Mercedes drivers are still occupying the podium. It was a tough fight in Monaco, many drivers were out of luck. This time Nico Rosberg was the first to cross the finish line, although there are suspicions in the air that it was nothing but a well-planned tactics. Meanwhile, the Russian driver Daniil Kvyat had to retire due to technical issues.
Shortly before the Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes non-executive director Niki Lauda held a party at Gerhard Berger's (ex-Formula 1 pilot) luxury boat. And, of course, both Hamilton and Rosberg were invited. As reported by f1news.ru, Niki Lauda highly praised the drivers for great performance but he also expressed some concern: “There is a reverse side to this situation — if the two continue to do their races ahead of the rest of the field, the probability of a crash increases… Eventually it will go wrong… Lewis is at his height right now, it’s almost impossible to defeat him. However, Nico has a chance in Monte Carlo, because everything might happen here”.
Each of them had already secured one victory at the circuit of Monte Carlo. Last year Nico Rosberg was first here. There are two scenarios of winning the race — either it should rain (making the race totally unpredictable), or otherwise it’s necessary to win the pole position. For the last eight years in a row, pole-sitters have been scoring victories in Monaco Grand Prix.
Former F1 pilot Timo Glock gives the following comment on the track: “Monaco is a crazy place for Formula 1 but this is what makes the race truly unique. The track is narrow, no safety areas, plenty of bumps on the surface but you need to hold to the track and avoid smashing into the barrier. Like on any other track you have to be fast and make attacks, but the difference lies in the fact that the track in Monaco does not forgive any mistakes and even a slightest error kicks you out of the race. But if you manage to make a perfect lap, you will experience an unparalleled pleasure”.
This time Rosberg decided to try a new helmet visor. Sven Krieter, an expert from Schuberth, a company which created the visor, said proudly that “Nico assumes that he has a better picture when using this visor. Thanks to it, his eyes are not so tense and he can concentrate on driving, which is even more than we have expected. The new visor is different from the old one like a picture tube TV-set is different from modern HD TV”. Well, back on the track with the eyes wide open! And the new visor.
Qualifying was full of surprises. In the first session, Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) could not control his car under braking after the tunnel and smashed the front wing. However, he was able to get back on the track after going into pits: “I might have gained several grey hairs after qualifying. Something went wrong and I just couldn’t change anything. I might have made a slight steering error and lost control over the car… I tried to catch the car, steer it. I think I was lucky to avoid a big crash. The car started skidding, I caught it once, twice, but then I just turned the steering wheel too sharply and smashed the front wing”.
Ericsson (Caterham) was trying to overtake Massa (Williams) but instead of this both cars hit the barrier. Massa was eventually admitted to the second session but he didn’t leave the pits — either team’s mechanics continued working on the car, or maybe Felipe was not in the mood. However, Marcus was penalised for the collision and had to start from the pit lane.
And now let’s focus on the major investigation of this race: “did Nico Rosberg manage to deceive everyone” and “was he saved by the yellow flags”? Rosberg showed best time in the first qualifying session — 1:15.989. But in the second session, when Lewis was demonstrating time which could improve his overall result, Nico Rosberg “made an error” and went down the escape road. The yellow flags came out straight away, making the drivers slow down.
Nico Rosberg: “'I thought it was over, that the track would ramp up and someone else could beat my time. I'm happy it worked out. Pole at home is obviously fantastic. It couldn't be better. Of course I'm sorry for Lewis. I didn't know where he was. It's not great.'
Therefore, Rosberg was first to start with Hamilton nearby, then came Ricciardo and Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen.
Lewis Hamilton: “It is going to be an interesting race. The weather is fine, my family is here — my mom came to Monaco — so I just want to get behind the wheel and hopefully we will all see a great show tomorrow”.
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull): “The track is amazing. It is exciting even though it is true that in my F1 days it hasn’t been the luckiest place for me. I still haven’t seen a chequered flag here in an F1 car and today was not the perfect kick-off into a demanding weekend — especially not in the afternoon. But believe me, I will do everything to see the flag this time, as I don’t believe that there is a curse”.
Fernando Alonso (Ferrari): “It is going to be a thrilling race. They say it might rain and if it really does, it will be even more interesting for the spectators. The drivers have to be utterly concentrated and avoid any mistakes. Of course, I dream about winning this Grand Prix again, as it’s a dream of all drivers to clinch victory in three major races — in Monaco, in Le Mans, and in Indianapolis”.
In the evening Rosberg’s mistake was placed under official investigation by the stewards, who found nothing criminal in it. So, perhaps, this error was just incredible luck.
There was no rain on Sunday morning, the sun was shining and heating up the asphalt. Pastor Maldonado was still out of luck for all his “twists and turns” during the previous races. There were technical problems with his car and the team’s mechanics were not able to solve them. As a result, Pastor didn’t start the race. Though Jules Bianchi (Marussia) was fifth in qualifying, he was penalised for the change of gearbox and had to start from the back of the grid, while Ericsson, as we have already mentioned, started from the pit lane.
Here comes the race. Rosberg is keeping the lead after the start. Vettel (Red Bull) overtakes Ricciardo. Pérez (Force India) stops due to a contact with Button (McLaren). Safety car appears on the track. Something happens to Vettel’s engine after the restart — it’s losing power. After visiting the pits, he tries to continue the race but no — a turbo failure wrecks his plans.
Rosberg and Hamilton continued their duel. Nico was still in the lead, Lewis was just a few tenths of a second behind, but Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), who was third at that moment, by lap 6 was already 2.6 sec behind the Mercedes couple.
On lap 12 Daniil Kvyat started having problems with his car and had to leave it in the pits: “It happens sometimes. I couldn’t do anything. Neither could the team. Such things just happen in the races. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to predict anything like that…”
Then suddenly the stewards woke up and gave Chilton (Marussia), Bianchi and Gutiérrez (Sauber) a five second stop/go penalty for being out of position on the grid. It’s not clear why they had missed it in the very beginning…
On lap 25 Sutil (Sauber) crashes his car in the chicane. Safety car comes out again. Many drivers head to the pits. Toro Rosso’s mechanics let out their driver right before Magnussen (McLaren) but luckily no incident this time. He had to visit mechanics twice due to a tyre puncture.
Meanwhile, Mercedes engineers informed Rosberg that he would run out of fuel if he didn’t start entering the corners using higher gears. By lap 54 Nico was seconds adrift of Lewis and the situation with fuel was normalised.
On lap 57 the car of Valtteri Bottas (Williams) came to a stop at the hairpin. The race car produced a cloud of smoke and was hooked by a crane. But that was not the end of marshals’ work. 4 laps later Gutiérrez’s car got turned around due to a tyre puncture, making it stop right on the track. No safety car this time.
Hamilton reported on team radio that he couldn’t see clearly, as something had gotten into his eye. Later, as reported by f1news.ru, he gave the following comment on that situation: “Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. I have always been keeping the helmet visor closed but wind was coming through anyway. At some moment I got close to Nico and something got into my eye, like some dirt or sand, although it seems totally impossible…”
Apparently, Lewis should have also bought a new visor. He continued the duel after going into pits and all his problems inspired Ricciardo who started improving the pace.
Closer to the end of the race, when struggling for seventh place, Räikkönen and Magnussen made a contact and Kimi had to pit again.
Here comes the chequered flag for Nico Rosberg: “It's a special win, definitely, because Lewis had momentum and results going his way as we came here, but I managed to claw that back this weekend. It’s a pleasure to win here in Monaco and reclaim the world championship points lead! I am really happy for the team as we have earned another double podium and will have a great celebration tonight!”
Hamilton was second to cross the finish line: “I felt very strong out there today and I really drove with all my heart, giving everything that I could to improve my position. This just hasn't been my weekend but I can leave today feeling happy that we have achieved another one-two finish for the team. There is a keen struggle between me and Nico going on and it will remain till the end of the season”.
Daniel Ricciardo came third: “It’s a pleasure to climb the podium! Could I have demonstrated better results? It’s difficult to say. Yesterday it seemed to me that I could have had a faster run in qualifying. But could it have led to a higher position on the grid? You never know…”
What else is worth mentioning? Marussia has scored points for the first time this season. Jules Bianchi was ninth. It was not a very lucky weekend for the Russian driver Daniil Kvyat — he was not able to finish the race for the first time and gained a few grey hairs. Well, “what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger”. Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal: “Starting today's race from seventh and ninth place and retiring both cars is definitely not the result we had expected. Both cars suffered an exhaust failure. Jean-Eric and Daniil both showed a strong performance today and all weekend, but unfortunately we could not provide them with a car capable of finishing where they would have deserved”.
We hope that team’s mechanics are able to fix the cars by the Canadian Grand Prix.
