MONACO (AP) – Red Bull denied Sergio Perez the chance to run for victory in Spain in team orders that left the Mexican star uneasy.
Surely he would be allowed to compete to win this season, Pérez made it to the Monaco Grand Prix with Red Bull’s disappointing decision in his rearview mirror. Then he got his first Formula One victory of the season.
Perez recovered from orders from the Red Bull team a week ago to win Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, marred by rain.
The third victory of Pérez’s career came after a questionable Ferrari strategy cost Charles Leclerc a victory at his local circuit. Although Leclerc finished the race for the first time in four attempts, he finished fourth and allowed reigning world champion Max Verstappen to extend his lead in the points standings.
Carlos Sainz Jr. he finished second for Ferrari and Verstappen was third for Red Bull. But Ferrari protested both Perez’s victory and Verstappen’s arrival based on allegations that the Red Bull drivers did not stay to the right of the yellow line at the pits after the pits. stopped.
FIA race commissioners were examining Ferrari’s protest.
Verstappen has a nine-point lead over Leclerc in the standings; Leclerc has two wins this season, Verstappen and Perez have five wins as Red Bull and Ferrari have won all seven races.
The victory in the streets of the city of Monaco was for Verstappen’s teammate just a week after Pérez was ordered to cede the lead to Verstappen during the Spanish Grand Prix. Leclerc had left the race due to an engine failure and Red Bull chose to capitalize by manipulating the finish to achieve the victory of Verstappen in Spain.
The team promised Pérez that it would allow him to compete to win and he kept his word on Sunday.
“You dream of winning this, and after your career at home, there is no more special place to win,” Perez said after waving the Mexican flag. He is third in the standings and only six points behind Leclerc.
Red Bull team manager Christian Horner slapped Perez on the back as he walked alongside the driver after the race. Perez has a one-year contract and both Red Bull and Perez have said talks on an extension would increase during the summer months.
“Czech was sensational,” Horner said. “It’s very tough in conditions like this, but we got the calls right.”
Horner joined Pérez on the podium and Pérez struggled to hold back tears as his cheeks swelled and his eyes dried as the Mexican anthem sounded. Perez is the first Mexican driver to win Monaco.
“It’s an important day for me and my country. I’m very happy. I was wearing a Pedro Rodríguez helmet,” Pérez said. “I’m sure he looked at me with contempt and I hope he’s very proud. I’m the only Mexican or Latin American driver on the grid. It just shows how difficult it is for us to get into the sport.”
Rodriguez, a Mexican driver who won two F1 races, died in 1971.
Verstappen celebrated with Pérez, whom he considers the best teammate of his career.
“Amazing result for Checo,” he said. “Very happy for him.”
Verstappen told Perez after the race that victory “could help a bit” in Perez’s contract talks.
Leclerc led from the post and shouted in anger when he was told to pit for a second tire change on lap 22, at the same time as Sainz. His engineer noticed the mistake and shouted “Stay out!” but it was too late and Leclerc returned to the fourth track.
“What are you doing?” cried Leclerc.
After the race, he gave a lecture to Ferrari again.
“No words, no words. We can’t do that,” he said on the radio.
“Today was a strange disaster,” Leclerc said later. “The victory was clearly in our hands. We had the performance, we had everything. I don’t really understand the call. “
Ferrari team manager Mattia Binotto admitted that the team made the wrong call to Leclerc.
“I know he’s not happy. It’s normal that he’s not happy because we just made mistakes. If you’re first and finish fourth, it’s obvious something didn’t work,” Binotto said. “We should have stayed out. We’ll see why we made that decision.”
Leclerc also won the pole a year ago, but was never able to get out because he crashed at the end of qualifying, and the car’s gearbox failed moments before the start. In 2018 and 2019, Leclerc had retired from the race with accidental damage.
The race was delayed by 70 minutes due to heavy rain and started from a rolling exit behind a safety car. He was then red-flagged on lap 30 after Mick Schumacher’s severe crash three laps earlier cut his Haas car in two. He was unharmed.
George Russell finished fifth for Mercedes ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso’s Alpine. Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton was eighth for Mercedes, extending his winless career with the silver arrows to eight races, while Valtteri Bottas was ninth for Alfa Romeo and Sebastian Vettel, 10th for Aston Martin .
“Crazy afternoon. I thought the rain would make it more exciting, but we still struggled with our cars,” Hamilton said. “Probably one of the worst (season begins).”
The relentless rain soaked the track 20 minutes before the scheduled start at 3 p.m., local time.
The field was initially lined up and completed a delayed training lap behind the safety car. But drivers got out of their cars when the rain intensified and it became clear that Sunday’s departure would be delayed. They took refuge in their garages while equipment used makeshift tents to protect cars.
When the rain slowed down enough to start the race, Leclerc led the field with a progressive start and started to make the fastest laps.
Then came a team order that played directly into Red Bull’s hands and left Leclerc discouraged in Monaco.
Again.
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