“I would’ve taken him out with me,” Sergio Perez states that a back marker almost took his victory away

The Monaco Grand Prix of 2022 went into the hands of Sergio Perez after a messy yet exciting race. The race start was delayed by almost an hour after heavy rains poured down the entire track, making it almost impossible for the cars to go out on the difficult turns and chicanes of the Monte-Carlo GP. After the start of the session, all the cars went out on wet tyres, some soon switching to intermediates, which, however, did not include any of the cars in the top 5 of the race. Sergio Perez soon became the race leader after Ferrari made the mistake of calling Charles Leclerc for a second time to switch to hards with Carlos Sainz. This made Leclerc lose his lead of the race to Sergio Perez. 

Watch: F1 Standings 2022 & Sergio Perez Interview | After Monaco Grand Prix

The race was later red flagged following Mick Schumacher’s horrific crash near the swimming pool chicane, which split his car into two. Post the restart, both the Red Bulls were seen on fresh medium tyres and the Ferraris had not changed their tyres. 

Sergio Perez led the race for a fantastically long period of time, defending against Carlos Sainz who almost made contact with the Mexican, and ultimately crossed the line to win the GP. But there was a lot more that happened around the final laps, when blue flags were being waved every now and then. 

Also read: “We need to do better,” Charles Leclerc unhappy with Ferrari’s strategy after a disappointing P4 finish

“I lost time behind the lapped car,” Perez calls out the back markers for making him lose time in the race

Around the final laps, or the final “minutes” of the race, Sergio Perez had to pass through many lapped cars, who were being given the blue flag by the marshals again and again. Since Monaco is an extremely difficult track to perform any overtake, it was hard for Checo to pass through the backmarkers easily, which, as he said, almost cost him the victory. 

“A lapped car cost me the win today. A clean out lap would’ve secured the win today. I knew it from halfway through that we should go straight to slicks. We did the right call. But I lost time behind the lapped car,” the Mexican stated. 

This race turned out to be Checo’s third victory in his long Formula 1 career, and Max Verstappen extended his lead on the championship, with Charles Leclerc falling 9 points behind him after finishing P4, a first time finish for him at his home Grand Prix. 

Also read: WATCH: Mick Schumacher’s car almost splits into two after horrific spin in Monaco

Also read: “Fu**ing why? What are we doing,” Charles Leclerc goes bonkers on the team radio after Red Bull undercut works successfully

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