Sergio Perez took his first F1 win of 2022 following a thrilling Monaco Grand Prix that was littered with drama.
The race was delayed by over an hour following torrential downpours, and then later red flagged after Haas driver Mick Schumacher's car dramatically split in half as he crashed at the Swimming Pool chicane. By that point, Perez had come from third on the grid to lead, and following a rolling start, kept his nerve under pressure from Ferrari's Carlos Sainz to take the chequered flag.
The Mexican's Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen was third, and Charles Leclerc, who started the day on pole, back in fourth. Lewis Hamilton meanwhile, could only finish eighth following another frustrating afternoon.
The race is famed for the presence of A-list celebrities, but there was nothing glamorous about the early weather conditions as torrential rain delayed the start by over an hour. Eventually, race officials opted for a rolling start, having cut the number of racing laps from 77 to 75.
And in a turbulent start, Nicholas Latifi and Lance Stroll nearly collided in the pit lane having both encountered problems. Meanwhile, it was Leclerc who looked to pull away on the front of the grid as drivers held frantic radio discussions over when to come off wet tyres.
As the wet weather digressed, it was third-placed Perez who made the first move to intermediates, and it paid dividends as Red Bull played the overcut strategy. The Mexican took the lead as Sainz and then a furious Leclerc, whose own stop had been delayed, emerged behind him, with the Monegasque man also passed by Verstappen as he dropped to fourth.
Sainz then worked wonders to stay in the race as he seemed destined to collide with the barrier when trying to overtake Perez, but somehow managed to correct himself in time. However, on lap 27 came another major twist with Schumacher's crash.
The German driver emerged unscathed, but after three laps of a virtual safety car, stewards red flagged the race. It meant a second rolling start of the afternoon, and serious question marks as to whether cars would reach the end of the race within the three-hour time limit.
And sure enough, with 15 minutes of race time left, Perez looked comfortable as he opened up a three-second gap. However, as his tyres began to wear, Sainz got within range - and in an exciting finale Verstappen and Leclerc followed closely behind.
After the klaxon sounded for the final lap though, Perez held on. And clearly ecstatic afterwards, he shouted "Oh guys, come on. Well done guys," over team radio.
George Russell maintained his record of a top-five finish in every race so far while Lando Norris came in sixth. It was however, another disappointing day for Hamilton.
Following the second rolling start, with Mercedes man lay eighth behind Fernando Alonso, and was held off by his former rival for the remainder as the field packed up behind him. Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel also notched points by finishing ninth and tenth respectively.
