Ricciardo takes sensational win at Monaco
- Published on 27 May 2018 16:55
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- By: Paul Athes
Daniel Ricciardo wins the Monaco Grand Prix. The Australian driver crossed the finishing line ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton to take his first win at Monaco.
The race started without any major incidents. Ricciardo kept his first place after a good start. Behind him, Vettel had no solution to pass and had to settle for the second place, with Hamilton on third.
The first part of the race was very well controlled by Ricciardo. He kept a 1.5 second advantage over Vettel after the first pitstops. At this point of the race everything seemed to be under control for the Australian.
The other Red Bull driven by Max Verstappen was slowly making progress in the field. Having to start last after an unfortunate incident at the end of FP3 which saw him missing the qualifying session, Verstappen was already near the points places after the pitstops.
After he dominated the first laps of the race, Ricciardo's Red Bull seemed to have a failure. As much as the Australian wanted to resolve this issue, he had to manage a power deficit and a Sebastian Vettel very eager to take the first place from him.
Soon, the gap closed to 0.5 seconds and nothing was certain anymore for Ricciardo. Far behind them, Alonso had a gearbox failure while he was battling with Gasly. The Spaniard had to retire from the race. For the McLaren driver this was the first DNF of the year.
Meanwhile, Ricciardo managed somehow to keep Vettel behind him. With all the power deficit, the Monaco narrow streets helped him to keep the Ferrari driver behind. Hamilton reduced the gap to Vettel but he had no chance of getting past him.
Near the end of the race, Leclerc complained about brake problems on his Sauber. Unfortunately, he slammed into Hartley's car and both had to retire from the race. As a consequence of the incident, the virtual safety car was deployed as soon as possible.
The last laps seemed to bring the best bit of the race. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case, as Vettel lost more than six seconds behind the virtual safety car. At this stage of the race, Ricciardo had the win in his pocket.
In the end, Ricciardo took the checkered flag and won his first Monaco Grand Prix. Vettel came nearly eight seconds afterwards and brought home valuable points for the world championship fight. Hamilton completed the podium, while Raikkonen held Bottas to finish fourth.
Ocon brought valuable for Force India by finishing sixth. Gasly did another fantastic race and finished seventh, while Hulkenberg kept Verstappen behind him to finish eight. The only consolation for Verstappen was the fastest lap he managed to set in the latter stages of the race. Sainz was the last man to score points by finishing tenth.
Behind Sainz, Ericsson, Perez, Magnussen, Vandoorne, Grosjean, Sirotkin and Stroll were the other driver who managed to get the checkered flag in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton remains the Drivers Championship leader after the Monaco Grand Prix. The reigning world championship has scored 110 points,14 more than his closest rival, Sebastian Vettel who has scored 96 points. Daniel Ricciardo completes the podium with 72 points.
In the Constructors Championship, Mercedes stays ahead of Ferrari. The German constructor has scored 178 points, 22 more than Ferrari, who has 156 points under their tally. Red Bull Racing completes the podium with 107 points.
Canada will host the next Formula 1 grand prix from the 2018 season. The Canadian Grand Prix will take place between 8-10 June on the legendary Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in the heart of Montreal.
Paul Athes
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Replies (13)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
It was beautiful, to say the least. A marvelous display. And while not as eventful as other races this year, it was a really tense race. A real test of endurance. Ricciardo's engine woes along with Vet, Ham and Rai all having tyre woes. And Verstappen sure did a good job getting into the points. Also really strong show from Gasly again, well deserved 7th. A shame about Hartley, he looked strong around here but luck just wasnt on his side. Also props to Ocon.
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
A pretty boring race IMO. Never been a fan of Monaco, but sometimes it delivers spectacular races. Today wasn't one of those.
Really happy for Ricciardo, and much deserved too. A perfect weekend for him.
Gasly is doing really well, Hartley not so much.
The highlight for me was probably Alonso retiring due to his "GP2" gearbox. McLaren's woes just won't get old for me this year I think.
Grosjean struggling once again, to say the very least. And Stroll is definitely feeling the pressure which makes me smile a little bit.
xoya
Posts: 583
Just woken up from having fallen asleep mid-race. It was a great race. Never slept better in my whole life.
siggy74
Posts: 194
Well deserved Win, and kept on going well done riccy.
Willaims get rid of that spoilt brat Stroll, unreal attitude. complaining why carry on as last...
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
It's actually pretty crazy that having to tighten a wheelnut will cost you a 10 second stop and go, whereas more or less taking somebody out deliberately (or at least due to overwhelming incompetence) will get you a cool 5 seconds added to you total race time.
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
Tighten a wheelnut after the 3 minute warning that is. That part didn't quite make it the first time around
xoya
Posts: 583
Was thinking the same thing. It's really idiotic.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
It was a really exaggerated penalty.
Kean
Posts: 692
All in all a pretty boring race. The two stand-out performances were by Ricciardo and Gasly, who also impressed me in quali. Also impressed by Ocon, and Hulkenberg did a good job as well. Sirotkin and Leclerc impressed in quali, but Sirotkin’s race was over before it began, and Leclerc got too greedy and stayed too close to the car in front which in the end caused the brake failure. Was not impressed by Perez, Vandoorne or Stroll. Vandoorne really needs to start delivering, sure he’s being compared to one of the best drivers in F1 history, but Alonso’s previous teammates were able to outqualify and outrace him from time to time. And even though Ericsson has been severely outperformed by Leclerc in quali the last three races, he did a pretty good job today in the race finishing ahead of both Williams and Haas as well as Perez and Vandoorne.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
@KEAN Vandoorne seems to be lost at the moment. If he was to leave mcLaren I would like to see him in one of the Williams seats. Wasn't impressed with Strolls comments towards the Williams. Ericsson is improving, not sure that Leclerc is to blame for the brake faillure.
Bhurt
Posts: 320
That race was a definite argument in favor of adding more street races to the calendar...
Trelas
Posts: 986
In favor? Did you watch a different race then I did? I thought it was pretty damn boring...
If they want to add more street races, they better make sure they make the track wide enough so it is possible to overtake.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I do think Bhurt was using sarcasm there, Trelas. :)