Defending champion Lewis Hamilton took advantage of some horrid work by Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull pit crew and then was additionally helped by the race stewards looking the other way after taking a controversial corner shortcut to win the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix over Ricciardo for his first Formula One win of the year. Force India’s Sergio Perez finished third with Sebastian Vettel close behind in fourth.
The race began with the safety car leading around the field for eight parade laps due to inclement weather but as the rain subsided and eventually withdrew, the carnage began as drivers and crews attempted to play weather forecasters and guess track conditions with rapid tire changes. As the track gradually dried out, some cars were on the wrong tires for the conditions or hit wet spots. Others – Daniil Kvyat [see below] – just crashed due to poor driving. Weather conditions claimed two contenders – Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – while Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, the current season leader, was slowed by an unrelated issue, overheating brakes, that caused him to gingerly escort his car around the track to an eventual seventh place finish.
With his victory, Hamilton moves into second place in the season driver standings with 82 points, behind Rosberg with 106 points. Third place is a free-for-all between Ricciardo with 66 points, Raikkonen with 61 points and Vettel with 60 points.
2016 Monaco Grand Prix – Circuit de Monaco – 78 laps – 162 miles
1 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
2 Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull
3 Sergio Perez – Force India
4 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari
5 Fernando Alonso – McLaren
6 Nico Hulkenberg – Force India
7 Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. – Toro Rosso
9 Jenson Button – McLaren
10 Felipe Massa – Williams
11 Valtteri Bottas – Williams
12 Esteban Gutierrez – Haas
13 Romain Grosjean – Haas
14 Pascal Wehrlein – Manor
15 Rio Haryanto – Manor
16 Marcus Ericsson – Sauber
17 Felipe Nasr – Sauber
18 Max Verstappen – Red Bull
19 Kevin Magnussen – Renault
20 Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso
21 Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
22 Jolyon Palmer – Renault
Photo credit: Reuters