A monster crash for Mick Schumacher during a rain-affected Monaco Grand Prix halted the race just before half distance.
Drivers had just switched to slick tyres after rain delayed the start of the race by over an hour, having created treacherous conditions during the opening third of the grand prix.
Schumacher was the first driver to switch to the slick tyres, a spontaneous decision after he broke the front wing on his Haas following contact with the barriers.
But shortly after the rest of the field followed suit, Schumacher lost control of his Haas on the entry to the Swimming Pool and nosed his Haas into the right-hand side barriers before a second larger impact broke the rear section of his VF-22.
This was on lap 27 of the scheduled 77.
While the incident was initially covered with a safety car, race control decided to red flag the race three laps later when it became clear repairs to the dislodged barriers would be required.
⚠️ SAFETY CAR ⚠️
Mick Schumacher walks away from his car after crashing into the barriers at the Swimming Pool section #MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/yHQszKxGpg
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 29, 2022
The race clock, which has a two-hour time limit, wasn’t stopped under the red flag so the race will go to time rather than the full 77 laps.
Sergio Perez will take the race restart in the race lead after jumping the Ferrari duo with an aggressive early switch to the intermediates.
Carlos Sainz convinced his Ferrari team to keep him out on wet tyres until he was able to switch straight to the slick tyres. This allowed him to keep ahead of Verstappen and jump his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, but wasn’t enough to edge Perez.
Leclerc has fallen from first to fourth behind his title rival Max Verstappen and was unsurprisingly unimpressed with the strategy of his Ferrari team.
The Mercedes of George Russell was able to switch straight from the wet tyres to the slicks and jumped Lando Norris to take fifth place.
Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas completed the top 10 at the time of the red flag.
Hamilton and Ocon collided while fighting into Ste Devote, inflicting minor damage to Hamilton’s front wing. Though his Mercedes team were able to change it under the red flag.
The race is due to resume at 17.15pm local time (15.15pm GMT) with another rolling restart.
