Formula 1 - 2017

[MIKA27]

Nico Hulkenberg 'scratching his head' over Renault deficit

Nico Hülkenberg says he is “scratching his head” following Renault’s sub-par performance during Thursday practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Hülkenberg, who has secured points across the past three events, was unable to register a lap time in FP1 amid a suspected electronics issue, and finished only 17th quickest in the second session.

Hülkenberg’s best lap time, set on Ultra Soft tyres, was 2.1s shy of Sebastian Vettel’s fastest effort, and the Renault driver was left perplexed at the pace deficit.

“I’d like to know also… I don't know, I can’t tell you at this moment, I’m scratching my head as well,” he said of Renault’s subdued showing.

“I’m a bit surprised with the car and the balance that I’ve found and the grip in FP2, which was very poor and far away from where I expected it to be.

“So we need to really investigate what is going on, I’m sure something is not right, because it felt really poor out there.

“It’s not just that I’m struggling with the balance a lot and confidence in the car but also the grip from the tyres… what we get seems really odd and poor.”

Renault team-mate Jolyon Palmer was also afflicted by gremlins, stopping on track in FP2 with an engine failure, and echoed Hülkenberg’s comments.

“I think we’re not working the tyres well really, I think were missing something here,” said Palmer, who struggled to 17th spot in FP1.

“The balance isn’t so bad but we’re missing grip, so we need to turn on the tyres, where we are is pretty uncompetitive, so we’ve got a day to work out what’s going wrong and sure we can work something for Saturday.

“It could be a set-up issue, tyres are the same for everyone, clearly something on our side that we’re not getting them working, the exact reason and how we’re going to do that is not yet clear.”

[MIKA27]

Haas defends colour scheme change

Haas F1 team boss Gunther Steiner says his team's change of livery came about because it wanted its logos to stand out better on television.

The team has revamped its paint scheme for the Monaco Grand Prix, enhancing its grey colours with more white and bigger writing.

Although the move has prompted some scepticism from fans, Steiner has explained that a decision to revise its colours came about after the team felt it was too hard to read the 'Haas' name on the car on television images.

"We reviewed how you see it on television and it looked that on the side, the Haas, you could not really see it," said Steiner, when asked by Motorsport.com why the team had changed things.

"So the creative guys came up with some ideas until we found what Gene [Haas] liked and that is why it changed. It is very simple.

"It is a little bit of a different style. To make it more visible they went through a few iterations and they thought the white would stand out more, plus making it [the logo] bigger would help as well.

"So we will see on Sunday I guess. We see on the weekend how it looks on TV."

[MIKA27]

Lance Stroll infuriating F1 purists for PlayStation excuse

BEING the rich kid on the Formula 1 grid, the popularity battle was one rising star Lance Stroll was never going to win.

Right now though he’s losing it. Badly.

The rookie Williams driver is the most under pressure driver in the sport following his latest blunder — screeching into the walls on the first day of practice around the iconic Monaco Grand Prix circuit.

Even more than his mistake, Stroll, 18, is taking fire for his stiff-upper lip response to the criticism he has received.

Rightly or wrongly, the Canadian is being popularly portrayed as the petulant, clueless up-start.

His latest words aren’t helping his case.

Stroll’s Williams was running 16th in Practice 2 on Thursday (AEDT) when the back of his car slid out a fraction while turning into Casino Square, sending his car crashing into the barriers.

That was his day done.

His excuse for his mistake was, well, interesting.

“It really p***** me off, because every time I play the PlayStation game, it’s always those corners that I can’t get right, and in reality it’s still those two corners,” he said.

“I just sent it in, kind of looking for the limit. I lost the rear and got into the dirt a little bit — typical street circuit mistake.

“If you don’t touch the wall in Monaco you’re not on the limit.”

His cavalier, nonchalant attitude to his crash — and the long hours his team has ahead of them to put his car back together — also may not be the best look for a kid with an image problem.

“I was really happy with the day, other than the little crash at the end,” he said.

“It’s just one of those things. Monaco, that happens.”

In his defence, it is his first time around the famous track.

It is his first year in the sport — and his meteoric rise from winning the Formula 3 European championship last year into the pinnacle of motorsport is notoriously difficult.

It doesn’t help his cause that Red Bull star Max Verstappen has bucked the trend and made the same transition with ease.

Stroll has calmly made public calls for his “haters” to cool their jets. Saying it’s his first season and he should be given time to settle before judgement day.

He forgets this is Formula 1, the so-called pinnacle of motorsport and nobody is given space.

It’s cut-throat. You thrive or you’re out the back door.

The Telegraph’s Oliver Brown has reported the F1 grid is growing tired of Stroll already.

“Stroll is racing for Williams, a fabled F1 team that has produced seven world champion drivers, and yet he still seems to regard the privilege as akin to playing a computer game,” he wrote.

All this is exacerbated by the wealth that has fuelled his career.

All through the junior categories of motorsport, Stroll has enjoyed the financial support of his father and many believe it is the only reason he was promoted by Williams to the big dance.

His dad Lawrence Stroll made a fortune by investing in clothing label Tommy Hilfiger — and the Stroll family has reportedly agreed to pay Williams for the right to drive their car this year.

Some reports claim Lawrence Stroll has spent up to $86 million (50 million pounds) in total to get his son ready to drive his Williams.

Whatever they are paying Williams may not be enough.

Stroll has not finished in three of the five grands prix this year — some his fault, some not — and he has not scored a single championship point for his team.

His best finish was 11th in Russia and his best qualifying performance was 10th.

Bad luck and mistakes have contributed to Stroll’s struggles. Brake failure forced him out of the Australian GP, and errors from Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz caused his retirements in China and Bahrain.

In Barcelona two weeks ago, he completed the race but gave up a 50-second lead over teammate Felipe Massa.

While a lack of experience might be causing technical errors on the track, his youthful exuberance helps him to maintain a positive outlook.

“I come from a background that when I win, people try and put me down, and when I lose, people try and put me down,” Stroll said.

“I accept that, and I actually find it kind of funny. But whatever, that’s out of my control. I’m focused on what I’m doing.”

It’s not the first time he’s had to take this defensive action. It’s becoming routine. It’s a routine that needs to change if he is to survive at this level.

Even before Monaco, he was on the back foot.

Speaking of himself in the third person is probably not a great look either.

“The haters will always hate,” he said.

“I think it is a very normal reaction. People think he has money, it is easy for him to be where he is. But in this sport everyone has to have money coming from somewhere to get through the junior ranks.

“The fact I have won championships and races proves there is more to the story than money.

“There are people who are hating you more because of where you are coming from.

“People like the ‘He comes from nothing and made it to F1’ story. I know that, but I just do my thing, I focus on my job.”

[MIKA27]

CAREY: NEXT YEAR THERE WILL BE 21 RACES

Formula 1 chief Chase Carey has revealed that in 2016 the world championship calendar will consist of 21 rounds, as Liberty Media focus on improving the current race weekends before adding to the schedule.

Carey told Auto Motor und Sport, “Next year there will be 21 races. The list of places that are interested in hosting a Grand Prix fills a page. Priority is to make the 21 races we have better.”

“There are venues that we would like to include in our program, because they would increase the attention value. New York, Miami, Las Vegas are such candidates. We have five or six cities in the United States that are interested.”

Currently the sport is tightly governed by secretive agreements signed in stone under the auspices of Bernie Ecclestone engineered Concorde Agreement.

But Carey does not see this as a deterrent, “We do not let the Concorde Agreement determine the schedule. Certain changes need time to take place.”

“For example, the engine. We want a new engine, but it is not something that can be developed in six months. We take time without the usual bureaucracy to make sure that the next engine concept is the right one.”

“With regards to the current engine some things were not thought to end. It is a bit too complicated and a bit too expensive. And too quiet. In the past, the thinking process was too short-term.”

“For the long-term direction of sport, it is more important that everything fits in 2020. The Concorde Agreement is not an obstacle for us. It is not healthy if you have a date in the future that can not be changed. I am looking for long-term partnerships with all stakeholders. Our point of view is: On the racetrack they all opponents, off-track we build the sport together,” added Carey.

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON: I AM VERY HONOURED BEING UP TO AYRTON

This weekend Lewis Hamilton could match Ayrton Senna’s record of 65 Formula 1 pole positions, however the milestone does not add extra pressure to the Mercedes driver, but instead he is honoured by the comparison to his boyhood idol.

There is a certain poignancy to the fact that the record can be attained by Hamilton at this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, where the late Brazilian legend won no fewer than six times – a feat unlikely to be matched any time soon..

Hamilton said in an interview, “I love to watch the old onboard footage of Senna racing in Monaco – seeing him coming out of the tunnel and thinking: Hey, that’s what I do every year now!”

“And matching his qualifying record? That somehow feels very unreal and I am very honoured being up to him. But there is no pressure about that: if it happens it happens, if not then not.”

The race in Monte Carlo is the crown jewel of Formula 1, Hamilton acknowledges, “I live here, but the excitement never goes away on a race weekend. And if I drive with my normal road car or my motorbike I still sometimes can’t believe that we are really racing with F1 cars here, with speeds of 200 miles an hour! And there are only 20 of us who can do it! To be honest, we could have this race every weekend.”

“This race is so special and so impossible to predict – like the phenomenon of a unicorn – so it is a rather rhetorical question. Probably I could have won two or three more, but in the end I am happy with the ones that I have – especially with how these two wins came in 2008 and 2016.”

“These were real ‘quality races’ – really earned. But sure I want more!” added Hamilton.

 

[MIKA27]

MCLAREN DISCUSSING RETURN TO INDYCAR SERIES

Fernando Alonso’s Indy 500 adventure could herald McLaren’s return to IndyCar racing and kick start talk about bringing Formula One back to the Brickyard, McLaren executive director Zak Brown said on Wednesday.

What was widely viewed as a one-off by Spaniard Alonso and his McLaren Formula One team could result in something far more substantial following what has been an upbeat homecoming to IndyCar following a 38-year absence.

With McLaren sputtering along at the back of the F1 grid, the team gave Alonso permission to skip the Monaco Grand Prix to race in the Indianapolis 500 and he has set the motor racing world buzzing by qualifying fifth fastest for Sunday’s showcase.

The excitement has not been lost on Alonso’s McLaren bosses, and Brown in particular who will be the busiest man in motor sport this weekend flying back and forth between Monaco and Indianapolis for two of racing’s biggest events.

“North America is a very important, market for us,” Brown told reporters. “We’re a racing team, but also have other businesses.

“Our criteria for competing outside of Formula One is that it has to be commercially viable, we have to feel we can be competitive, it fits our brand, and it doesn’t detract from our Formula One efforts.

“Indy 500 and IndyCar tick those boxes. It is something that we’re definitely going to discuss and (we) have met with IndyCar, and are certainly interested in competing in some way, shape or form in the not-too-distant future.”

The return of McLaren, the second most successful team after Ferrari in the history of Formula One in terms of wins and titles, to the IndyCar paddock would be a huge boost of prestige to the struggling series that has been dominated by three teams – Penske Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport.

McLaren is no stranger to the Indy scene, even though it has been 38 years since they last contested the 500 and 41 years since they last found Victory Lane.

The team have a different hue under American executive Brown while the sport has new American owners in Liberty Media with plans to expand in the United States.

Brown, a former racer who lived and worked in Indianapolis, believes F1’s return to IMS (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) is a no-brainer.

Promoted as “The Racing Capital of the World”, Indianapolis has had a rocky relationship with Formula one.

The United States Grand Prix was run at the Speedway from 2000-2007 until ending its relationship after a dispute with former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone over money.

“I think it makes sense for Formula One to be at the world’s greatest racetrack,” said Brown. “I realise it may not have the glamour of some of the other markets that are being spoken about, but it’s here, it’s ready to go.

“I think economically, given that Liberty is taking a different view on some of their future partnerships, I think there is an opportunity there.”

IMS president Doug Boles told Reuters there had been no talks with Liberty about F1 but he would be interested in exploring the idea.

“We would have to figure out the economics of it,” said Boles. “That is why it wasn’t here after 2007 and I think in order for it to come back here the economics have to make sense.”

[MIKA27]

A book about Monaco

The week of the Monaco Grand Prix is a good time to launch a book about the race and thus Malcolm Folley’s “Monaco – Inside F1’s Greatest Race” is well-timed. This is not a history of the event but rather a collection of different stories and reminiscences of the author and a number of high profile Formula 1 names, including Niki Lauda, Damon Hill, Sir Jackie Stewart, David Coulthard, Nico Rosberg and Olivier Panis.  

There are also discussions with people involved in the organisation of the event, with a sponsor, a photographer and even a travel agents.

Folley spent many years as the Chief Sports Writer of the Daily Mail and was around F1 a fair amount in the old days, although not really in the modern era. Nonetheless he knows the subject well and has written an engaging and interesting book about the goings-on that surround Monaco.  

The race is the most celebrated on the F1 calendar and it is a place that every F1 fan should visit if it is possible at some point in their lives. People say there is no overtaking at Monaco and that it is a boring track but anyone who says such a thing has obviously never been there and seen what the drivers do as they hustle their cars around the circuit. And, of course, there is the atmosphere of the place and the sense that anything can happen (as we saw in 1996 when Olivier Panis drove through the field to win a completely unexpected victory).

Monaco – Inside F1’s Greatest Race is published by Century, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It retails for £20 and can be found if you click here.

[Bartolomeo]

POS Honda!!!!!!!

Alonso can't win in either F1 or Indy w that crap engine ???

[skalls]

Missed monaco this morning.  Feel so bad for Fernando.  He was doing so damn well and then another honda engine grenaded.

[rckymtn22]

56 minutes ago, skalls said:

Missed monaco this morning.  Feel so bad for Fernando.  He was doing so damn well and then another honda engine grenaded.

You didn't miss much. Bit of a yawn fest.

[MIKA27]

4 hours ago, rckymtn22 said:

You didn't miss much. Bit of a yawn fest.

It's why I despise Indy car, cars driving in circles... "Weeeeeeeeeee! Not 

[MIKA27]

ALONSO’S DREAM GOES UP IN SMOKE AS SATO WINS INDY 500

Fernando Alonso stole the show during the week of the Indianapolis 500, as Alonso-mania descended on the Brickyard and despite running strongly during the race, leading at times and always at the sharp end, his Honda engine expired with 20 laps to go.

It was familiar heartache for the McLaren driver whose Formula 1 campaign has been problem packed this season, and indeed resulted in his Indy 500 foray. It was a case of deja vu for the double F1 World Champion as engine problems continued to plague him.

The Spaniard qualified fifth and led 27 laps of the 200 lap race, running five side-by-side as he tussled among the front-runners for most of the race before an engine failure brought him back down to earth in the cruelest way possible.

The crowd gave him a standing ovation as he climbed from his smoking car, “I felt the noise, the engine friction, I backed off and I saw the smoke and yeah, it’s a shame.”

In the end it was former Formula 1 driver Takuma Sato, Alonso’s Andretti Autosport teammate, who held off three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves by 0.2011 of a second to win a tense race that featured a record number of drivers leading the 200-lap race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.

The 40-year-old from Japan, in his eighth Verizon IndyCar Series season after driving seven years in Formula One, collected his second Indy car. He made 90 grand prix starts for Jordan, BAR and Super Aguri between 2002 and 2008. His last Formula 1 race was at the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix.

It was also the second straight year that an Andretti Autosport driver won “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” following Alexander Rossi in 2016, and the team’s fifth overall in the race.

Dale Coyne Racing rookie Ed Jones finished third in the No.19 Boy Scouts of America Honda.

The race will be remembered for the high attrition and the massive accident suffered by Scott Dixon:

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MONACO GRAND PRIX: MASTERFUL VETTEL HEADS FERRARI 1-2

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel extended his lead in the Formula 1 World Championship standings by winning the 75th edition of the Monaco Grand Prix for the second time in his career, heading home teammate Kimi Raikkonen who led early on from pole position.

Vettel chased Raikkonen early on, in what was a processional start to the race, but attacked with a series of exceptional laps when the veteran Finn pitted for fresh tyres. With it the German achieved the ‘over-cut’ and thereafter was simply untouchable.

At one point Vettel led the race by over ten seconds, before a safety car period bunched the field up for the final dozen laps, but at the restart he again scampered off into the lead, unchallenged, where he stayed to claim his third victory of the season.

After the race Vettel summed up his day, to reigning F1 World Champion turned MC Nico Rosberg, “Unbelievable – it was such an intense race. I was hoping to have a better launch. Kimi had a really good start but I had to be patient.”

“I went through a really tricky phase with some tricky tyres – they started to slide but had a second chance after the pit.”

“I got a couple of really good laps where I could control the pace and I was able to use the safety car. This circuit is tricky with cold tyres. We couldn’t plan much but the plan was to pull away and as soon as the gap opened I took it.”

“I was surprised myself. It is very special to win here. We will have a fun night and we have enough time to prepare for Canada,” added Vettel who will arrive in Montreal with a 25 points lead in the drivers’ championship and Ferrari top of the constructors’ standings.

Raikkonen sported the face of thunder on the podium, but in truth, even if his team did engineer the swap, he simply did not have the pace of his teammate on a hot sunny day.

When asked to sum up his race, he responded, “Ermmmmm…. Hard to say really. It is still second place but it doesn’t feel awful good. It is how it goes sometimes but we go to the next race.”

It was a huge day for Ferrari, Italy a mere stone’s throw away, as they ended a Monaco win-less streak that dated back to 2001 when Michael Schumacher last won for them at the sport’s most hallowed venue.

It was the Maranello squads first one-two at Monaco since 1999 and, poignantly, 50 years after Ferrari driver Lorenzo Bandini perished during the race at the Principality in 1967 .

Daniel Ricciardo also benefited, by staying out longer than his main rivals, with the over-cut and a series of scintillating laps which saw him leap-frog Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen during the pit stop window, to claim third place when the chequered flag waved.

Ricciardo reflected, “Happier today for sure. Yesterday, we had so much to offer but we got our chance today. I had the track to myself for a few laps. Didn’t enjoy the clip of the barrier. I wasn’t sure if i damaged anything. When you get safety car, these tyres are like driving on ice.”

Bottas was fourth in what was a tough weekend for the reigning world champions, although Lewis Hamilton managed to achieve some damage control by turning 13th on the grid to seventh in the race.

The Briton told reporters. “I feel good. I feel very positive. I am very happy. I came in to this race a lot further back and had no idea what was going to happen. The beginning of the race was boring but when I got some clear air, it was fun.”

“The team said in the strategy meeting this morning I could only get 10th so I am happy. The gap to Vettel is big but not impossible to close. This has been the most difficult weekend I have had a while. I just have to let my guys know we are not going to give up.”

“25 points is a long way but I am going to work as hard as I can to make sure a weekend like this is not repeated,” added Hamilton.

Verstappen was fifth, but was not happy with the strategy, employed by his team, which saw him pit earlier than Ricciardo, much to his frustration, as he looked good for a podium at one point in the race.

Carlos Sainz again delivered way over expectations by finishing sixth for Toro Rosso, while his teammate Daniil Kvyat was unlucky to be tagged from back in an over ambitious move by Sergio Perez in the Force India. It was a DNF for the Russian and the first non-points finish of the season for the Mexican.

Haas had a good weekend with both cars in the points, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen ending eighth and tenth respectively.

Felipe Massa split the pair in his Williams, with ninth place. The Brazilian did a good job salvaging points at a venue which has not been kind to the team in recent years.

Jenson Button’s Formula 1 swansong was a sad affair as he started from the pitlane, spent most of the race last of all and then clattered into Sauber driver Pascal Wehrlein as the pair headed towards the tunnel.

The Sauber ended up on its side with the German squeezed up against the barrier. A scary incident which could have been much worse… 

In retrospect, despite the smiles and hype, Button’s heart was not seriously into the comeback and it is more than likely that it was his last grand prix.

Button said afterwards, “You never like seeing a car tip over because you don’t know if the driver’s head is alright so he most important thing is he is okay. I have just seen him and he seems alright.”

“I enjoyed qualifying and I enjoyed some laps today. I never wanted to damage the car. Sorry to the team for doing that but when you see an opening, you take it. It has not whetted the appetite for anymore – definitely not.”

It was a race of high attrition, only 13 drivers  made it to the finish as the mean streets of Monte Carlo punished the slightest mistakes or mechanical deficiencies.

Monaco Grand Prix Blow-By-Blow

When the lights went out to signal the start pole sitter Raikkonen made a clean getaway and led from Vettel, Bottas, Verstappen and Ricciardo. Sainz kept sixth ahead of Perez and Grosjean.

Magnussen, however, jumped past Hulkenberg and Kvyat to take P9. Kvyat dropped to P11 just ahead of Lewis Hamilton who had passed McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne at the start.

At the rear of the field Button, who had started from the pit lane, and Wehrlein pitted at the end of lap one, with the German swapping supersoft tyres for ultrasofts. The pair almost collided on the way out from their stops, however, and Wehrlein was subsequently handed a five-second time penalty for an unsafe release.

With ten laps gone, Räikkönen had succeeded in eking out a two secionds gap over Vettel, with the German enjoying a 3.6 seconds advantage over Bottas. The opening stint then began to settle but as the race headed towards the 20-lap mark Vettel began to edge closer to Räikkönen and by lap 25 the German was just a second behind his team-mate as the Finn began to clear the first backmarkers, Button and Wehrlein.

Once past the pair Räikkönen again eased ahead, extending his advantage again, this time to 1.5 seconds by lap 32.

Further back, Hamilton was up to 10th place following the earlier retirement of Hulkenberg with gearbox problems and an early stop for Perez. The Briton was not enjoying the afternoon, however, and a third of the way through was on the radio saying that he could do little as his car was “all over the place”.

Verstappen was the first of the leading pack to make a pit stop, attempting to undercut Bottas on lap 34 with a stop for supersofts. The Dutchman closed hard but when Bottas pitted the Finn emerged just in front to hold position.

Vettel now led the race, 4.7 seconds ahead of Ricciardo, with Räikkönen third. Vettel set the race fastest lap on his 37th tour, a 1:15.587, in the hope of overhauling his team-mate and the tactic played perfectly with the German emerging from his stop for supersofts marginally in front of Räikkönen.

Ricciardo worked his stop for the red-banded Pirellis even better, jumping both team-mate Verstappen and Bottas during his brief halt in the pit lane.

Behind the top five, Hamilton who was still on his starting ultrasofts, had now risen to sixth ahead of Vandoorne, who also needed to make a pit stop. Sainz was eighth ahead of Grosjean and Kvyat.

By lap 45 Hamilton was the only driver still needing to pit, with Mercedes putting the Briton on a long first stint to see how many cars he could jump in the space vacated by those pitting around him.

By lap 48 and his stop for supersofts that answer was delivered – six beyond his grid slot – and the three-time champion settled into seventh place, just under 10 seconds behind Sainz.

At the front, Vettel was forging ahead, blasting to a 9.7 seconds gap over Räikkönen over the 10 laps following his stop. Räikkönen’s pace, which had dropped to the edge of the 1m17s bracket, settled into managing the six seconds gap back to Ricciardo.

Ricciardo was determined to make a fight of it however and on lap 51 the Australian ran 1.2s quicker than the Finn and closed the gap to 4.5 seconds.

Behind the top three, Bottas was not fourth but 13s behind Ricciardo, while Verstappen was a second behind the Mercedes and looking to attack. Sainz was now sixth but behind him Hamilton was closing, with the Briton now just 3.8s behind the Spaniard. Grosjean was now eighth ahead of Kvyat and Vandoorne.

On lap 61 the gaps closed when Button collided with Wehrlein as the pair went through the Portier corners. The Sauber was flipped onto its side and smacked into the barriers on its upper side. The Safety Car was immediately deployed and the medical car despatched, but it soon became clear that Wehrlein was unhurt and once he was freed from the wreck, the work of clearing his Sauber from the track began.

In the meantime, team-mate Ericsson also exited the race. The Swede went to pass the Safety Car to unlap himself, as allowed, but appeared to overcook the move and under braking he lost control and hit the barriers at Sainte Devote.

Racing eventually resumed on lap 67 and Verstappen immediately tried to pressure Bottas. The Finn though could hardly have noticed, so intent was he on swarming over the back of Ricciardo’s Red Bull. All three held position, but the tussle allowed the Ferrari duo to get away and a lap later Vettel was 3.8 seconds ahead of Ricciardo.

Further back Vandoorne’s race ended at the re-start when he outbraked himself and hit the barriers at Sainte Devote.

The final handful of laps settled thereafter. Vettel pulled away again at the front to take his second career Monaco win, , while Räikkönen managed to hold on to second place despite continued pressure from Ricciardo who chased the Finn all the way to the flag.

Behind Ricciardo, Bottas also held position, finishing fourth ahead of Verstappen, Sainz, Hamilton and Grosjean.

Kvyat looked set for ninth but the Toro Rosso driver was hit by Perez in Rascasse late in the race ending the Toro Rosso driver’s afternoon.

It meant that Massa who had stopped during the safety car period for ultrasoft tyres claimed ninth place ahead of Magnussen.

[MIKA27]

FERRARI TRIUMPH AT MONACO DIVIDES DRIVERS

Kimi Raikkonen’s grim face told a story of its own on the royal podium when he finished second behind Sebastian Vettel in Ferrari’s one-two triumph at the Monaco Grand Prix.

While the four-time champion German joyously celebrated the 45th win of his career – and Ferrari’s first in Monte Carlo for 16 years – in a torrent of joyous words, the taciturn Finn fended off questions about the use of team orders.

Raikkonen, 37, the 2007 world champion, resisted all invitations to condemn Ferrari, but made clear he was unhappy to be deprived of a possible victory.

As the 29-year-old Vettel beamed with pleasure on the victor’s podium, his teammate looked as if it was the last place he wanted to be.

After starting from pole position, he led comfortably until he was surprisingly called in for an early pit-stop that handed the initiative to Vettel who romped to the scarlet scuderia’s first win since the halcyon days of seven-time champion German Michael Schumacher in 2001.

The instruction to pit was from Ferrari in a bid to ‘under-cut’ the chasing pack — a tactic not usually used in Monaco, where the later ‘over-cut’ tactic of waiting to match a rival is regarded as more successful.

But he stopped short of saying his disappointment was a result only of the team’s overall pit-stop strategy, “I was called in… That’s about it,” he said in his first terse response.”

Later, under pressure from a series of questions by reporters at a post-race news conference, he added: “Obviously, they had reasons for it, but it is not up to me to answer.”

“I can stop the car if I like as I am driving it, but we work as a team and if you don’t believe what you have been told, or how it works, it will get very complicated.

“Today, as a team, we wanted a one-two. It happened, but for myself, I could have done better. I haven’t seen the big picture… I only know that we came second.”

Vettel denied that the team had any kind of pre-race plan to ensure that he was prioritized for victory because he carried the team’s hopes of winning the drivers’ championship.

His win carried him 25 points clear of three-time champion Briton Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, who finished seventh after starting from 13th on the grid.

“We couldn’t plan much,” said Vettel. “The plan was to pull away, but Valtteri (Bottas, of Mercedes) had good pace.

“I saw that Valtteri pitted and Kimi responded. I still had a bit of a gap and nothing to lose, so I pushed as hard as possible and in two laps, I surprised myself to pull open a gap and then I came out (of the pits) in front.”

Raikkonen added: “The team got a one-two, which is great for the team, but the rest… Until we have meetings and we can see all the graphs, I don’t know.”

In another interview, he told reporters: “I’m trying to figure out something that is impossible to know right now, at least from my side.”

“It obviously wasn’t ideal to end up behind a lapped car – that’s something that definitely doesn’t help. But the end result is what it is.”

Vettel now has 129 points after six rounds of this year’s 20-race championship ahead of Hamilton on 104.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished third for Red Bull behind the two Ferraris, pushing Finn Valtteri Bottas down to fourth in his Mercedes.

MIKA: Definitely team orders going on here. Personally,if you win because it's handed to you artificially, I wouldn't feel as though I've achieved it IMO. Ferrari bitch and moan about Kimi needing to perform, here he is, stronger than ever and he's told to pit when it wasn't required.

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON: VERY CLEAR FERRARI HAVE CHOSEN THEIR NUMBER ONE

Lewis Hamilton told reporters after that the Monaco Grand Prix that it is now clear to him that Sebastian Vettel will get number one treatment from Ferrari in this year’s title battle, as the German led home his teammate Kimi Raikkonen in Monte Carlo.

Hamilton said, “It’s very clear Ferrari have chosen their number one driver and are pushing everything to make sure Sebastian will maximise his points. It is very hard for the leading car to get jumped unless the team decide to favour the other car.”

The Briton was alluding to the fact that Raikkonen led the first half of the race, but he was called in early and Vettel allowed to stay out and rack-up a series of very fast laps which enabled him to lead after his pit stop.

Vettel stayed ahead, unchallenged, to take his third victory of the season and extend his lead at the top of the standings to 25 points. Raikkonen was second, his disdain plain for all to see when he ‘celebrated’ on the podium.

Hamilton does not believe that Mercedes need to copy their rivals, “I haven’t spoken to the team and I don’t really plan to. Valtteri has been doing a great job and I don’t currently feel we have to favour one or the other.

“It is really important we collectively work as a team more than ever before, as we have been, because our work is to beat the Ferraris in the constructors’ but there might be some things along the way positioning-wise that might become valuable.

“Who knows what will happen? It might be the other way. We might need to give him the upper hand. We just need to make sure we are ahead of them so we are not in the same scenario as we are today.”

Hamilton had a an uncharacteristic below par weekend at the Principality, “Common sense is of course I cannot afford another weekend like this at the going rate when the Ferraris are quick; of course not.”

“Just because I can’t afford for something doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. There is no point worrying about it. You just work towards trying to rectify whatever issues you have and hope you don’t have them again. Things just didn’t come right to us, the car was in a difficult place.

“The Ferrari seems to work everywhere so these next 14 races are going to be very difficult. This car is not working everywhere we go but the more races we do the more learn and the stronger we get.”

“The Ferraris are not bullet-proof they have things coming up potentially with all the turbos they have used, so we will see,” added Hamilton who started the race from 13th on the grid and finished the race in seventh.

[MIKA27]

MARCHIONNE: THE ONE-TWO WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR A LONG TIME

Ferrari big boss Sergio Marchionne’s revolution at Maranello was vilified by the Italian media when it took place a couple of years ago but, with Maurizio Arrivabene leading the change on the ground, he stuck to the game plan and now the rewards are rolling in.

The Ferrari one-two on Sunday at the Monaco Grand Prix, with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen finishing first and second respectively, ended a win-less streak that dated back to 2001 when Michael Schumacher last won for them at the sport’s most hallowed venue and was the team’s first one-two at the Principality since 1999.

Marchionne said afterwards, “Something we’ve been waiting for a long time has finally come to pass, a race which will be part of our history. Not only a victory, but a one-two finish at a Grand Prix with a tradition as glorious as Monaco, where Ferrari last won with another one-two, delivered on that occasion by Schumacher and Barrichello.”

“Today it was a really exciting race where we saw the real Scuderia. My compliments to the drivers and, once again, the whole team, both those at the track and the individuals that work so hard each and every day back in Maranello on a car that is finally giving our tifosi the satisfaction they deserve,” added the Ferrari president.

The victory means that Vettel heads to the next round in Canada with 129 points, 25 more than his closest rival Lewis Hamilton, with Ferrari taking the lead in the constructors’ standings by 17 points over Mercedes.

[MIKA27]

WEHRLEIN: IT WAS A SILLY MOVE BY BUTTON

Pascal Wehrlein was forced to miss the first two races of the season due to a back injury sustained in the Race of Champions now, after a crash involving Jenson Button during the Monaco Grand Prix, the Sauber driver will need to have a scan to ascertain if he has exacerbated the injury.

Button tried a move entering Portier on Wehrlein, but it was clumsy and ill timed, the McLaren clattered into the rear of the Sauber which tipped on to its side while the cockpit scraped the Armco.

Wehrlein explained, “It was scary – the brakes started to smoke and I couldn’t get out of the car, and obviously the only thing I wanted to do was to get out of the car when you see the car start to smoke,”

“But yeah, it seems to be ok. Obviously with the injury I had I’m not too sure. I touched again the head on the barrier, so I will have to do another scan next week for my back.”

“He [Button] was nowhere. Clearly this corner is no place to overtake, it was a silly move,” added the 22 year old.

Button defended the move, “I went up the inside and obviously I thought it was on because I wouldn’t have made the move. I got alongside him, well, I thought I was alongside him, but then I looked across and went: oh he hasn’t seen me at all.”

“These cars are so difficult to see out the back of – I’ve been telling the team and the FIA that this weekend. So I tried to back out of it but it was too late and we touched.”

“I’ve never seen a car go up on its side before. I don’t know if that’s the way the tyre is or just unlucky, I don’t know. Horrible to see. I wanted to get out of the way as soon as possible because the leaders were coming round.”

“Obviously I asked as soon as I stopped the car and they said he got out on his own. I saw him earlier and he obviously wasn’t very happy but he seemed okay anyway,” added Button.

Stewards deemed that Button was “predominantly to blame” as the move was “unlikely to have resulted in a clean pass,” added the stewards who handed the McLaren driver a three-place grid drop and two penalty points on his license, which he is unlikely to serve as he made it clear Monaco would be his swansong.

[MIKA27]

Hamilton upbeat over Monaco GP recovery to seventh

Lewis Hamilton expressed happiness at his recovery from mid-grid starting spot at the Monaco Grand Prix as he finished the 78-lap race in seventh position.

Hamilton, amid struggles with his W08 in qualifying, dropped out in Q2, and lined up only 13th on the grid, but moved ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne at the start.

Hamilton then profited from problems for Sergio Pérez, Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen to make further progress, and extended his first stint on Ultra Soft tyres.

Hamilton pitted and jumped both Daniil Kvyat and Romain Grosjean to emerge in seventh spot, to bag six points from the weekend.

"Of course ultimately I lost a lot of points today but looking at it as a whole today I think I came here, starting 13th, could have been in a crash, could have damaged the car, could have blown an engine, could have come away with no points,” he said.

“I think I managed it nicely and professionally as I could in terms of not pushing too much before the stops happened, closed the gap up, was right at the edge of my brakes and closed at the right time.

“I feel happy with how I utilised the car I had, seeing as you can’t overtake.

“I gave it a couple of stabs towards the end [against Carlos Sainz Jr.] but trying to take a risk and get ahead of him, losing the points we had would have been silly.

“So I thought [about] the long haul, turned the engine down and lived to fight another day.”

Hamilton now trails title rival Sebastian Vettel by 25 points.

[MIKA27]

Daniil Kvyat compares 'desperate' Sergio Perez move to PlayStation game

Daniil Kvyat accused Sergio Perez of driving like he was playing PlayStation during the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday after the paid collided in the closing laps of the race.

Kvyat retired from the race but had been running in the points prior to the incident, meanwhile Perez finished the grand prix, but a late stop for a puncture saw him drop outside of the top ten, ending a 15-race points scoring streak.

"I was just doing my job, just going to the finish," Kvyat said of the late-lunge from Perez at La Rascasse.

"After all that happened this weekend I would be very happy with P9.

"I obviously knew he [Perez] had fresher tyres, I saw what he did to Vandoorne and I thought 'okay, this guy really is desperate'.

"So I just covered my line and then he tried to go from really far away, I didn't even see it coming. And what I felt was just a hit, and my race was over."

The Toro Rosso driver described it as a 'desperate' move taken straight out of a console game: "He just tried to, you know, lean on me like it was PlayStation, and it doesn't work like that.

"So, very, very disappointed, I think it was a completely desperate move from him."

[MIKA27]

Wolff: ‘Mercedes off-guard and couldn’t recover’

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted Ferrari have caught them "off-guard" at the Monaco Grand Prix and they have to make amends in Canada.

Sebastian Vettel has stretched his lead to 25 points in the Drivers' Championship, while a Ferrari 1-2 in Monte Carlo has seen the Scuderia leapfrog the Silver Arrows in the Constructors' Championship.

Mercedes gave away most of the ground after Lewis Hamilton's disastrous qualifying session where he failed to make it to Q3, and Wolff has bemoaned the general lack of pace of the W08 at the iconic street circuit.

"Our car was not quick enough this weekend," conceded Wolff in an interview with Sky Sports F1.

"We were caught off guard on Thursday afternoon and could never recover.

"The tyres were not in the window and then they were in the window. We have a lot more thinking to do. Monaco was difficult for us last year and Lewis saved it.

"We have time until Montreal which is another difficult track. We need to get on top of things.

"We have same result as Singapore in 2015 and Russia [this year] which is disappointment. Singapore was not too much about mechanical stuff. Understanding the tyres is what is key.

"The set-ups were almost the same. We never had both drivers having immaculate performances. Lewis was stronger in Barcelona and Valtteri in Russia.

"From the get go, Ferrari were quick. I think we have a very quick car capable of winning races and championships but she is a difficult lady."

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo ‘much happier’ after P3 finish

Daniel Ricciardo was in much better spirits after a frustrating day in qualifying turned into one of delight on Sunday after claiming third spot in Monaco.

A "silly, stupid" mistake by the Red Bull team to put the Aussie in traffic led to him having to settle for P5 on the grid. But, after Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen pitted, Ricciardo put down some seriously quick times to leapfrog them both to the final podium spot.

"Happier today for sure," said Ricciardo. "Yesterday, we had so much to offer but we got our chance today. I had the track to myself for a few laps.

After the Safety Car came in following Pascal Wehrlein's nasty incident with Jenson Button, Ricciardo almost his car into the barrier as he tried to fend off Bottas and Verstappen, a moment he did not care much for.

He added: "Yeah didn't enjoy the clip of the barrier. I wasnt sure if i damaged anything. When you get safety car, these tyres are like driving on ice."

[rckymtn22]

18 hours ago, MIKA27 said:

It's why I despise Indy car, cars driving in circles... "Weeeeeeeeeee! Not 

I didn't watch Indy, I was referencing the Monaco GP. The most excitement was when the car ended up in the barrier on it's side.

[MIKA27]

THE MORNING AFTER: KIMI, SEBASTIAN IS FASTER THAN YOU!

And thus the streak of super-awkward Monaco podiums continues.

In 2015 it was Lewis Hamilton. 2016, Daniel Ricciardo. This year it was Kimi Raikkonen’s turn, albeit with one extra twist – knowing where to point the finger is a lot more difficult.

Judging by his body language throughout the podium ceremony (who knew the Iceman could get even icier?), Raikkonen seemed to believe his P2 was the result of a conscious decision by Ferrari to overcut Sebastian Vettel in order to assist his push for the driver’s championship.

On the flip side, pitting a team’s leader first is about as routine as strategy gets, and the Scuderia certainly weren’t the only ones to do it, so who does Kimi have to blame really, other than himself?

After all, short of Max Verstappen peeing in the Red Bull pool, his team had no impetus to screw him over – clearly they thought it was the best strategy, is it really so hard to believe Ferrari did also?

Vettel earned the victory by making the most of his temporary clean air, putting together a series of brilliant laps on 30-lap old tyres. And anyway, it’s not his job to let Kimi win.

If there’s a bright side for Kimi and his legions of fans, it’s this: the season is far from over, and while he might not be on Vettel’s level, he’s still in with an excellent shot at more wins. The Ferrari is clearly a superb car, and if he can muster more days like Saturday, who’s to bet against him?

Unfortunately outside of the tiff at Ferrari Monaco wasn’t exactly a race to write home about. Passing is hard here at the best of times, but with even wider cars this year all we got were a series of ham-fisted moves that ended up with one or both cars retiring.

Jenson Button using Pascal Wehrlein to erect a tribute to Houston rapper Paul Wall’s 2005 single Sittin’ Sidewayz was particularly egregious, and will probably be the most indelible image from the race.

That said, there were a few unheralded performances that deserve plaudits, namely Carlos Sainz and the two boys at Haas.

Sainz was absolutely on it all weekend, his P6 adding to an increasingly impressive resume, while Romain Grosjean (P8) and Kevin Magnussen (P10) scored the first ever double-points finish for Haas, with Magnussen particularly impressive despite some major mid-race setbacks.

With the “crown jewel” of the F1 calendar done and dusted, F1 can return to actual racing in Montreal. Can Mercedes bounce back? Will Kimi still be miserable? We’ll find out in two weeks.

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON: IT’S NOT A HAPPY CAR AT THE MOMENT

It is fair to say that Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes were out of sorts at the Monaco Grand Prix and the Briton admits that he and his engineers were  left somewhat stumped by the below-par performance of his car on the streets of Monte Carlo.

Hamilton, who finished seventh on the day, told reporters after the race, “It’s not a happy car at the moment. It’s the most unusual the car has felt in all the years I’ve been with the team. We’re no closer to understanding it but we definitely have to improve and see if we can do a better job.”

Things looked up on Thursday morning when Hamilton topped the timing screens in FP1, but thereafter it was as if Mercedes went AWOL and were never at the street party for the rest of the weekend.

“It’s a difficult one and there are so many things we need to look into to understand why one car will make it work and the other won’t. It was definitely unexpected for the engineers. They corrected things and it was worse so then we went back to this unknown scenario. It turned out to be OK on Valtteri’s car but not great on mine,” revealed the triple F1 World Champion.

The long-wheelbase W08 was always expected to be challenged on the tight confines of Monaco and it was, but next up is Canada where the car should be more suited to the higher speeds of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Hamilton said, “We’ll regroup but we know we can’t be in this position again. One more race like this and we’ll be much further behind. Montreal has been a great hunting ground for me in the past and I’d like that to continue.”

“We’re going to work very, very hard over next two weeks to make sure we’re ahead of these Ferraris. They’ve had the strongest car all year, a little bit like our car was last year. But the more races we do, the more we learn and the stronger we get. We know the Ferraris are not bulletproof,” added the Mercedes driver, who now trails Monaco winner Sebastian Vettel by 25 points in the championship standings.

[MIKA27]

WOLFF: I DO NOT THINK FERRARI ORCHESTRATED THE RESULT

In the aftermath of a historic one-two for Ferrari at the Monaco Grand Prix, the biggest talking point to emerge is whether Ferrari favoured race winner Sebastian Vettel over Kimi Raikkonen by pitting the latter too early.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, who has vast experience managing such situations, believes that the fastest man on the right strategy won the race and there was no manipulation from the Maranello outfit.

Wolff told reporters after the race, “[Ferrari] needed to pit one of the two drivers and put one on the super-soft and how it all planned out, the super-soft was not quick enough and Sebastian was able to pull out some stunning laps on the used ultra-soft and that gave him the advantage over Kimi.”

“I don’t think they saw that coming. At the end of the day, it was the right result for the team and for the driver championship but I do not think it was orchestrated.”

“They are finally where we were back in the days where you finish one and two and have to explain why the right guy won.”

“First of all, they deserved the win, they had the quickest car out there so as a team result, the one and two is good and congratulations from our side. I think we need to give them credit,” added Wolff.

The Mercedes chief hopes that Monaco, where Valtteri Bottas finished fourth and Lewis Hamilton down in seventh, will be his team’s worst race.

He explained, “Our target would be that it’s the worst race of the season hopefully, an outlier like we’ve had in Singapore. It is just about bringing the tyres into the right window and we have a fast car but she doesn’t like the tyres.”

“That is something which we need to understand why that is because Ferrari is able to put the car on the floor and it goes from straight from the beginning until the end.”

“Both drivers seem to be equally competitive or uncompetitive and that has been different all through the season for us. I have such a confidence in the group of people that the more miles we do the more data we will collect and the better we will understand.”

“In terms of looking for, I don’t know if we will need more difficult weekends or not. Normally, the longer it goes the better it gets for us,” concluded Wolff whose team has now dropped to second in the Formula 1 constructors’ championship, 17 points adrift of Ferrari.