1 Monaco Grand Prix LIVE!
Charles Leclerc is out to end his home race curse and reclaim the lead of the Formula One world championship today.
In three F1 outings and two F2 races around these streets, the Monegasque driver is still yet to reach the chequered flag and yet leads a Ferrari front-row lockout after Saturday’s qualifying session.
Red Bull were left ruing a missed opportunity to put Max Verstappen alongside Leclerc, who has dominated all weekend, when Sergio Perez crashed into the barrier at the end of Q3.
Carlos Sainz skidded into the Mexican at the entrance of the tunnel yet still claimed second place in qualifying, with Perez third ahead of Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Lewis Hamilton starts eighth as Mercedes, with George Russell in sixth, admitted last night that Monaco is the worst possible circuit they could have faced after appearing to improve around Barcelona a week ago.
While the tight and twisty streets of the iconic venue could prove harder than ever to overtake around, the potential for rain and safety cars should make this race another that fans cannot take their eyes off in this fascinating 2022 campaign.
With lights out at 2pm, follow Standard Sport’s live blog for updates from the Monaco Grand Prix…
Live updates
Martin Brundle on Sky Sports points out that Monaco has the tunnel – which will be dry and become a huge challenge for the drivers on wet tyres.
After that, if the rest of the track dries out then it will take longer to rid the tunnel’s tarmac of that moisture.
Ferrari tell Leclerc over team radio to expect this downpour to last for ten minutes before the rain lightens for a few minutes.
Fresh start time
A 2.16pm BST start time has been announced.
The worry is that the longer we wait, the more rain will fall, and the bigger problem it is!
“What are we waiting for? Dry or..?” Max Verstappen asks over team radio with the start now officially just “delayed”.
The safety car formation lap means cars must start on the Wet tyres. It’s certainly raining but it’s hardly a monsoon.
The formation lap will start behind the safety car. Will we still have a standing start to the race itself?
Start procedure suspended!
The downpour appears to have eased but more heavy rain is coming in the next couple of minutes.
The formation lap will begin at 2.09pm.
Qualifying recap
Charles Leclerc took pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix with Max Verstappen languishing in fourth place after a chaotic end to qualifying on Saturday.
Read the full story.
Max Verstappen previews the race
“We need a bit of luck with the strategy or the safety car because you can’t pass around here, [overtaking places] do not exist in these cars.”
Tyre strategy – for the dry…
Drops are falling on the track but nothing substantial yet…
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