Monaco Grand Prix halted after opening lap crash

MONACO : Formula One's showcase Monaco Grand Prix was halted on Sunday after an opening-lap collision wrecked Sergio Perez's Red Bull and the chasing Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg.

Perez's car was seemingly tagged by Magnussen as the backmarkers sped uphill to Casino square, with the Mexican sent spinning into the barriers and Hulkenberg also caught in the mayhem.

The Haas cars had started from the last row of the grid after being excluded from the qualifying results due to a rear wing breach.

All three drivers climbed out of their cars unhurt, with carbon fibre debris strewn across the track as red flags were waved.

The two Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon also banged wheels at Portier as they fought for position, with Ocon's car lifted into the air.

"What did he do? Why did he try to attack me?" exclaimed Gasly. "The whole car is damaged now."

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc led from pole position with McLaren's Oscar Piastri second. All cars returned to the pit lane and were due to re-start from a standing start in their original order.

That was good news for Ferrari, who had seen Carlos Sainz go off at Casino before the collision and after an incident with Piastri.

The Spaniard, who started third, was able to get going and return to the pits.