Rain ahead of the scheduled 3pm start of the Monaco Grand Prix meant that the start process was suspended minutes before the formation lap was scheduled to begin. The formation lap was initially postponed to 3:09 p.m., but the start was then postponed again to 3:16 p.m. by the FIA, which meant that the race started behind the safety car. After the race was held two laps behind the safety car, heavy rain resulted in the first red flag.
It now appears that the original decision to delay the start of the race was due to a power outage that caused the grid start systems to fail. Although the incident was corrected in time for the start of the race behind the safety car, it was decided that due to the malfunction of lights and panels on the straight during the race, a full restart would not occur. Since 2020, the rule has been that races can be resumed after a red flag with a standing start. This could apply to the red flag restart due to the heavy rains and the second restart after Mick Schumacher’s heavy crash. In the first case, a power failure was the reason for the roll start. The FIA decided to do the same after Schumacher’s crash because the right side of the grid was still wet and it would be a disadvantage for the F1 drivers on that side.
Several F1 drivers felt a good start was possible shortly after the first postponement, but the FIA subsequently said it had postponed the start again because they saw a heavy rain shower coming. Then there was the power outage.
