Ferrari gifts Red Bull Monaco Grand Prix win after strategy disaster

Red Bull were the big winners at a chaotic Monaco Grand Prix after Ferrari stitched its star driver up with a terrible blunder.

Charles Leclerc was absolutely filthy. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Sergio Perez has won the Monaco Grand Prix after Ferrari gifted Red Bull the victory with a strategic blunder that had Charles Leclerc fuming — but the Scuderia cried foul and launched a protest against the victors.

Leclerc started his home race in pole position but the race was delayed by an hour as race officials took a conservative approach while rain fell in Monaco.

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The drivers started the grand prix on extreme wet tyres but it became clear they would have to change tyres as the weather cleared and the track dried.

Ferrari made the bold call to pit Carlos Sainz and change his tyres from extreme wets to slicks, instead of going for the safer option of intermediates that warm up faster.

Disaster then struck and there was confusion over team radio when Leclerc, who was leading the race comfortably, was called into the pits immediately after Sainz.

Leclerc’s engineer realised their mistake and quickly told him to stay out on the track but only after he had entered the pit lane and it was too late.

Pitting both drivers at at the same time, or “double stacking”, meant they lost time on the Red Bulls, who overcut the two Ferraris with excellent flying laps.

The strategic mistake was a complete disaster for Ferrari and meant what should have been a relatively straightforward win for Leclerc went up in smoke.

An understandably furious Leclerc screamed over team radio: “F***, why?! What are we doing?!”

The Monagesque driver ultimately finished fourth as Max Verstappen extended his lead in the drivers’ championship.

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo finished 13th as his run of poor results continued.

“Mistakes can happen but there’s been too many mistakes today,” Leclerc added after the race, clearly unimpressed at his own team.

“I’ve been asked questions if I wanted to go from the extreme wets to the slicks and I said, ‘yes but not now, a bit later on in the race’, but I don’t understand what made us change our minds and go on the intermediates.

“We got undercut then I stopped behind Carlos. There have been a lot of mistakes and we cannot afford to do that.

“It is hard as it has been in the other years here, so I am getting use to it and getting back home feeling disappointed but we cannot do that, especially in a moment that we are in now.

“We are extremely strong now, the pace is strong, we need to take these opportunities, we cannot lose so many points like this, it is not even from first to second, it is from first to fourth, because after the first mistake we did another one.”

It was amateur hour at Ferrari. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

However, after the race, Ferrari lodged a failed protest against both Red Bull drivers, accusing Perez and Verstappen of infringements in the pits. The Italian outfit said their rivals crossed the pitlane exit line on lap 23 as they tried to stay ahead of Sainz and Leclerc.

The protest was dismissed and the original results stood.

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto said Perez and Verstappen were guilty of a “clear rules breach”.

“We made the protest because we believe it was right to seek clarification,” Binotto said. “I think both Red Bulls were on the yellow line at the exit and in the past that has always been penalised with a five-second penalty.

“We are disappointed because we believe there was a clear breach of regulations on the two Red Bull going on the yellow line exiting the pit.

“I think it was not close. It was on the line and if you look at the intonation of the sporting code it is saying crossing, but we had a clarification in Turkey 2020 to avoid any discussions and if you look at the race director notes it indicates staying to the right.

“So, being on the line is breaching the race director notes and I think each single team has a duty and a task to follow the race director notes.

“So for us that is something unclear and we are still seeking clarification from the FIA and we will be happy to have as soon as possible our feedback.”

In response to the post-race development, Red Bull boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports: “It’s disappointing that it’s been protested.

“We believe the International Sporting Code is clear. He didn’t go over the line, he was always in contact with the line.

“We’ve seen other precedents set, with other drivers in the past. If it was any more than even a reprimand, I’d be hugely disappointed in that. I really hope that common sense will prevail.”

Sergio Perez proved he’s certainly not a No. 2 driver. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Perez held off a fast finishing Sainz to claim victory, while Verstappen came third on a superb day for Red Bull.

It was a sweet victory for Perez, who was filthy after he was ordered by Red Bull to let Verstappen past him at last week’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Earlier, Mick Schumacher slammed into the barriers at the swimming pool chicane and his Haas split completely in half in a scary crash. Thankfully, he walked away from the incident unscathed.

Mangled remains of Mick Schumacher’s car in Monaco Grand Prix. #F1pic.twitter.com/fCnicpykJu

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) May 29, 2022

Holy crap. That car looks like it split in half. So glad to see Mick Schumacher get out of that one. Scary.

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) May 29, 2022

Monaco Grand Prix results

1) Sergio Perez, Red Bull

2) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull

4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

5) George Russell, Mercedes

6) Lando Norris, McLaren

7) Fernando Alonso, Alpine

8) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

9) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

10) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin