Sergio Perez scored the third victory of his Formula 1 career in the Monaco Grand Prix, making him the most successful Mexican driver in the history of the sport.
Fittingly, Perez did so sporting the helmet design of Pedro Rodriguez, Mexico’s only other race-winning driver, who had two wins to his name when he perished in a crash during a sports car race at the Norisring in 1971. He was 31 at the time, a year younger than Perez is today, though the Red Bull driver has started 220 races compared to his predecessor’s 54.
Rodriguez first raced at Monaco in 1967, four months after winning the preceding race, the season-opener in South Africa. He took his Cooper to fifth place, a result he never bettered in four further visits to the principality.
Until last weekend, Perez’s best finish in Monaco was an excellent third place in the rain-affected 2016 race. He failed to start on his debut at the track five years earlier: Having reached Q3 for the first time in his career (in Monaco, no less!) he crashed heavily at the chicane and was ruled out of the race, as well as the following round in Canada.
Perez’s win was the sixth for Red Bull in Monaco, moving them ahead of Mercedes’ five. However they are far short of the record held by McLaren, 15-time winners of this race.
Carlos Sainz Jnr came close to finally scoring his first win, but had to settle for second place for the fourth time in his career, and his 10th podium result. That ties Stefan Johansson’s tally of most second places without a win, but is half that of the record held by Nick Heidfeld. Sainz also led a race for the sixth time; Heidfeld headed the field on eight occasions, but never on the final lap.
Charles Leclerc took pole position for the 14th time in his career. That puts him level with world champions such as Alberto Ascari and James Hunt, plus Ronnie Peterson and Rubens Barrichello.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
It also means Leclerc has as…