Monaco (AFP)
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc from Monaco won, for the first time in his career, the Monaco Grand Prix, the eighth round of the Formula 1 World Championship.
It is the first victory for Leclerc (26 years old) this season and the sixth since his arrival in the first category in 2018.
Leclerc, who started in the streets of the emirate from first place, finished the race (78 laps) with a time of 2:25:24:759 hours, 7.152 seconds ahead of Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and 7.585 seconds ahead of his Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz, whose car tire suffered a puncture. After the start, he was forced to leave the racing track, but he benefited from the accident that occurred to the Mexican Red Bull driver Sergio Perez, which led to red flags being shown, stopping the race in order to return to the starting line with the resumption of competitions.
“There are no words that can explain this,” Leclerc said emotionally while shedding tears. “It means a lot. It is the race that made me dream of becoming a driver in the Formula 1 World Championship.”
He continued, “Tonight is going to be a big night!”
Dutch Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, who won the drivers’ title for the past three years, arrived in sixth place, 13.853 seconds behind, but maintained his lead in the standings with 169 points in front of Leclerc, who reduced the gap to 31 points.
Red Bull increased its lead in the constructors’ standings with 276 points, ahead of Ferrari (252) and McLaren (184).
Perez was involved in a severe accident immediately after the start, which prompted the race management to display red flags and stop the competition.
The Mexican’s car was completely destroyed, after it collided with the walls as a result of Danish Haas driver Kevin Magnussen trying to overtake him, but he collided with him from behind, causing the Mexican to lose control of his car.
German Nico Hulkenberg, the other Haas driver, was also the victim of the accident, noting that the three drivers were not harmed.
Haas’s problems continued after its drivers’ results were canceled during qualifying trials on Saturday.
The race was stopped following the accident in order to clean the circuit of scattered pieces, before continuing again.
The top ten was completed by Briton Lando Norris, who finished fourth (McLaren), followed by his fellow Mercedes driver, George Russell, Verstappen, Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (RB), and Thai Alexander Albon (Williams).
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