Hamilton Wins Eventful Monaco Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton has won the Monaco Grand Prix after an eventful race in Monte Carlo. With changeable weather, and safety car interruptions, the race played into the McLaren driver’s hands.
Hamilton’s chances looked slim when he crashed into the barriers on lap 6 in wet conditions. McLaren’s decision to refuel him during the resulting pit-stop enabled him to stay out longer before his final stop - long enough to gain an unassailable lead.
Hamilton said after the race:
“As the rain came down, there was a lot of spray and coming into turn 12 it was like a river. I hit the river and just slid into the barrier. I knew I only touched it but I had a rear puncture. Thankfully the team acted quickly and I was able to resolve it. When the weather is like this the important thing is to keep on the track but I can’t explain how difficult that is, you are almost just tip-toeing along. We changed the strategy and it played into my hands.”
The Brit was not the only driver to suffer in the adverse weather conditions. Former team-mate Alonso lost control of his Reanult early in lap 8. Although the Spaniard was able to rejoin the race after replacing his punctured tyre, others were not so fortunate.
Red Bull’s Coulthard - who was involved in a high-speed crash during qualifying on Saturday - and Bourdais of Torro Rosso both crashed on the same corner as Alonso mere seconds later. Both drivers were forced to retire from the race, and the incident brought out the safety car.
Meanwhile, Massa had successfully kept hold of first place after qualifying on pole, with Kubica and Raikonnen following behind.
Massa’s pit-stop in the 32nd lap resulted in Hamilton starting to gain an impressive lead (after Kubica’s pit-stop, and Raikonnen’s drive-through penalty pushed them down the pack). Lewis set a series of fastest laps and was lapping more than a second a lap faster than his rivals.
In the post-race press conference, Felipe Massa blamed his team for his defeat, after they fuelled him to the end of the race in the first pit-stop. Massa said:
“I was so quick in the first stint. I put down a good pace and I knew the strategy was working but then suddenly we changed to one stop and that was a big mistake because the track was getting drier and we expected some more rain but it didn’t come and by the time Kubica had stopped. I wanted to stop again and we took too long too change the tyres. It was a shame we made a mistake on the strategy. But it’s good to be on the podium and we know the championship is long. We have a great car. Unfortunately the strategy did not work.”
By this time, Lewis Hamilton had the race in the bag barring any reliability issues, or mistakes. Behind him however, a Rosberg crash bought the safety car out for the second time. Following the restart, Raikonnen destroyed a superb performance by Adrian Sutil in the Force India. Sutil was running in 4th place with just 8 laps remaining when Raikonnen - who was close behind - lost control at the chicane and slammed into the back of the impressive performer.
Raikonnen managed to get to the pits and have his nose cone replaced, and finished 9th. Poor Sutil however, was forced to retire and you have to feel sorry for him, after a superb performance.
Hamilton’s win sees him move to first in the driver’s championship - 3 points ahead of Raikonnen. Felipe Massa follows in 3rd position, 1 point behind the Finn.
Result of Monaco Grand Prix after 76 laps*:
1 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes two hours 0 minutes 42.742 seconds
2 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 3.064 secs behind
3 Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari +4.811secs
4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault +19.295
5 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari +24.657
6 Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda +28.408
7 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota +30.180
8 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes +33.191
9 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari +33.792
10 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault one lap behind
11 Jenson Button (GB) Honda one lap
12 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota one lap
13 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota one lap
14 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber four laps
R Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 67 laps completed
16 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 59 laps
17 Nelson Piquet Jr (Brz) Renault 47 laps
18 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 36 laps
19 David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault seven laps
20 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari seven laps
Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen, 1:16.689, lap 74.
* Race shortened by two laps because of two-hour time limit
Key: R = retire
