Sergio Perez holds off Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen for first win of season at dramatic Monaco GP

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez took the chequered flag at a rain-affected Monaco Grand Prix to win the third Formula One race of his career, and take victory at the famous circuit for the first time.

After a twenty minute delay due to a heavy rain shower, the drivers got underway for their formation lap behind the safety car. However, Race Control decided to call a halt to proceedings and show a red flag on the second tour of the circuit due to the treacherous track conditions. At this point, the race had yet to begin.

After forty-five minutes, which saw more rain fall onto the circuit and much deliberation amongst the teams in the pit lane, the race finally got back underway behind the safety car with a rolling start, as race control deemed the track to be in a safe enough condition to race on. Three cautious laps later, the green flag signalled that the drivers could finally go racing.

Charles Leclerc started his home race on pole position after a superb showing in qualifying on Saturday afternoon, and the Monegasque driver initially led for the first part of the grand prix. He then pitted for the intermediate tyres after lap 18, one lap after Sergio Perez. The Mexican managed to get the jump on Leclerc in the process. Carlos Sainz stayed out on the full wets until the time was right for slick tyres.

The dynamic of the race changed again on lap 23, as the teams tried to figure out when the crossover point was to switch to slick tyres as the track continued to dry out. Ferrari opted to bring Sainz in first to change to the hard compound from his scrub full-wets, and in a last-minute call, also chose to box Leclerc behind him, who had pit for intermediates just five laps previously.

That call cost the Ferrari driver dearly, as Sergio Perez then took the outright lead of the race on the next lap. The slick tyres taking a while to get up to temperature meant that both Red Bull drivers could complete the over-cut on Leclerc.

Perez also got past Sainz by staying out a lap longer on his intermediate tyres. Max Verstappen also got ahead of Leclerc and into 3rd, which could prove crucial in the Championship battle come the end of the season.

The race was then red flagged once again on lap 30, as Mick Schumacher’s Haas went into the wall at the exit of the swimming pool chicane, causing his car to break into two. Luckily, the Haas driver walked away unharmed from the shunt. The impact of the crash meant the barrier needed to be repaired.

The pause meant the drivers could change tyres in the pit lane before the restart, with both Red Bull’s selecting the medium compound, and the Ferrari’s choosing the harder tyres. Once again, for the third time, the race got back underway behind the safety car, which eventually led to a rolling start when the green flag was waved.

It set up a mouth-watering thirty-minute shootout between the top four drivers until the chequered flag, as the full 77 lap race distance could not be completed within the two-hour time limit.

Despite his mediums graining, and all the top four being separated by less than two seconds with five minutes on the timer remaining, Perez drove valiantly to hold off Sainz behind him on the fresher hard tyres, which looked like the better race tyre all weekend.

The Mexican held on at the end to secure a famous victory on the Monaco streets, and his third in Formula One, finishing just over a second ahead of Sainz. Verstappen pipped Leclerc by 1.5 seconds at the line to secure the final spot on the podium, and maintain his lead in the Championship. That advantage now stands at nine points.

Red Bull's call to gamble and leave Perez out on the intermediate tires at the second phase of pit stops and overcut the Ferrari's - who had already pitted for slicks - paid off, as from that moment on, the Mexican led the race all the way until the chequered flag.

After the second red flag following Mick Schumacher's accident, the remaining drivers were able to change to a fresh set of tyres on the grid ahead of the restart, and Red Bull's choice to risk going onto the medium tyres just about paid off, as the Ferraris were quicker on the harder compound in the last couple of laps.

However, Perez dealt with that pressure well and drove superbly to secure a deserved victory that will live long in his memory.

Sainz has now pitted for a set of the harder compound tyres! Despite being told to stay out by his race engineer, Leclerc comes in for the double-stacker, and also switches to dry tyres. However, he is angry as he has lost out there!

As you might expect with a clear run ahead of him, Hamilton puts in another fastest effort. He is now 2.5 seconds ahead of his teammates. This is his to lose.

This is a key moment in the race! Perez comes in and leapfrogs the Ferrari's! Perez leads, and is ahead of Sainz! Verstappen also pits for slicks, and is now ahead of Leclerc!

The Virtual Safety Car has been deployed and Mick Schumacher in the Haas has had a big crash on the exit of the Swimming Pool chicane! There is a lot of debris on the track, and this may be a full safety car or a red flag. Schumacher is okay, and gets out of the car, thankfully. The rear end lets go, and he spins into the Armco barrier, then into the tech-pro. The impact splits the car in half. Bad shunt! The full safety car is now out. A couple of laps later, the race is red flagged.

It seems that Perez is struggling a bit more now on his mediums, and Sainz has dropped the gap down to under a second!

It may be a nervy finish here! Perez' tyres are clearly graining, and the cars behind him are beginning to close up. 2.9 seconds covers the top four!

Sainz is looking for options to get past Perez, but he cannot quite do it on the way into the Nouvelle chicane! Then, on the next lap, Perez locks up into the Loews hairpin! All the top four are very bunched up! We have five minutes left to go!

The clock is now down to zero as we are into the final lap! Perez looks like he is poised to take his third race win and first at the Monaco Grand Prix!

Lap 22/77 - Leclerc is furious on the team radio as his race engineer tells him to box right behind Sainz as Ferrari double-stack to switch both cars onto the hard compound on the same lap. However, seconds later, Leclerc's engineer changes his mind and tells his driver to stay out. It is too late though - Leclerc's Ferrari is already in the pit lane. The Monegasque driver shares his displeasure on the radio with some expletives that can't be repeated.

Pierre Gasly gets the job done on Zhou Guanyu in the AlphaTauri just before the Loews Hairpin. He now has Daniel Ricciardo ahead of him in 12th, and the McLaren driver looks to be struggling on his tyres. Gasly wants to make another move. He is flying on the intermediate tyres is the Frenchman.