In defiance of Monaco tradition, for the first time the first two sessions were not held on Thursday but on Friday, in balance with the other Grand Prix weekends during the season.

[7] In the first segment of qualifying, there was a red flag after Yuki Tsunoda clipped the barrier, and Alexander Albon, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi, and Zhou Guanyu were eliminated from the session; some drivers, such as Valtteri Bottas, Gasly,[13] Lewis Hamilton, and Zhou, were not able to have a final lap due to traffic and crossed the line on the checkered flag.

[15] In the third and final segment Sergio Pérez spun and crashed before the tunnel section, and was then hit by Carlos Sainz Jr., who saw the yellow flags too late.

[20] Championship leader Max Verstappen finished fourth, with Lando Norris, George Russell, Fernando Alonso, who crashed on his own at Mirabeau in his last flying lap,[14] Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and Esteban Ocon completing the top ten.

[26] Two formation laps were run at 15:16, before the decision was made to suspend the start procedure due to the rain intensity, and all cars were directed to the pit lane.

[24][25] The race began as the safety car led the field out of the pit lane at 16:05, with all drivers on wet tyres and a rolling start planned.

[24][25] On the lap 3 rolling start, pole-sitter Charles Leclerc led the race ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr., Sergio Pérez, Max Verstappen, and Lando Norris.

At the restart, Pérez led Sainz, ahead of Verstappen, Leclerc, George Russell, Lando Norris, and Fernando Alonso, who was able to maintain track position despite having a slower pace of several seconds.

[24][25][38] On lap 51, Norris went to the pits for medium tyres, while Zhou tried to overtake Yuki Tsunoda at the exit of the tunnel but almost lost control of the car.

[24][25] In the final laps, Pérez suffered graining on the tyres but was able to keep the lead and win the race,[39] ahead of Sainz, Verstappen, Leclerc, and Russell completing the top five.

[42] At the same time, Ferrari lodged a protest against Red Bull, alleging that both cars went over the line at the pit exit, asking for a five-second penalty, in reference to the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix,[43] and a clarification of the rules.