Lewis Hamilton wins in Monaco after a fast paced and frantic race at Formula 1’s crown jewel event. The rain was pouring at the start of today’s Monaco Grand Prix, with the race being started behind the Safety Car. As the sun came out however, it was certainly game on between Mercedes and Red Bull.
Mighty Hamilton Wins In Monaco
Following a dramatic, rain-drenched Monaco Grand Prix, it was Mercedes driver, Lewis Hamilton who finished on the top step of the podium. Despite starting in third place, Hamilton did a sterling job, delivering on an ambitious one-stop strategy from wet tyres onto the new ‘Ultrasoft‘ compound. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finished in second place despite starting in pole position following a fantastic qualifying lap on Saturday. Rounding out the top 3 today and taking the final step on the podium was Force India’s Sergio Perez, with the Mexican driver taking his first podium this season.
Finishing where he started in today’s race was Sebastian Vettel, finishing in fourth for Ferrari, securing 12 points in his title challenge. Perhaps the most surprising finisher of the Monaco Grand Prix was McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, with the Spaniard finishing in fifth place and gaining 10 points for the driver’s and constructor’s championship. Also making it into the points was Alonso’s team mate, Jenson Button, with the Brit finishing in ninth place and securing 2 points for McLaren. This was a notable performance for McLaren, securing a rare double points finish.
Finishing in sixth place was Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, closely pipping Nico Rosberg to the post by two tenths of a second at the finish line. This comes as a shock for Mercedes, with Rosberg being somewhat off the pace during the 78 lap Monaco Grand Prix, starting in second and dropping down the field to seventh place. This meant that the German driver only scored 6 points. Due to this poor result for Rosberg, Hamilton is back in contention for the Formula 1 World Driver’s Championship, securing 25 points and clawing back a once 43 point deficit to only 24 points. Due to this, one win for Hamilton and one DNF for Rosberg would launch Hamilton back into first place in the standings.
Finishing in 8th place was Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr, being followed by McLaren’s Jenson Button in 9th. Rounding out the top 10 was Williams‘ Felipe Massa, securing 1 point for the team over this weekend. This is a poor result for a team of such calibre, finishing in low positions. This however, does not come as a surprise for Williams, with the team not expecting to do well in Monaco due to the car’s low grip and Monaco being a circuit of high downforce levels.
Making contact with the wall for the third time in two days this weekend was Red Bull driver and winner of the Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen, with the 18 year old Danish driver crashing out of the Grand Prix in a hard slap against the wall in the Casino Square section of Monaco. Also having a poor race this weekend were the teams of Renault and Sauber, with both teams having a double DNF. This was very embarrassing, particularly in the case of Sauber, with Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson tripping over each other into La Rascasse. This was a somewhat aggressive move from Ericsson, with the team ordering Nasr to let his senior team mate through but the Brazilian driver to refusing to adhere to such a prospect. Due to the financial strains of Sauber currently, this was a disaster, with the team struggling to finance each race weekend, never mind being able to fund repair jobs on both of their cars.
Now. Driver of the day. There are numerous notable performances. Driver of the day could be Lewis Hamilton for pulling off a one stop startegy in Monaco. It could be Fernando Alonso for securing a fantastic fifth place finish for McLaren. It could be Nico Hulkenberg for overtaking Nico Rosberg for sixth place in the final stretch of the Grand Prix in the last lap. However, my driver of the day is Force India’s Sergio Perez for finishing in third place and rounding up the podium positions. Perez is a very under-rated driver and is always around to take a surprise podium position in many Grand Prix, securing his sixth Formula 1 podium position in his 99th race in F1.
Results from the Monaco GP:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 25 points
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 18 points
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 15 points
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 12 points
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 10 points
- Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 8 points
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 6 points
- Carlos Sainz .Jr, Toro Rosso, 4 points
- Jenson Button, McLaren, 2 points
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 1 point
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 0 points
- Esteban Gutierez, Haas, 0 points
- Romain Grosjean, Haas, 0 points
- Paschal Wherein, Manor, 0 points
- Rio Haryanto, Manor, 0 points
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, Ret
- Felipe Nasr, Sauber, Ret
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Ret
- Kevin Magnussen, Renault, Ret
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, Ret
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, Ret
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, Ret
Driver’s Standings After 6 Races:
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 106 points
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 82 points
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 66 points
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 61 points
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 60 points
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 38 points
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 37 points
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 29 points
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 23 points
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 22 points
- Romain Grosjean, Haas, 22 points
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 18 points
- Carlos Sainz .Jr, Toro Rosso, 16 points
- Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 14 points
- Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 6 points
- Jenson Button, McLaren, 5 points
- Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1 point
- Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 0 points
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 0 points
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
- Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 0 points
- Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 0 points
- Rio Haryanto, Manor, 0 points
Constructors Standings After 6 Races:
- Mercedes, 188 points
- Ferrari, 121 points
- Red Bull, 112 points
- Williams, 66 points
- Force India, 37 points
- Toro Rosso, 30
- McLaren, 24 points
- Haas, 22 points
- Renault, 6 points
- Sauber, 0 points
- Manor, 0 points
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