Brundle: Perez's win, Leclerc's agony, and why FIA needs change

The good news from the Monaco Grand Prix is that nice people really do win.

Sergio Perez remains one of the most down to earth and approachable people in the paddock and I'm sure many F1 folk were ready to share a tear with him on the podium. Congratulations to him and Red Bull.

His last six races have included two fourth-place finishes, a trio of second places, and a glorious victory. If he hadn't been obliged to yield to his teammate Max Verstappen a week earlier in Barcelona, he would be just one point off the championship lead, although it must be said Max would likely have won on pure speed with fresher tyres had they been allowed to fight.

Eleven years ago, Sergio crashed in Monaco during qualifying and missed the race through concussion, which underlines well the 32-year-old's tenacity and continued speed, now with 220 GPs under his right foot. These new ground-effect aerodynamic 2022 cars clearly suit his driving style.

The bad news was the confusion around the start of the race, which should have been underway at the due time in my view.

Holding up a race in anticipation of incoming weather is not necessary. We have virtual and real safety cars, red flags, pit stop crews who can change tyres in two seconds, and two types of wet weather tyres to cover those challenges. That's what Formula One racing is all about.

A couple of reliable sources tell me that there were heated arguments in Race Control during the impasse as we all looked on unsure of what was happening. This presumably explains the periods of inaction and lack of information, and the reason why the safety car was not out exploring track conditions as usual.

The FIA, for the well-being of F1, urgently needs a root and branch change with a fully