F1: Perez reigns in the Monaco rain – Gulf Digital News

F1: Perez reigns in the Monaco rain – Gulf Digital News

Analysis of the Monaco Grand Prix, brought to you by Bahrain International Circuit

There are very few certainties in Monaco, given the nature of this historic street circuit. The two known facts, however, are always to expect the unexpected and that overtaking is extremely difficult, making qualifying absolutely critical.

Coming into the all-important Saturday session, there were mixed signs for the home racer, Charles Leclerc. In practice, he was the dominant car and Ferrari overall looked marginally ahead of their main rivals. However, history was not on his side. He has not once, in five attempts, ever seen the chequered flag in Monaco.

That so-called curse didn’t seem to concern him in qualifying, as he led a dominant one-two for Ferrari, with a winning lap that looked fairly unbeatable. Perez qualified third, with Verstappen slightly off the pace in fourth. Norris was an impressive fifth on a circuit which has been kind to him in the past, with Russell, Alonso and Hamilton completing the top eight.

On race day, whilst there was always a threat of rain, the timing of its arrival, just a few minutes before the start, caused chaotic scenes. The start itself was initially delayed by 15 minutes with the warm-up