The Monaco Grand Prix officially ended and the first to pass the chequered flag was unfortunately, not pole sitter Lewis Hamilton, but rather team-mate Nico Rosberg, who won his third consecutive title in the Circuit de Monaco, ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, leaving Hamilton trailing behind at third.
The German proved himself praiseworthy as he claimed his hat trick of victories in the place he calls home, despite starting second the grid.
As always, over-taking is a very difficult task in the narrow circuit, though that was not the main reason why Hamilton slid down from pole. Instead, it was due to a ‘mistake’ from the team. The Monaco GP this season was a frustrating one for many drivers due to the traffic and unexpected events.
Rosberg and compatriot Vettel were having a war of their own to tail Hamilton in the first 20 laps whereas the Briton was trying to confront his brake issues.
Hamilton was seen clocking the fastest lap on lap 22, taking only about 80 seconds to complete a single round of the Monaco streets.
Traffic was getting worse and the front three were getting frustrated over the time loss. However, things were cleared when Hamilton had a lead as clear as 9s on lap 31.
Just after the blue flags, the yellow flags came out as Alonso skidded off the track, bagging a DNF when his car was craned away around lap 43. Alonso attributed the unfortunate event to overheating.
Max Verstappen then collided with Romain Grosjean, with the super soft tyre of his Toro Rosso coming off. That led to the reintroduction of safety cars, after which Mercedes made a bizarre move. They pulled Hamilton into the pits, allowing Rosberg to seize the lead on lap 66.
As Hamilton reentered the race, he struggled to catch up with his German partner, and the Brit was visibly dismayed at it as well.
“I’ve just lost this race, haven’t I?” Hamilton said through the radio.
The nervousness increased for the Mercedes when Daniel Ricciardo tailed Hamilton with his Red Bull but eventually sucked up a fifth place after eventually losing pace due to a battle with Kimi Raikkonen.
The race ended with a rather devastated Hamilton on the parc freme. Eighties legend and team director, Niki Lauda was in pure exasperation over the pit strategy, which was the main factor for Hamilton’s defeat.
“I’m sorry for Lewis that we made the mistake and I’m sorry for Lewis. It should have been a perfect 1-2 today,” said team principal Toto Wolff after the race.
“There is nothing else to do than apologise to Lewis, it was a misjudgment in the heat of the moment,” he added
Rosberg claimed first place, ahead of Vettel and Hamilton whereas Red Bull’s Kvyat and Ricciardo claimed fourth and fifth. Kimi Raikkonen placed his Ferrari sixth, followed by Force India’s Sergio Perez. McLaren finally hatched the zero when Jenson Button clinched eighth place. Sauber’s Felipe Nasr finished ninth and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr ended up at tenth despite starting twentieth on the grid. That rounds up our top ten.
The results of the GP was a perfect fit from the predictions we made earlier in the week. The next Grand Prix will take place in Canada on the 7th of June.
Photo credits: Independent
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