Nico Rosberg repeated his victory at the Principality of Monaco, edging out teammate and rival, Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton’s second place finish was a hard earned one as he had to overcome an eyesight problem and a charging Daniel Ricciardo in the battle for second. The 78 laps at the Principality was eventful with numerous safety car periods, and a high attrition-rate claiming eight drivers, including quadruple world champion, Sebastian Vettel, who retired with a mechanical failure.
Mercedes dominated with a 1-2, followed by Red Bull Racing’s Ricciardo with another podium finish in third, Fernando Alonso finished a lonely race in fourth, followed by Nico Hulkenberg in fifth. The McLaren duo of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen finished in the points after enduring an eventful race where during the closing stages, the Dane got caught with Kimi Raikkonen in the hairpin corner, halting both of them at the process. Magnussen eventually finished his first Monaco F1 race at tenth.
Driver of the day goes to Jules Bianchi of Marussia as the Russian team, one of the new teams who haven’t scored any points since its inclusion in 2010, finished the race in ninth. His finish in the points was more impressive as the Frenchman was penalised twice; firstly for being out of position on the grid and secondly for taking the first five-second stop/go penalty during the safety car period.
Rosberg’s second consecutive Monaco victory means he has stolen the championship lead from the displeased Hamilton, with the next race (and drama) unfolds at Canada in 8th June 2014. Let’s hope the current feud between the battling Mercedes boys Lewis and Nico would have simmered down by then.
RESULTS
1. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1hr 49m 27.661s 78 laps
2. Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes-Mercedes +00m 09.2s
3. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Red Bull-Renault +00m 09.6s
4. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 32.4s
5. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
6. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
7. Felipe Massa Brazil Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
8. Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault +1 lap
9. Jules Bianchi France Marussia-Ferrari +1 lap
10. Kevin Magnussen Denmark McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
11. Marcus Ericsson Sweden Caterham-Renault +1 lap
12. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari +1 lap
13. Kamui Kobayashi Japan Caterham-Renault +3 laps
14. Max Chilton Briton Marussia-Ferrari +3 laps
Rtd. Esteban Gutierrez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 59 laps completed
Rtd. Valtteri Bottas Finland Williams-Mercedes 55 laps completed
Rtd. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Renault 50 laps completed
Rtd. Adrian Sutil Germany Sauber-Ferrari 23 laps completed
Rtd. Daniil Kvyat Russia Toro Rosso-Renault 10 laps completed
Rtd. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 5 laps completed
Rtd. Sergio Perez Mexico Force India-Mercedes 0 laps completed
Rtd. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Lotus-Renault 0 laps completed
Fastest lap:
Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 21.146s lap 41
[Image Source: Mercedes AM Petronas & Jules Bianchi Official]
