The 2017 Monaco Grand Prix is in the books and it was a rare Ferrari 1-2 on the Cote d’Azur with Sebastian Vettel taking the honors of first place followed by his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finishing out the podium.
The race was all Ferrari from the start as Raikkonen had the pole and Vettel followed him around the track for nearly half the race until the lone scheduled pit stop separated them and Vettel came out of the pits in the top spot and held it throughout the remainder of the race. Vettel earns top ASN points for the race with Raikkonen and Ricciardo getting the remaining points.
The Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award was a highly contested affair between Sergio Perez, Jenson Button, Marcus Ericsson and Stoffel Vandoorne – but eventually Perez came out on top of the pile after he bulldozed into Daniil Kvyat to take Kvyat out of the race on Lap 72. With the point, Perez now takes the lead in the Maldonado category.
The Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone!” I Know What I’m Doing!” Award was a no-brainer even though it did not occur during the race, going to Button after he told his former McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso [who was missing the race to participate in the Indianapolis 500] that he would “pee in his seat” while driving for him at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award goes to Lance Stroll of Williams who crashed in the first practice session for the race and then made a excuse for the crash that he couldn’t get some of the Monaco corners right even when he was playing the PlayStation video game version of the race. Teenagers will be teenagers.
2017 AutoSportsNation Formula One Driver Rankings [after Monaco Grand Prix]
1] Sebastian Vettel – 15 points
2] Lewis Hamilton – six
3] Valtteri Bottas – five
4] Esteban Ocon/Sergio Perez/Kimi Raikkonen – two
7] Fernando Alonso/Romain Grosjean/Daniel Ricciardo/Stoffel Vandoorne/Max Verstappen – one
2017 Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award [after Monaco Grand Prix]
1] Perez – two points
2] Grosjean/Kevin Magnussen/Jolyon Palmer/Carlos Sainz, Jr./Vandoorne – one
2017 Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing” Award [after Monaco Grand Prix]
1] Alonso – two points
2] Jenson Button/Mercedes pit [Bottas]/Red Bull pit [Verstappen]/Vettel – one
2017 Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award [after Monaco Grand Prix]
1] Ecclestone – two points
2] Australian Grand Prix officials/Bottas/Mercedes marketing/Lance Stroll – one