2015 Monaco Grand Prix
In a tale of sharp contrasts, Lewis Hamilton’s elation at having secured his first ever pole in Monaco turned into misery and angst on race day. In what can only be called described as a blunder of the highest order, Lewis Hamilton was deprived of his second win at Monte Carlo by his teammate Nico Rosberg, or more accurately, his bosses on the pitwall.
The early stages of the race panned out perfectly for Hamilton as he quickly pulled out a two second advantage over his teammate Rosberg who just about managed to keep Sebastian Vettel at bay. Vettel who got off to a lightning quick start was lucky not to have been rear ended by the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat going into the first turn. Instead of crashing into the back of the Ferrari, Kvyat stole a place off Daniel Ricciardo in the other Red Bull to nestle into 4th. Not so lucky however, were Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg who suffered collisions with Pastor Maldonado and Fernando Alonso respectively.
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Hulkenberg and Massa both headed into the pits for front wing changes and after being deemed responsible for the collision at Sainte-Devote, Alonso was handed a five second penalty. Alonso’s pace effectively rendered the penalty redundant by the time he took it and was on course to secure McLaren’s first double points finish of the season until his gearbox gave way on lap 40.
Towards the front of the pack, the leaders were setting a blistering pace and they soon came up on the backmarkers. In the traffic, Hamilton further extended his advantage and had the race firmly by the scruff of its neck going into the first round of pitstops. Like in the early stages, Vettel was constantly haranguing Rosberg and after failing to make any move on track, was the first to pit, in an attempt to undercut him. Rosberg and Mercedes responded immediately and were able to nullify Vettel’s attempts. Hamilton pitted a lap later and came out of the pits with a nine second cushion over Rosberg.
After yet another indifferent qualifying display on Saturday, Kimi Raikkonen was not able to make up much ground on Vettel and the Silver Arrows starting from 6th on the grid. After being stuck behind Ricciardo for much of the race, he finally managed to pass him in the pits.
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As the race edged passed the three quarter mark, Hamilton was putting on another imperious display and was riding off into the sunset. Or so he thought. On lap 64, under the safety car, Mercedes made the shocking decision to bring him in when he was a full 19 seconds ahead of the nearest car. Around the twisty streets of Monaco, that is nothing short of an eternity.
The safety car was brought out by a massive crash between rookie Max Verstappen and Romain Grosjean going into turn 1. The 17 year old’s lack of experience showed and he was duly rewarded by losing both his front tyres. Grosjean came off relatively unscathed and was able to continue the race.
The incident, seemingly trivial in terms of the overall race result would be turn out to be the pivotal moment in an otherwise processional Monaco Grand Prix. A terrible miscalculation by the Mercedes engineers resulted in Hamilton pitting and rejoining the race behind both Vettel and Rosberg. Over the radio Hamilton’s disappointment was clear to see as he dejectedly remarked to his engineer “I’ve lost this race, haven’t I?”
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Once normal racing resumed, Hamilton piled on the pressure and was all over the back of Vettel. Vettel held his ground and Hamilton became increasingly frustrated as he saw his rightfully deserved victory vanish into thin air. He eventually resigned himself to his fate and in the process almost lost another place to the late charging Ricciardo. After getting past Raikkonen, he was allowed through by his teammate under orders from the pitwall. His attempts were ultimately in vain and in a nice display of teamwork and solidarity, Ricciardo handed the place back to Kvyat for a well deserved 4th place finish.
As he took the checquered flag, Rosberg still couldn’t believe his luck and his celebrations were visibly muted. Vettel was overjoyed as he continued his fine form in the Championship with his fifth podium in six races after making the move over the Winter from Red Bull. Going into the weekend off the back of a new mega deal that will see him earn a 100 million over the next three seasons, Hamilton expressed his desire to be the leader at Mercedes and carry the team forward. If his post race reactions are anything to go by, he will certainly be a figure to rally around as he showed immense maturity and grace accepting his third place trophy.
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In the aftermath, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has gone onto apologize profusely for the mistake that has allowed Rosberg to close the gap to within ten points of Hamilton. He however stated that Mercedes do not feel obliged to make up for the error by granting him a similar favor over the course of the upcoming races.
One thing is for sure though, Hamilton will be more motivated than he has ever been this season and it should come as no surprise if he dominates the rest of the Championship and goes onto his third drivers title. The first step? The Canadian Grand Prix, a race Hamilton has won thrice. Good luck Nico.
