MONACO GP – Hamilton drought of wins ends in a trilling race echoing his 2008 win
Lewis Hamilton has taken victory in difficult conditions at the Monaco Grand Prix. The weather caused much of the drama after using a good strategy to get the ahead of the Red Bull of Daniel Riccardo to take his first win of the season and his second on the streets of Monte Carlo.
The race started in the rain and after a few laps behind the safety car the race begun with Riccardo opening the gap from Rosberg. But Rosberg soon ran into problems when the team ordered him to Hamilton past, with the world champion then inheriting the lead when Ricciardo pitted
With the circuit soon began to dry as the sun came out while Ricciardo pitted for new intermediates Hamilton stayed out longer before his stop. When Red Bull released this they brought the Australian in but the team weren’t ready forcing him to sit and wait for tyres.
The Australian soon closed back up on Hamilton after his first stop but soon as Hamilton stopped Riccardo was back into the pits.
Sergio Perez finished third for Force India after they used a clever tyre strategy switching him early on to the hard tyre. Nico Rosberg run of three victories was ended after he was ordered to let Hamilton go then he lost ground in the pit stop window.
Perez managed to hold off the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso finished fifth there equal best result since returning to Honda power.
It was another disappointing day for Max Verstappen who crashed for the third time this weekend bringing out the safety car. Verstappen crashed on lap 35 after working his way up to tenth. He locked up going into Casino Square sliding on the damp track into the barrier.
Renaults Jolyon Palmer was another casualty of the unforgiving streets as the race started properly. He crashed after being caught at the zebra crossing losing grip sending him into the barrier.
The next to be caught out as the virtual safety car ended was Kimi Räikkönen who crashed at the hairpin braking his front wing and dragged it under his Ferrari all the way to the chicane before pulling off. In the process he almost forced Haas’s Romain Grosjean into the wall – the stewards will investigate post-race.
Daniil Kvyat was next to bring the safety car out after crashing with the other Renault after a bogged move at the Swimming Pool. Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson also collided at Rascasse, the Swede making a late dive for the inside shortly after the Brazilian had been ordered to let him by. Ericsson also ended his race in the pits a few laps later.
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