2022 Monaco Grand Prix

The **2022 Monaco Grand Prix** was a Formula 1.5 motor race held on 29 May 2022 at the Circuit de Monaco in the Principality of Monaco. It was round 7 of 22 in the 2022 Formula 1.5 World Championship.

## Background

### Championship standings before the race

Valtteri Bottas was the Drivers' Championship leader after the sixth round, the Spanish Grand Prix, with 105 points, 12 ahead of Lando Norris in second, with Esteban Ocon in third, tied on points with Norris. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren led Alfa Romeo by 1 point and Alpine by 2.

### Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.

### Tyres

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.

## Practice

Three free practice sessions are scheduled per the sport's regulations. In defiance of Monaco tradition, for the first time the first two sessions were not held on Thursday but on Friday, in balance with the other Grand Prix weekends during the season. The first two practice sessions took place at 14:00 and 17:00 local time (UTC+02:00), respectively, on 27 May. Norris topped the first practice session ahead of Gasly and Ricciardo. The second practice session was also topped by Norris and Gasly with Alonso in third this time. Both sessions also had one red flag each; in the first session, it was after Mick Schumacher stopped by the pit lane with a gearbox issue, while Daniel Ricciardo had a crash in the second session. The third practice session had Gasly ahead of Norris and Magnussen.

## Qualifying

Qualifying took place at 16:00 local time (UTC+02:00) on 28 May.

In the first segment of qualifying, there was a red flag after Yuki Tsunoda clipped the barrier, and Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi, and Zhou Guanyu were eliminated from the session; some drivers, such as Valtteri Bottas, Gasly, and Zhou, were not able to have a final lap due to traffic and crossed the line on the checkered flag. In the second segment, Tsunoda, Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo, and Schumacher were eliminated. In Q3 Fernando Alonso crashed on his final attempt bringing out a red flag.

## Race

The race was due to start at 15:00 local time on 29 May and was scheduled to last for 78 laps. The race start was first delayed to 15:09, as heavy rain was identified approaching the circuit. The delay was to give teams time to switch to wet tyres before the start. Two formation laps were run at 15:16, before the decision was made to suspend the start procedure due to the rain intensity, and all cars were directed to the pit lane. In the interval between 15:16 and 16:05, a power failure to the start signalling systems, including the starting gantry and signal light panels, caused further delay. This failure, even after repaired, cast doubt on the ability to perform a standing start at all, and rolling starts were used for the rest of the race session. The two formation laps reduced the scheduled distance of the race by one lap, to 77.

The race began as the safety car led the field out of the pit lane at 16:05, with all drivers on wet tyres and a rolling start planned. Nicholas Latifi went long at the hairpin and Lance Stroll hit the barriers at Massenet while still behind the safety car; both went to the pit lane to fix their cars. The rain had stopped, and Pierre Gasly opted for intermediate tyres on lap 4, which was followed by other drivers at the back of the grid; he overtook Zhou Guanyu and Daniel Ricciardo on laps 12 and 15, respectively.

On lap 24, Mick Schumacher lost control of his car through the swimming pool section, crashing into the barriers. Although the car lost the rear and split in half, Schumacher came out of the accident unscathed. This led to a virtual safety car, then a full safety car, before the race was suspended with a red flag, given the need to repair the barriers. In red flag conditions, teams are permitted to change tyres as they choose. The race resumed at 17:15 under the safety car with a second rolling start. . On lap 51, Norris went to the pits for medium tyres, while Zhou tried to overtake Yuki Tsunoda at the exit of the tunnel but almost lost control of the car. Due to the numerous delays, the two-hour time limit for the race was reached, and only 64 laps were completed.

## Championship Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

  2

Constructors' Championship standings

  1
  1
  1

## External Links

1. ↑ Includes one point for fastest lap.
2. ↑  Esteban Ocon finished 3rd, but he received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.
3. ↑  Alexander Albon received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. His final position was not affected by the penalty as he retired.