Monaco GP red flagged following opening lap crash!

Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix was red flagged after just a single lap following a massive pile-up between three cars on the run-up the hill to Beau Rivage.

The clash occurred at the tail end of the field when Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was tagged from behind by Kevin Magnussen’s Haas who appeared to go for a gap on the right side of the track.

Perez’s out of control car then hit the second Haas of Nico Hulkenberg which was pitched into the barriers.

The incident put all three cars out of the race on the spot, but with a field of debris littering the track and the trio of cars blocking the way, the red flag immediately deployed.

The carnage wasn’t the only incident to unfold on the opening lap. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz enjoyed a strong launch off the grid and attacked second-placed man Oscar Piastri at Ste Devote.

The Aussie held his own however behind race leader Charles Leclerc but on the exit of the first corner, the McLaren’s right rear corner came into contact with Sainz’s left front, causing a puncture.

The Ferrari driver was able to make it back to the pits, and luckily the Spaniard will slot back into his initial third place for the second standing start.

There was also commotion over at Alpine where Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon made heavy contact on the exit of Portier.

Gasly appeared to be squeezed on the inside by his teammate whose car was pitched into the air upon contact before suffering a heavy landing.

While Gasly's car survived the clash relatively unscathed, it was unclear whether Ocon's car could be repaired in time for the race's restart.

Monaco's marshals were hard at work cleaning up the track but also repairing a barrier at Beau Rivage.
The race is due to restart at 15h44 local time.

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