Monaco – Race: Hamilton betrayed by his own, Rosberg unexpected winner!
After a dramatic end to the Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, the victim of a strategic error by his team, had to forgo a victory he nonetheless deserved. Nico Rosberg ultimately wins for the third consecutive time in Monaco.
The starting grid of the race had been somewhat shaken by penalties: Romain Grosjean started in 15th place due to a penalty for changing the gearbox before the weekend began; but, more notably, Carlos Sainz, who was 8th in the qualifying, had to drop to the back of the grid for failing to present himself for weighing on Saturday afternoon. Before the race, the Spaniard even chose to start from the pit lane. A definite disadvantage in the narrow streets of the Principality…
The green lights go out… Lewis Hamilton leads at Sainte-Dévote! The Englishman held off his teammate… Sebastian Vettel came close to overtaking Nico Rosberg, but the German had to hold back to avoid losing his rear end. The Red Bulls had a good start, particularly Daniil Kvyat who passed Daniel Ricciardo.
The first victim of the princely carousel is named Nico Hülkenberg: the Force India driver, who started 11th, crashed at Mirabeau. Fernando Alonso was barely involved in the incident but will receive a five-second penalty. Nico Hülkenberg returns to the pits to change his front wing. The disappointment also affects Felipe Massa: the Brazilian has also returned to the pits. His stop lasts a long while; a lap behind the leaders, his race obviously takes a different turn…
Pastor Maldonado overheats his rear brakes. The Lotus team warns the Venezuelan to ease off on the straight. Behind him in 9th place, Max Verstappen takes the opportunity to put pressure on him. Unfortunately, the Dutchman’s inexperience or impatience leads him to touch the Lotus with his front wing. Verstappen passes at Sainte-Dévote, but his front wing is slightly damaged. On the seventh lap, Pastor Maldonado returns to the pits: he has to retire due to his brakes. It’s another retirement for the Lotus driver, the fifth in six races!
After five laps, Hamilton and Rosberg are in the lead. Vettel is in 3rd place, followed by the two Red Bulls. Sergio Perez holds his excellent seventh place, while Button’s McLaren-Honda is in the points, in 9th place, along with Alonso, tenth. Romain Grosjean is 12th, while Carlos Sainz has already passed both Manor cars and is putting pressure on Marcus Ericsson.
At the front of the race, the drivers are managing their first stint on super soft tires. The gap between Hamilton and Rosberg is around 2.7 seconds. Sebastian Vettel is far from being dropped, as he is 1.7 seconds behind Rosberg. Among the infamous trio, it’s the leader who is the slowest.
The first to stop (barring incidents) is Carlos Sainz. Stuck behind Ericsson, the Toro Rosso driver opts to cut short his first stint and switches to soft tires. In case of a Safety Car in the following laps, it could be a winning bet… On the 15th lap, Ericsson, who was on his side honking behind Bottas (struggling with his Williams), stops at the same time as the Finnish driver. Williams was not fooled by Sauber’s undercut attempt… But the best chances for points for the Swiss team rest on the shoulders of Felipe Nasr, 11th and thus on the verge of the points.
On the 18th lap, Romain Grosjean stops at the pits to attempt the undercut on Felipe Nasr. The attempt will narrowly fail… Higher up in the standings, Vettel is gradually catching up to Rosberg: the gap is now just a second. Lewis Hamilton has responded and set the fastest lap of the race. But the three men are losing time overtaking the Manor cars, already a lap down, and the gaps are shaken up: Rosberg is now 4 seconds behind Hamilton, while Vettel is 1.5 seconds behind Rosberg. With the intense heat, the German’s Ferrari is holding its own against the Mercedes cars. The podium seems settled, its hierarchy less so…
We inform Nico Rosberg over the radio: the warming up of the prime tires is better than expected. Consequently, Vettel’s undercut becomes a threat for Mercedes. Here more than anywhere else, strategy is the backbone of the battle. Brakes are also an issue for Hamilton: « we’re on the limit », his engineer warns.
At the 30th lap, relentless bad luck strikes Max Verstappen: the mechanics take an unbearably long time to change his tires. 31 seconds of standstill condemn the young prodigy to fall out of the points. Felipe Nasr enters them. Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen loses a lot of time behind a slower Daniel Ricciardo. Shouldn’t the Ferrari driver have attempted the undercut?
On lap 37, Sebastian Vettel stops in the pits! The stop is average with 3.1 seconds of immobility. A lap later, Rosberg stops: his immobilization lasts three-tenths more. However, Vettel comes out behind Rosberg: Mercedes did well to cover the stop of the first Ferrari. Ricciardo stops in the same lap (2.9 seconds of immobilization), thus freeing Kimi Räikkönen, who plays the undercut, this time successfully. The Finn is now fifth, behind Kvyat. A lap later, the leader, Lewis Hamilton, stops without issue. With more than ten seconds over Nico Rosberg, he has nearly won the race.
On the 43rd lap, Fernando Alonso has to retire! As in qualifying, at Sainte-Dévote, the double world champion is let down by his machine. It is apparently a gearbox problem. What a shame for the Spaniard! Romain Grosjean takes advantage of this to enter the points zone.
At the 55th lap, Lewis Hamilton sets a pace superior to all his competitors. Nico Rosberg is 12.4 seconds behind. Sebastian Vettel follows, just 1.5 seconds behind. Kimi Räikkönen, who is frustrated by the lack of blue flags, is 3.5 seconds behind Kvyat. Daniel Ricciardo has lost two places from his grid position and is in 6th place. Skillful and adept, Max Verstappen takes advantage of the blue flags to overtake Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas at Portier. The Dutchman, who has stopped twice in the pits, is 8.8 seconds behind Romain Grosjean, 10th.
The Lotus driver complains about the behavior of his car and does not seem comfortable in the streets of Monaco. He sees Verstappen closing in on him, who has fresher tires. As he has to let Sebastian Vettel pass, Romain Grosjean is careful not to open the door for Verstappen. The maneuver succeeds, but the Frenchman still has to keep the young threat behind him. On the Toro Rosso side, they decide to use the Renault Power Unit to its maximum capacity. The battle for the last Monaco point is on. Verstappen locks his wheels multiple times, brushes against the rails, and seems decidedly electrified.
**The feared accident happens on the 64th lap and it causes unexpected consequences!** Verstappen uses his DRS and attempts to overtake at Sainte-Dévote, but he crashes into Romain Grosjean! The Dutchman loses everything for having lost his patience. He escapes without harm, even though the impact was very violent. The barrier was dented, the front end of the Toro Rosso is mangled. The Safety Car is logically deployed. In the pit lane, preparations are underway to welcome the drivers. Romain Grosjean falls out of the points zone and vents on the radio: « It was stupid ».
Sensational in Monaco! Hamilton stops at the pits, taking advantage of the Safety Car. He fits the super soft tires. However, the English driver loses everything in the maneuver! He rejoins behind Rosberg and Vettel, who did not stop. Hamilton must be fuming! Incredible strategy error in the Mercedes camp… The Virtual Safety Car, deployed for three seconds before the Safety Car came out, may have upset the team’s predictions. Nevertheless, Hamilton will have faster tires for the remaining laps. But the race takes a while to resume. The Sainte-Dévote barrier is significantly damaged.
A mix-up then involves the leading trio. Exiting the pits, Lewis Hamilton almost overtakes Sebastian Vettel, but the German driver had crossed the Safety Car line first. Leader of the championship, leader for most of the race with a lead of over 17 seconds over Rosberg, Hamilton lost everything because of his team!
On the 70th lap, the race resumes at full speed! Hamilton on super soft tires hopes to restore the natural and legitimate hierarchy. This promises an exceptionally lively end to the Grand Prix! Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo overtakes Kimi Räikkönen and reclaims 5th place. The Finn believes he was unfairly pushed by the Australian at Mirabeau. The Red Bull driver, coming from too far back, indeed forced his way through. Kvyat then lets his teammate pass so he can attack Hamilton. The English driver, understandably, seems dejected on the radio: “impossible to overtake,” he confides, visibly disillusioned.
In the last lap, Ricciardo puts pressure on Hamilton. The Australian can consider himself lucky: he will not be penalized for his overtaking on Räikkönen. The decision is surprising given that Fernando Alonso, at the beginning of the race, was penalized for an infraction that was either non-existent or at least much milder.
It’s the finish line! And who would have thought? Nico Rosberg, who was 18 seconds behind Hamilton before the Safety Car, wins without having dominated the Englishman during the weekend. Vettel finishes 2nd. The big loser of the day is Lewis Hamilton. We wish Mercedes good luck in explaining its strategy to its world champion. What a gross mistake! In the world championship, Rosberg closes the gap to 10 points behind Hamilton. It’s the first time since the legendary Ayrton Senna that a driver has won three times in a row in Monaco.
Daniel Ricciardo, powerless against Hamilton, let his teammate pass in the last meters, who thus takes 4th place. Hamilton comes to a stop at Portier. His car seems to be at its limit… unless the Englishman is too upset to join his team? The explanation might be tense…
Kimi Räikkönen finishes 6th. Sergio Perez finishes in a remarkable seventh position. A historic achievement for McLaren-Honda, Jenson Button scores the first four points of the season. Felipe Nasr is 9th, while Carlos Sainz, despite starting from the pits, scores the point for tenth place. Victim of the incident with Max Verstappen, Romain Grosjean ultimately finishes out of the points.
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|
1
|
Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1h 49m 18.420s |
78
|
|
|
2
|
Vettel | Scuderia Ferrari | +4.486 |
78
|
|
|
3
|
Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | +6.053 |
78
|
|
|
4
|
Kvyat | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | +11.965 |
78
|
|
|
5
|
Ricciardo | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | +13.608 |
78
|
|
|
6
|
Räikkönen | Scuderia Ferrari | +14.345 |
78
|
|
|
7
|
Perez | Sahara Force India F1 Team | +15.013 |
78
|
|
|
8
|
Button | McLaren Honda | +16.063 |
78
|
|
|
9
|
Nasr | Sauber F1 Team | +23.626 |
78
|
|
|
10
|
Sainz Jr. | Scuderia Toro Rosso | +25.056 |
78
|
|
|
11
|
Hülkenberg | Sahara Force India F1 Team | +26.232 |
78
|
|
|
12
|
Grosjean | Lotus F1 Team | +28.415 |
78
|
|
|
13
|
Ericsson | Sauber F1 Team | +31.159 |
78
|
|
|
14
|
Bottas | Williams Martini Racing | +45.789 |
78
|
|
|
15
|
Massa | Williams Martini Racing | +1 lap |
77
|
|
|
16
|
Merhi | Manor Marussia F1 | +2 laps |
76
|
|
|
17
|
Stevens | Manor Marussia F1 | + 2 laps |
76
|
|
|
18
|
Verstappen | Scuderia Toro Rosso | + |
DNF
|
|
|
19
|
Alonso | McLaren Honda | + |
DNF
|
|
|
20
|
Maldonado | Lotus F1 Team | + |
DNF
|
