Updated
If the FIA stick to their rules and don’t declare the force majeure again, the race must end at 6pm.
Claire emails in: “Been sat in this bar all day, my boyfriend says we can’t leave until the race is done so now I’m sat here watching a bunch of lads getting wet.”
Haha! Sorry, Claire.
UPDATE: It is raining in Monaco. Or is it? Not sure to be honest. It is wet though. More accurate updates to follow. There is another big black cloud rolling in above the casino, says Ted Kravitz
Updated
Brundle has just revealed on Sky that a man once flagged him down, at the end of a British grand prix won by Nigel Mansell, with his baby (!?) to ask for an autograph. The man’s baby, not Brundle’s. Some people, eh?
“Honestly, I feel like it would be dangerous for spectators around the track and the drivers themselves,” emails “Mixtraffic”. “Better safe than sorry.”
“The controversy is one reason people love the F1,” says Nick. “If it was too unsafe, more controversial.”
“While I’d personally love to see a race in this weather, the Monaco track doesn’t seem promising or safe to drive on right now,” emails Harshini. “Although, it would serve as a testament to the drivers’ skill if they manage to successfully pull off the laps. I’m excited to see how the race goes but also want all of them to be safe there!!"
An email from Alison titled: Red Bull, but no Wings –
“We’re in a pub waiting for the GP to start. About to run out of wings, so hoping we get some movement soon!”
Chicken wings? Order some more!
There is a three-hour window for the race to take place. That is counting down now. When that was used at the Spa race that was called off the FIA cited force majeure to stop the countdown. However, since they changed the start time to 3pm, another limiting factor is how many hours of daylight are available.
“Any other track I would’ve been OK with a wet tyre start but not Monaco!!” emails siddharthmathur.
Updated
“With the threat of heavy rain throughout the race - if it ever gets started - this has to be a day to look to experience and the drivers who have been here so many times before,” emails Tom McLaughlin.
“Monaco can throw up some very unpredictable results when it rains. Keep an eye therefore on Hamilton and even Vettel and Alonso.”
That’s my brother, in case you were wondering. Thanks Tom!
“What was the last time a driver was seriously hurt in the wet at Monaco?” asks Mark Woldin on email.
“I don’t like crashes so I feel better safe than sorry,” emails Anne Williams of the decision to delay the start.
Zinedene Zidane is pictured in the pits. He’s hot-footed it down from Paris and last night’s Champions League final.
“Sunset is 9.02pm tonight,” observes Brundle on Sky.
Updated
Giles Richard reports from Monaco: “This delay may last some time, there is a lot of standing water in some areas although Monaco does drain very well from the streets.”
“It really is raining quite hard here now,” as Alan Partridge once said.
“You’re 33?! You look about 14!”
Updated
“It’s too wet to race out there right now,” says Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal.
“We were neutral about it [the rain],” says Horner as to whether he wanted the heavens to open.
“Being in Monaco it’s a bit of a lottery now ... if it does start to clear a little, a standing start would be preferable.”
And on how the teams have been caught out by the weather forecast: “You’ve got this microclimate here with big mountains, the weather gets stuck [behind the mountains], sometimes it doesn’t come and sometimes it gets locked in.”
Updated
However, as Ted Kravitz just pointed out, had the race started on time, on wet tyres, they’d probably have red-flagged it now anyway.
That may well be true, but that doesn’t mean the decision to delay was right.
The rain is pouring, and the race has now been red-flagged. The cars are queuing to get back into the pits.
The question remains: Why didn’t all teams go on to full wet tyres and get the race going?
Wouldn’t that be a great test of the drivers’ skill, as much as safety is paramount?
Ricciardo on radio: “It’s wetter than I thought it would be. It’s very wet at the moment.”
The track is looking very wet just now. It was a very significant rain shower (which is also obvious from the wet-weather gear being worn by fans in the stands).
I’m not sure which weather radars were showing zero chance of showers. They might want to switch that one off, and switch it on again.
Anyway, the rain continues, and perhaps got heavier again.
The cars are making their way around the circuit.
Updated
Meanwhile, the safety car formation lap is go, go, go!
Message from FIA: “Race control was monitoring a severe downpour that was rapidly approaching the circuit, and as it arrived during the start procedure, the safety car start and its associated procedures were implemented. This was done for safety reasons in consideration that there has been no wet running this weekend.”
Brundle: “If you are sitting at home a little bit confused, join the club, as to why this race is not getting under way.”
Lewis Hamilton on the radio, to his Mercedes team: “Everyone just take a deep breath and cool down. I don’t want everyone getting all panicky.”
Brundle: “Genius radio call there from Lewis.”
Updated
Tea will be taken early, with a pitch inspection at 15.20 Monaco time.
“Another little gem here is the tunnel,” points out Brundle on commentary duty on Sky. “The tunnel is dry, the track is wet ... it can be an issue later on.”
People are running around the pit lane like men and women possessed.
Sky are showing us shots of the fans, under umbrellas and anoraks, who seem to be enjoying themselves regardless.
I’m old enough to remember the days when Bernie Ecclestone, then F1 supremo, talked with a straight face about racing under synthetically-generated rain to spice things up.
Updated
The formation lap will now start at 2.16 UK time / 3.16 Monaco time.
Meanwhile the rain is getting heavier.
The start has now been further delayed. The Sky people are frothing at this. They are questioning why the need for the delay, quite rightly, if the teams are able to choose their tyres before the start.
Obviously starting on slicks would have been treacherous after a last-minute rain shower, but as it is, why not race on the tyres of their choice?
“What are we waiting for?” asks Max Verstappen from his cockpit.
Updated
“Chaos” and “pandemonium” are words being used by the Sky reporters for what is going on on the grid now.
Brundle: “Why the safety car? They’ve got they’re tyres on ... go! Let’s race. The track isn’t even that wet.”
Updated
Some teams are now opting for wet tyres.
Sorry, I said race start 1.09pm UK, I did of course mean 2.09pm.
Updated
Message from Race Control: The formation lap will be started behind the safety car.
Updated
Giles Richards, our man in Monaco, tells me it may be a safety car start!
Due to the rain, which arrived minutes before lights out, the start has been delayed until 14.09 UK time.
The weather has been boiling in Monaco all week, so a cloud burst immediately before the start is going to add a significant amount of jeopardy.
Updated
“Now many countries want an F1 race maybe they should split into two tours,” emails Phillip Haran. “A classic set of races and a sports washing set. There could be two world champions or a combined overall one where the three worst races are dropped.”
It’s an idea.
Matt Doherty and Eric Dier, of Tottenham, are in Monaco!
“My Mum’s Dutch so I have to go for Max,” says Doherty.
Good trivia.
Dier chips in: “We’re with Red Bull so hopefully the Red Bulls can do a good job and get in front of the Ferraris.”
“Before the cameras were on you said something completely different,” laughs Nico Rosberg.
“They [Red Bull] will be upset with me!
“Lewis,” Dier concedes.
Updated
“I think if I can stay in P5 I’ll be very happy,” says Lando Norris of McLaren tells Natalie Pinkham of Sky Sports. “We’ll keep our heads down.”
Meanwhile, there is rain falling on the circuit! It’s coming down quite significantly according to the presenters. Will that affect starting strategy?
“Monaco is always different, you need to concentrate. Starting at the front is the best thing you can have here,” says the former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, who has his fingers crossed for a Scuderia win.
Just over 15 minutes until kick-off.
Alain Prost is asked what advice he’d have for the young drivers on the grid: “I don’t think they need any advice. What they are showing, as young drivers, is really exceptional. They know what they are doing since a few years now. I am very interested to see how they can handle a race like this one, especially if it’s a little bit wet.”
“You only want to speak to the frontrunners, you don’t speak to me when I’m ‘down here’ [on the grid],” quips Toto Wolff of Mercedes when Martin Brundle collars him. “It’s good, it’s good to get it wrong sometimes,” Wolff adds of the team’s current struggles.
“Really?” Brundle replies.
“Yes, it’s going to set us up for more success in the future,” replies Wolff.
On Hamilton, he adds: “You can see the maturity. he’s coping really well ... he’s a team player.”
I should point out that these entertaining quotes are all courtesy of Sky Sports F1.
Updated
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto: “Hopefully it’s not going to rain ... it’s good to be on the front row ... we will do whatever we can, as a team, to get the maximum out of the race ... let’s get a good start, keep the positions, which is never easy, and we’ll see what we can do then.”
Pierre Gasly (Scuderia AlphaTauri) speaks: “From our radar it’s not going to rain ... but I told the whole team to do the rain dance, because that’s what we need.”
“The favourite’s got to be Charles [Leclerc], but we’ve got to go for it,” Christian Horner tells Brundle.
Lewis Hamilton said only a wet race could spare him from more misery at the Monaco Grand Prix.
As home favourite Charles Leclerc romped to his third pole in as many races, Hamilton slumped to eighth, two places behind Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
“I am not doing any dancing but I do want it to rain so I am not just driving around in the dry in eighth,” said Hamilton.
“You cannot overtake so I am hoping that the weather plays up and maybe we can do a different strategy. We were not very good in the low-speed corners at the last race so I anticipated it would be difficult, but it is worse than we anticipated because it is super-bouncy.
“It would be nice to have some luck for once. I have been having bad luck all year so it is bound to stop at some stage.” (PA)
Martin Brundle’s legendary gridwalk is go, go go!
Grid positions after qualifying:
1 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1min 11.376secs
2 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1:11.601
3 Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:11.629
4 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:11.666
5 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:11.849
6 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:12.112
7 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Alpine 1:12.247
8 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:12.560
9 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Aston Martin 1:12.732
10 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:13.047
11 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:12.797
12 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:12.909
13 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:12.921
14 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) McLaren 1:12.964
15 Mick Schumacher (Ger) Haas F1 1:13.081
16 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:13.611
17 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:13.660
18 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:13.678
19 Nicholas Latifi (Can) Williams 1:14.403
20 Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:15.606
Updated
‘It feels amazing’ – Leclerc’s verdict on snaffling pole:
Updated
Preamble
Max Verstappen, Red Bull’s world champion, leads the drivers’ championship by six points but Charles Leclerc of Ferrari, currently second in the standings, is on pole in Monaco this afternoon.
Is today the day that the Monegasque Leclerc gets a victory on home roads? He was on pole last year, despite a crash in qualifying, but it turned out the shunt had done for his gearbox, and he could not even take his place on the grid to start the race.
Perhaps his luck will be better today. It’s famously difficult to overtake in Monaco, so the Ferrari driver is nicely primed to leapfrog his rival Verstappen and take the lead in the race for the 2022 title. But rain isn’t out of the question, and there will (hopefully) be some other elements of intrigue to spice up what Ferrari are hoping will be a procession. It’s on!
Lights out: 2pm UK time/3pm Monaco time
Updated
