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Hamilton wins in Monaco, first win of 2016

Britwatch Team
Formula 1

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By Lara Seychell

  • Lewis Hamilton starts third to finish first
  • Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez in second and third
  • Championship is open again as Nico Rosberg ends up in seventh place

MONACO – Lewis Hamilton is finally back on track to battle for the championship after winning the Monaco Grand Prix in style, beating pole-sitter Daniel Ricciardo.

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Hamilton started third on the grid but managed to overcome the tricky situations of both rain and dry conditions on the track to secure his first win this season. Ricciardo, who started the race on pole position, could have arguably won the race had he not been slowed down in the pit lane during a tyre change, which made him come out of the pits behind Hamilton. In fact, on the podium Ricciardo said that he had been “screwed two weeks in a row” by his team.

Pulling in to the pits, the mechanics were not ready with his soft tyres thanks to a miscommunication, and although the Aussie re-joined behind Hamilton, he couldn’t catch him.

For Hamilton it was a welcome win after a pretty torrid start to his season, and was his first win since last October’s US Grand Prix.

As reported in Sky Sports, Hamilton said: “Thank god that today went the way I that I hoped. Honestly I’m kind of lost for words. I prayed for a day like this and it came true.”

Sergio Perez managed to make the best out of the changeable conditions to give his team the first podium finish of the season.

The race started with all the cars behind a safety car due to the rainy conditions and also saw a number of virtual safety cars being deployed because of accidents such as that of last week’s history-making winner Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen who both hit the barriers, and Sauber team-mates Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr coming together after the Brazilian failed to adhere to team orders.

This means that Hamilton, who claimed his 44th career win today, is now is only 24 points behind Rosberg in the championship, who only managed to place seventh in the race. The German struggled with brake temperatures throughout the race, finally culminating in Mercedes instructing him to let Hamilton pass. From there the Brit pulled away adding over a second a lap until the Aussie pitted, giving Hamilton the lead.

Here are the full results of the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix:

  1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 78 laps
  2. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, +7.3s
  3. Sergio Perez, Force India, +13.8s
  4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, +15.8s
  5. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, +85.1s
  6. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, +93.0s
  7. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, +93.3s
  8. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, +1 lap
  9. Jenson Button, McLaren, +1 lap
  10. Felipe Massa, Williams, +1 lap
  11. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, +1 lap
  12. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, +1 lap
  13. Romain Grosjean, Haas, +2 laps
  14. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, +2 laps
  15. Rio Haryanto, Manor, +2 laps

 

  • DNF Marcus Ericsson, Sauber
  • DNF Felipe Nasr, Sauber
  • DNF Max Verstappen, Red Bull
  • DNF Kevin Magnussen, Renault
  • DNF Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso
  • DNF Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
  • DNF Jolyon Palmer, Renault
The Canadian Grand Prix takes place 10-12 June