The 2018 Monaco Grand Prix is in the books and – as usual – it was one of the more predictable races of the season, with the top six racers finishing in exactly the same order as which they started. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo won the race with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in second and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in third.
Ricciardo had to deal with the loss of two gears midway through the race but that malady was offset by both Vettel and Hamilton experiencing tire wear issues that prevented either of them from mounting a serious attack on the flailing Ricciardo. With all that in mind, it was a push for the coveted ASN driver points, so we award the points as they finshed. That puts Hamilton and Vettel in a tie for first place for the season, with eight points apiece.
The Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award goes, once again, to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who cleverly decided that he would not wait until the actual race to get his crash in and instead did it in the third practice session, damaging his car badly enough that he could not participate in qualifying and had to start the race from the back of the pack. Verstappen, of course, holds a commanding lead in this category.
The Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing!” Award goes to Hamilton, who typically does not react well when he is not leading a race by 10 seconds or more [like the Spanish Grand Prix] and resorts to whinging [as the British like to say] – this time about tires and pace – while his pit calmly and continually remind him that these are the same issues affecting everybody else. Hamilton now takes the lead in this category.
The Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award goes to the Monaco Grand Prix officials for being unable to make up their minds about Grid Girls and instead decided to use both Grid Girls and Grid Kids – pick one or the other but not both!
2018 ASN Formula One Driver Standings [after Monaco Grand Prix]
1] Lewis Hamilton/Sebastian Vettel – eight points
3] Daniel Ricciardo – six
4] Valtteri Bottas/Sergio Perez/Kimi Raikkonen – three
7] Pierre Gasly/Nico Hulkenberg – two
9] Max Verstappen – one
2018 Pastor Maldonado Driving School Award [after Monaco Grand Prix]
1] Verstappen – 4-1/3 points
2] Romain Grosjean – one
3] Red Bull/Ricciardo – 1/3 point
2018 Kimi Raikkonen “Leave Me Alone! I Know What I’m Doing!” Award [after Monaco Grand Prix]
1] Hamilton – two points
2] Alonso/Bottas/Verstappen/Vettel – one
2018 Bernie Ecclestone Doofus Moment Award [after Monaco Grand Prix]
1] Hamilton/McLaren – 1.5 points
3] Ferrari pit [Raikkonen]/Monaco Grand Prix officials – one
5] Azerbaijan Grand Prix officials/Spanish Grand Prix officials – 1/2 point