Conclusions from the Monaco Grand Prix

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez claimed the third victory of his Formula 1 career in the Monaco Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc’s fine work was undone by his Ferrari team.

Here are our conclusions from Monte Carlo…

Perez was left in no doubt of his status at Red Bull after the Spanish GP, where he was instructed to move over for team-mate Max Verstappen.

In the heat of the moment and without the full facts of the situation available to him in the cockpit, Perez described Red Bull’s use of team orders as “unfair” over team radio.

The team’s preference really shouldn’t have come as news to him – Verstappen, after all, is and always will be the point around which Red Bull’s world revolves – but the realisation had the potential to break his spirit.

Instead, he responded by producing the finest performance of his Red Bull career to date in Monaco.

Perez was genuinely the fastest of the Red Bull drivers in the principality, where he outpaced Verstappen in every session except Q1 and was better equipped to cope with the slow rotation of the RB18.

His bravery in being the first of the frontrunners to switch to intermediate tyres was rewarded with the lead as he jumped both Ferraris.

And while a huge lockup on mediums into Mirabeau shortly after the restart made for an uncomfortable series of laps as the clock ticked down, Perez had track position and put his car in all the right places, withstanding the pressure to take the victory.

“Winning Monaco, it’s a dream come true as a driver; when you come into F1 and when you come to Monaco and when you drive for the first time, you always dream about one day winning the race or racing in here,” he said.

“So, it’s just incredible, such a big day for myself.”

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