Dylan Bettencourt
Red Bull driver Sergio Perez claimed victory in what could be the final Grand Prix held in Monaco.
Reports throughout the week suggested that this would be the final Grand Prix at what is labelled as the “jewel of Formula 1.”
This is the final year of the agreement between Formula 1 and Monaco to host the Grand Prix with an agreement between the two yet to be reached.
The drama off the track continued right up until the race was due to start when rain began falling heavily in the European country.
The race directors deemed the conditions too severe and waved the red flag, delaying the start of the race.
The rain continued to fall, and the delay went past the hour mark.
However, when the race finally started, the drama did not stop there as poor work from the Ferrari pitstop cost the team their top two spots.
Red Bull decided to stick with their wet tyres as the track began to dry and most teams, including Ferrari, switched to tyres for dry conditions.
The masterplan from Red Bull worked wonders as Perez emerged from the pits in the lead of the Grand Prix.
And that, as often is the case in Monaco, is how the race finished with Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz unable to overtake the Mexican.
The triumph for Perez is his first-ever in Monaco.
Ferrari will feel disappointed given they qualified first and second but poor strategic work from the Italian side cost them the win.
And that was shown when Charles Leclerc voiced his anger over the team radio following miscommunication from his engineer.
For Red Bull, the win in Monaco comes as their fourth victory in a row with Max Verstappen winning the previous three.
Verstappen managed third spot in Monaco and remains as the leader of the driver standings, increasing his lead to nine points.
Next up for Formula 1 is a trip to Azerbaijan for another street circuit race on 12 June.
