The need for perfection is one of the reasons why F1 drivers love the Monaco Grand Prix, and Sebastian Vettel is no exception.
"There is a lot of tradition on the Monaco street circuit, you race on very narrow streets and there is no margin for error. You have to stay focused and give 100% in the qualifying lap because overtaking in the race is almost impossible. I know some people think it's a boring race to watch on TV, but for those behind the wheel, it's anything but: if you start from the back, you have to fight constantly to gain positions. But those at the front cannot afford any distractions throughout the race. As far as the set-up is concerned, Monaco, more than other circuits, requires a specific set-up to navigate the tight corners of the Principality. You need to be fast on the straights and agile on the corners, like almost all street circuits".
Meanwhile, Massimo Rivola's suspension lasted just one week. The Ferrari sporting director and team manager has been reinstated and is already in Monte Carlo, where he will be in action on Sunday 24 May 2015. Rivola had skipped the Spanish Grand Prix due to an unclear incident (two other team members, a catering employee and the logistics manager were also suspended), which Ferrari has always refused to officially explain. According to reliable sources, Rivola has clarified his position beyond a shadow of a doubt in recent weeks and has been reinstated. F1 is ready to return to the track, and in the most beautiful of settings. The race will take place in Monte-Carlo, and in a press conference Sebastian Vettel talks about Ferrari's chances of victory:
"We are not the favourites, but anything can happen here. Compared to other tracks, the driver can still make a difference here; we have a car that performs well on all tracks".
Overtaking is rare at Monte Carlo. As a result, the grid will be virtually decisive:
"Monaco is a very demanding circuit. We know that qualifying is crucial here and you have to do the perfect lap, otherwise Sunday can be tough. In Barcelona we expected to be closer and the gap we recorded certainly didn't make us happy, although I was quite happy with the result. We've made progress, but for some reason our performance was below expectations".
There is no lack of optimism:
"We are confident that we are on the right track and that is why we have decided to continue with the updates. We will now try to understand as much as possible from all the data collected during the tests and carry out further tests to clear up any doubts. Then we'll see where we are. The track is a bit tricky because it's a street circuit and very short".
Sebastian Vettel's team-mate could change next season. Rumours continue to circulate that Valtteri Bottas, currently driving for Williams, could replace Kimi Raikkonen. However, the Finn says:
"You have to ask Ferrari what they want to do, every year there are doubts and we'll see what happens, but I'm not worried at all".
On the subject of the Monaco Grand Prix, he adds:
"It is clear that qualifying is particularly important here because overtaking is virtually impossible, but there is no more pressure than at other races. It will be important not to make any mistakes and to do everything right throughout the weekend".
On Wednesday 20 May 2015, on the eve of the Monaco Grand Prix, it is announced that the Mercedes-Lewis Hamilton partnership will continue. The Anglo-German team officially confirmed the renewal of the British driver's contract for the next three years.
"This is my home and after signing this three-year deal I couldn't be happier. This year's car is the best I've ever had in my career and for me every Formula One weekend is pure enjoyment. It's a pleasure to push the limits and try to win every Grand Prix".
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff adds:
"Lewis is coming off a historic season last year and extending his contract was a priority for us. His results speak for themselves, he is crucial to the team and I look forward to continuing to race with the strongest driver pairing in Formula One, with the aim of achieving more historic milestones together".
Hamilton spoke about the extension again during the press conference on the eve of the first practice sessions for the Monaco Grand Prix:
"It was a very easy decision. I've been with Mercedes for a long time, this team played a major role in bringing me to F1, and now it's natural for me to continue with them. We're having a lot of success together and I'm happy with the package and the group of people I have".
Fresh from extending his contract for another three years, Lewis Hamilton will be looking to celebrate with a victory:
"You need a perfect weekend to win in Monaco, I've only done that in 2008. There are many areas of the track where I can improve".
The statistics may not be in his favour, but the Briton is determined to learn from past mistakes:
"Overall I'm more prepared, I feel wiser, but I'm aware that there are always new things to learn, new experiences to gain. This year I am stronger and ready to face any adversity".
However, team-mate Nico Rosberg will be looking for another victory after Barcelona, having won the last two editions of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. The drivers' season is already over. In fact, it was over before it began, at least according to Lewis Hamilton, who announced the extension of his contract with Mercedes until 2018.
"My signature was never in doubt".
Says the Englishman, dismissing rumours linking him to Ferrari. A move that would have been nonsensical, given that Mercedes are unbeatable under these rules. A move to Ferrari would mean not only having Mercedes as a rival, but also having a real, quality internal rivalry, like Sebastian Vettel's, rather than the simulated one with Nico Rosberg. Above all because, as we know from the top-secret world of Formula 1 contracts, Mercedes have showered him with money. The calculation is simple. Consider that last month Hamilton topped the list of the richest sportsmen in Britain with a personal fortune of 123.000.000 euros, overtaking Wayne Rooney in second place (around 100.000.000 euros). An achievement made possible by a net increase in wealth of €20.000.000.
Money that has certainly increased after the renewal. Mercedes are clearly delighted to have secured one of the two or three strongest drivers on the grid. Now they are enjoying their position of strength, throwing bombs at their opponents. That of Ferrari, who are faced with the dilemma of Kimi Raikkonen. What to do next year? The impression is that, in the end, the Finn will stay. But he will have to earn it. Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, who is in a constant conflict of interest as both a shareholder in Williams (for whom Mercedes is a supplier) and the manager of the talented Valtteri Bottas, is happy to spread the rumour that Ferrari are interested in his driver. He does it in vague terms, of course. But he does it.
"Valtteri has a great future ahead of him. Along with Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, he is one of the strongest of his generation. It is inevitable that the top teams will start to look at him. After all, he's a potential candidate on everyone's list, as Maurizio (Arrivabene) also mentioned".
The person directly involved doesn't react:
"Ask Ferrari what their intentions are".
Kimi Raikkonen says in his usual passer-by tone:
"Whatever has to happen will happen, like every year".
Meanwhile, at London's Biggin Hill Airport, a meeting of the Formula One Strategy Group was held on Friday, 15 May 2015, to rewrite the technical regulations for future seasons. From 2016, teams will be able to choose their tyre compound for each Grand Prix, and from 2017 pit stops will be allowed again. Other changes were proposed to make the single-seaters more performance-oriented, including greater freedom in aerodynamics, reduced weight and wider tyres that could shave five or six seconds off lap times. The 750 bhp V6 engines, accompanied by MGU-K and H, would be retained. However, the proposal to introduce a fifth engine for the season was rejected, as was the increase in power to 1000 bhp. No final decisions were taken on changes to the race weekend format. The possibility of the top constructors entering a third car for a customer team was also raised at the meeting.
On Thursday 21 May 2015, the FIA published a tender for the sole tyre supplier for the 2017-2019 seasons. The tender did not specify a tyre size. Michelin, a former participant in the championship between 1977 and 2006, expressed interest in the tender, but requested 18-inch tyres with greater durability. Bernie Ecclestone criticised Michelin's proposals, both for the 18-inch rims:
"Terrible and not suitable for racing cars".
And the emphasis on durability.
"They would just make very hard tyres that you could put on in January and take off in December, because they don't want to be criticised. Pirelli, on the other hand, had the courage to do what was asked of them and the result was an incredibly good race".
On Thursday 21st May 2015, heavy rain disrupted the work of the drivers and engineers during the second free practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix, the sixth race of the season.
First, an incident with Roberto Merhi's Marussia at the exit of the tunnel forced the marshals to show the red flag to remove the car. Then the rain began to fall, getting heavier and heavier, and everyone retreated to the garages to wait for it to stop. The paying public were angry and whistled at the teams that did not send their riders out, but the most negative comment was that no one had tested the new P Zero Red Supersoft tyres that Pirelli had introduced for the first time. The session started with the fastest times of the day, with Lewis Hamilton leading the way. The World Champion and leader of the standings set a time of 1'17"192, leaving his team-mate Nico Rosberg more than 0.7 seconds behind with a time of 1'17"932. The two Ferraris followed, with Sebastian Vettel clocking 1'18"295 and Kimi Raikkonen setting the fastest time of 1'18"543. Daniil Kvyat in the first of the Red Bulls followed in fifth, with Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen just a tenth of a second apart. Fernando Alonso made it eight in the McLaren-Honda. Nico Hulkenberg in Force India and Romain Grosjean in Lotus completed the top ten. The Williams-Mercedes of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finished twelfth and thirteenth respectively. Now the long wait begins for the teams in the garages, hoping for good weather on Saturday morning for a third session that will be used to test the new Supersoft tyres. However, the weather forecast is predicting more showers, especially during qualifying.
The battle for pole seems to be a Hamilton-Rosberg affair here on the streets of Monte Carlo, with the German seemingly hiding out, waiting for things to get serious. In the first hour, Hamilton was the fastest. The reigning world champion, whose contract has just been renewed until 2018, lapped in 1'18"750, ahead of young Dutch Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen and Red Bull's Australian Daniel Ricciardo. Fourth was Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr's Toro Rosso and Pastor Maldonado's Lotus. Seventh was Red Bull's Russian Daniil Kvyat, eighth was Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari 0.929s down, ninth was Nico Rosberg's Mercedes and tenth was Felipe Massa's Williams. Then came the two McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. During the second practice session, about fifteen minutes after the start, Roberto Merhi crashed into the barriers just outside the tunnel. This brought out the red flag and the session was stopped. While the track was being cleaned, rain began to fall and the riders decided to wait in the pits. It was only in the final minutes of the session that some cars went out on track, but without the opportunity to improve on the times set up to that point. Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat were among those who went out, but they were twenty seconds quicker than before Merhi's incident. At the end of the session, Ferrari Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene spoke about Kimi Raikkonen's renewal.
"I am very happy with the way things are going with Kimi, with the enthusiasm, despite his nickname Iceman, that he has brought back to the team. When the time is right, we will discuss it with the President, and one way or another, with his blessing, we will make an announcement one way or another. Bottas and Hulkenberg for a possible future at Ferrari? There are a lot of drivers in the paddock and it would be completely wrong to mention names. In the meantime, let's focus on Kimi and we all hope that he continues to do what he's doing, because if you look at the times from the last Grand Prix, in some races Kimi was faster than everyone, so we don't have a bad driver, we have a very, very good one".
Arrivabene goes on to talk about the future of F1, saying:
"The proposals that make me the happiest are the ones that limit spending. We are working to open up F1 to the people, to the spectators, to those who read the newspapers and are outside and closed off by barriers. We need to open up to the public and communicate better, while avoiding crazy spending, because behind the 'game' of racing cars there are companies that need to be managed well".
Maurizio Arrivabene has been at the helm of Scuderia Ferrari for six months now, so it's time for him to take stock of his time in a key role at Maranello after the recent disappointments suffered by the fans.
"After Malaysia, everyone was happy and I thought: damn, that victory came too soon, because then you create crazy expectations. A lot of people are convinced that we are fighting for the championship, but we have taken huge steps to be competitive. If you ask me what my goal is for next year with President Marchionne, I'll tell you it's to be in contention for the championship. So for this year, we have to keep our feet on the ground, keep our heads down and work to be there when Mercedes has problems or to catch them off guard on tracks where they are less prepared".
The Ferrari Team Principal then reflects on how important the arrival of Sebastian Vettel to replace Fernando Alonso has been in achieving good results until the Monaco Grand Prix.
"Good drivers do their part, but the car plays an important role. I'm not going to talk about Alonso because that's in the past. But if you remember, Sebastian was struggling here while Ricciardo was doing better. Now, however, Vettel is doing better and to see Ricciardo you have to stand on tiptoe and look far because he is far behind. Certainly, the quality of the driver comes out when the car is very good. Look at Hamilton and Rosberg, what a duel, but it all starts with a very good car".
Another important aspect is the two drivers' different ways of working, exchanging information to help Ferrari grow.
"Vettel writes everything down in a notebook, in a small handwriting, and then when it comes to analysing qualifying or the race in the debriefing, he talks point by point, detail by detail. He does an extraordinary job with all his sensations about the parts of the car, which is a great help to the engineer. Kimi does the same, although he prefers to talk directly to his engineer. But he has no problem sharing his feelings with the other driver and the same goes for Seb. In Bahrain, I saw Vettel thanking Kimi for a suggestion he made, and that was a nice moment. Because, as I said to all the guys in the team yesterday, the car is ours, but above all it's a Ferrari. Each of us has a specific role, then there is someone who speaks up and puts his face to it. But the real team is one in which each component contributes. I have little faith in architects who don't listen to bricklayers. It takes intelligence and humility to listen to advice that may come from experience".
The discussion then turns to his arrival at Ferrari.
"At Ferrari, it certainly couldn't be yellow or silver. In a revolution you don't necessarily have to destroy. At Ferrari it was necessary to cut something and regroup, and everyone had to go in the same direction, because when you have a role, everyone expects you to make decisions, and apart from those that have to be shared with the president, you have to set an example first, and once the strategy is decided, you have to lead others. I'm not for 'arm yourselves and go', but for everyone to start together and arm themselves along the way. When I was a child, I was a passionate Ferrari supporter, and even now, occasionally, I find myself at the start".
Meanwhile, when German journalists see the streets of Monte Carlo plastered with billboards featuring photos of Vettel and cigarettes, they can't believe their eyes. Germany's most popular champion stumbles across a Marlboro. A sportsman and tobacco, a terrible combination.
"Sebastian, did you know?"
An enigmatic sigh followed by an eloquent reply:
"Everyone knows who our sponsor is".
And to think that in Germany, even Merkel has campaigned against smoking. On the posters, Sebastian's face is easily recognisable, trapped in a helmet with the visor open, and next to it a pack of cigarettes. Then the rather explicit slogan:
"Red is inspiration".
Or variations:
"Red is passion, red is innovation, red is action".
The news, which originated on a German blog, quickly spread around the world. The controversy over tobacco and alcohol advertising in Formula One - which is banned worldwide except in Monte Carlo - is as old as the sport itself. It is particularly prevalent at Ferrari, where the long-standing sponsorship by Philip Morris has over time led to many accusations and outright condemnations from powerful anti-tobacco lobbies. The presence of the Marlboro brand on the Ferrari has diminished over the years, from its prominent position on the bonnet, to an evocative barcode on the rear fin, to its complete disappearance in 2011 after the latest onslaught from health campaigners. In any case, the riders were rarely directly involved. Drivers, who are first and foremost athletes, or at least usually think of themselves as such, have almost never lent themselves to poses that directly associate them with smoking. It is worth noting that Ferrari is in good company. On Friday 22 May 2015, Eurocare, the European association dedicated to the fight against alcoholism, described F1 as a deadly cocktail. Three teams are targeted: Williams, McLaren and Force India.
"Every five seconds, they show logos and images of alcoholic beverages to an estimated 500.000.000 viewers around the world".
On Saturday, May 23, 2015, the third and final practice session takes place under dry track conditions, with a temperature of 18 °C. Due to the limited time available in the second Thursday session, many riders, fifteen in total, decide to take to the track as soon as the practice session begins. Sergio Pérez sets the first timed lap at 1'21"129. In the first 15 minutes, Lewis Hamilton put in four consecutive fast laps, making no mistakes and reducing his time each time to move to the top of the timesheets. The other Mercedes driver, Nico Rosberg, recorded a time of 1'17"271. However, the Ferraris seemed capable of challenging the Anglo-German cars, with Kimi Raikkonen third ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Twenty minutes into the session, the Finnish driver of the Ferrari missed the braking point at St Devote and hit the barriers with the front of his car, damaging the left front suspension. This incident led to the session being red-flagged. Max Verstappen, oversteering, briefly damaged his front wing against the wall in the final corner, but without causing a second stoppage. For the last 15 minutes of the session, the drivers returned to the track on the Supersoft tyres: Nico Rosberg improves his time, but doesn't overtake Lewis Hamilton in the standings, which Sebastian Vettel does with a time of 1'16.143. The Ferrari driver narrowly avoided a collision with a Force India during his lap. A few hours later, qualifying took place under overcast skies, a dry track and a temperature of around 19°C. In the first session, Mercedes once again led the way, with Vettel beating both drivers from the Anglo-German team in the morning session. Rosberg set the fastest time of the session with a lap of 1:16.528, beating Lewis Hamilton by a few hundredths of a second. Behind the Anglo-German team's cars were Verstappen, Kvyat, Sainz Jr (under investigation for failing to stop for pitlane weight checks) and Ricciardo.
The Ferraris, along with the Mercedes, are the only cars to record a time on the harder tyre, with Vettel ninth and Raikkonen twelfth, penalised for the incident in the morning session. The five eliminated are Valtteri Bottas, who never felt comfortable on the Monaco circuit over the weekend, Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber with the two Marussia drivers, Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi. In Q2, all the drivers opted for the softer tyre provided by Pirelli. Rosberg, despite a mistake at St Devote on the second attempt, is again the fastest, beating his team-mate Lewis Hamilton by more than 0.4 seconds, with Sebastian Vettel third, 0.7 seconds behind. In addition to Mercedes and Ferrari, the two Toro Rosso cars, which were consistently fast throughout the weekend, made it through to the final stage of qualifying, beating the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Pérez in the Force India and Pastor Maldonado in the Lotus, who was able to beat his team-mate Romain Grosjean for the sixth consecutive time this season. In addition to the Frenchman, Nico Hulkenberg, whose participation in Q2 had been jeopardised by contact with the barrier at Mirabeau High during the previous session, Felipe Massa, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso were forced to retire a few minutes into the session at St Devote due to a technical problem with their cars. In Q3, the drivers rushed to get out on track as some rain started to fall on the track. At the first attempt, Lewis Hamilton re-established the internal team hierarchy, setting the fastest time of 1'15.304, 0.136s ahead of his team-mate. The others were far behind, with Sebastian Vettel more than a second down in third, followed by the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. In the last and decisive attempt, Nico Rosberg compromised his lap by making a mistake in the St Devote corner, while his team-mate managed to improve by over 0.2 seconds, setting a time of 1'15"089 at an average speed of 160 km/h to secure the fifth pole position of the season, the 43rd of his career. Nico Rosberg completes the front row. Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, Kimi Raikkonen, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz Jr, Pastor Maldonado and Max Verstappen follow. However, at the end of the qualifying session, Carlos Sainz Jr. is penalised with an exclusion from the timesheets for failing to comply with the weight check requirement at the end of Q1. The Spaniard will have to start from the pit lane.
"This pole position means a lot to me, even though it took me a long time to get it. I can't express how happy I am, it was a difficult session with several problems that took me off the pace. I was ecstatic when I crossed the line, it was an incredible session for me and the whole team and I'm happy. This is a very difficult track and it's hard to explain how difficult it is; only we understand it. The important thing is to keep trying to improve. It's like a ladder; you take one step at a time, but if you go down it's hard to go up again. Every session had its challenges, it wasn't easy and that's what makes it special".
Nico Rosberg, who started from pole position in the last two editions of the Monaco Grand Prix, had to settle for second place.
"I had a good pace at the beginning of qualifying, which was missing all weekend, but I lost control towards the end. I tried to give it my all; I knew Lewis would be fast. I tried, but it didn't work".
Hamilton lost almost 0.35s:
"But I don't think it's that hard to recover. I could have done better; we changed the balance because I was suffering a bit from understeer. I was confident that I could do better, but I couldn't".
The mood at Ferrari is different. Sebastian Vettel says:
"I'm happy in general, but I don't think I got the best out of the car. Maybe it was too cold; I hope to get between the Mercedes tomorrow and have a good race. We couldn't put them under pressure, but tomorrow is another day".
Kimi Raikkonen is also very disappointed:
"We had a traffic problem, it's a lousy result, but we'll see. A big problem was getting the tyres to work in these low temperatures. Tomorrow we'll pay a high price; it's not nice to start behind all these cars, what a disappointment".
More than annoyance, you could say surprise mixed with embarrassment. Vettel, according to those close to him, was unaware of the billboards, of the bold and damaging (for his image) association with tobacco, while Ferrari and Philip Morris have taken a firm "no comment" stance. The German had not been warned, but the real annoyance came on the track when he realised that Ferrari were again at an alarming distance from Mercedes, 0.75s, and he had to settle for third place behind Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Vettel is disappointed.
"I couldn't get the best out of the car, the cooler temperature didn't help us. We struggled to get the tyres up to temperature. All that's left is to dream of a fantastic start. I will start on the clean side, hoping to get between them after the first corner, to separate them".
To split and hope to lead one day. It doesn't seem possible at the moment, although Vettel refuses to be pessimistic.
"We were superior in Malaysia and close in Bahrain, we haven't regressed, the car is improving, the progress is constant, it will be better in the race. As it would have been in qualifying if there had been a few more degrees on the tarmac".
No one can argue with the progress, but the pace was probably not as good as that of Mercedes on their return to Europe. Hamilton was exceptional.
"I wanted pole, I had been chasing it for too long. The last time I started in front was in 2006, in GP2, then nothing".
This was Senna's kingdom, and in general his hunting ground was the pole, 65 in his history, second only to Schumacher's 69. Hamilton is on 43:
"It would be fantastic to get there, but there is still a long way to go".
In the meantime, he can be satisfied with winning this race too, because pole position in Monte-Carlo, where overtaking is impossible, is more than half the battle. At one point he feared the worst:
"I couldn't get the tyres to work well and I couldn't find the right rhythm. It's a brutal track, it's like climbing a ladder: step by step, but without missteps. One little slip and you slide down".
Lewis climbed successfully, unlike the beaten Rosberg, who had to brake twice to avoid close encounters with the barriers. Like Vettel, he hopes to put pressure on his opponent, but it looks like a tall order. Sunday, 24 May 2015: At the start of the Monaco Grand Prix, Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel hold their positions into the first corner, while Daniil Kvyat manages to overtake his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo into fourth place. Attempting to pass Nico Hulkenberg on the inside of turn five, Fernando Alonso makes contact with Hulkenberg, who hits the wall but is able to continue, albeit at the back of the field. Alonso was given a five-second penalty to be served at his first pit stop. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa makes contact with Pastor Maldonado, damaging his front wing.
Massa comes into the pits for a new wing and a harder tyre compound. Maldonado suffered brake problems in the early laps and eventually retired on lap seven. By the tenth lap, Hamilton had opened up a three-second lead over his team-mate Rosberg, who was 1.7 seconds ahead of Vettel. While some drivers make their first regular pit stop as early as lap 13, the leaders stay out until lap 37, when Vettel comes in first, followed by Rosberg and Hamilton a lap later. After the stops, Hamilton leads Rosberg by seven seconds. Max Verstappen dropped down the order when a problem with the rear of his car caused him to pit for 31 seconds during his 30th pit stop. Fernando Alonso, who was running in ninth place, retired on lap 43 with a gearbox problem. By lap 45, Hamilton had extended his lead to ten seconds, while Rosberg remained two seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel. By lap 59, Verstappen was chasing Lotus driver Romain Grosjean for tenth place on the quick supersoft tyres, with Verstappen making several passes over the next few laps. At the start of lap 64, coming into the first corner, Verstappen crashed into the back of the Lotus, sending it flying into the barriers at 30g. Although he is uninjured, the stewards bring out the Virtual Safety Car to allow the marshals to safely recover the damaged car. This is the first time a Virtual Safety Car has been used in Formula 1. Shortly afterwards, the regular safety car is sent out on track.
Lewis Hamilton, who had been leading the race by almost twenty seconds, pitted with the apparent intention of returning to the track ahead of his chasers. However, the Mercedes pit crew miscalculated the gap, allowing Rosberg to take the lead as Hamilton emerged from the pit lane just behind Vettel, who had stayed behind Rosberg under the safety car. When the safety car came out on lap 70 of the 78-lap race, Rosberg remained unchallenged and went on to win the Monaco Grand Prix for the third consecutive year, with Hamilton finishing third, unable to overtake Vettel for second place. Daniel Ricciardo also pitted under the safety car and, on fresh tyres, was able to overtake Kimi Raikkonen in controversial circumstances. His team-mate Kvyat then lets him pass to give him the chance to try and overtake third-placed Hamilton. When Ricciardo was unable to overtake, he handed fourth place back to Kvyat. Ricciardo goes on to set the fastest lap of the race. Jenson Button finished eighth, scoring four championship points for himself and the McLaren team, the first points for the renewed McLaren-Honda partnership since its return at the start of the 2015 season. This time it didn't solve any problems. This time, Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, has complicated what was simple, with a self-goal that risks going down in F1 history, a legitimate theft from Lewis Hamilton, who was called into the pits when he was cruising towards victory, a kick against logic on a track where overtaking is impossible, and against the glory of a driver who had a perfect weekend, shattering the dreams of others and creating what could be a decisive lead towards another world championship.
"It was all our fault, we made a decision in half a second and the timing turned out to be wrong".
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff takes responsibility and apologises to Lewis Hamilton.
"We take full responsibility. Nico won his third race here, but today we made a mistake that hurt Lewis and all we can do is apologise. It was a miscalculation in the heat of the moment. I feel sorry for Lewis for making that mistake. Today we could have had a perfect one-two, but we made a decision that turned out to be wrong. We just have to analyse it and apologise to Lewis".
Lewis Hamilton was alone in the lead and the tyre change pushed him back, bringing joy to his team-mate Nico Rosberg and unexpected happiness to Sebastian Vettel, who had given his best but thought he would have to settle for another third place. In the course of lap 65, Mercedes turned everything on its head, making an otherwise boring race, devoid of overtakes (the only one being Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull overtaking Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari six laps from the end), exciting and controversial. The Englishman was leading the pack, pulling the group, and he never imagined he would be showing a desperate face at the end of the race.
With his tenth career victory, Rosberg is in with a chance of winning back-to-back races for the first time and a third consecutive victory in Monte Carlo, a feat only achieved by Graham Hill and Alain Prost.
"I know I was lucky today and I'm enjoying the moment. I have to work hard because I know Lewis was stronger than me this weekend. I have no idea what happened, from inside the car it's difficult to judge decisions like that".
Sebastian Vettel also seized the opportunity without being asked, an unexpected second place, just as unexpected as the gap to Lewis Hamilton after six races, 28 points, not an abyss considering the difference between their two cars. When Vettel saw the Englishman come into the pits, he thought it was a joke.
"I thought: what are they doing? I'm going to stay on the track and if Lewis thinks he can overtake me easily, he's going to find out. It was a surprise finish; we were there when we needed to be. It was still a great result. During the race I tried to put pressure on the German, but I couldn't. Then the safety car came out and Hamilton was third. Nico restarted very well, I tried to hold my position and fortunately I succeeded".
He didn't make it. Lewis Hamilton was forced to follow suit, sublimating his team's folly.
"It wasn't easy for me. But the team was fantastic, we win and lose together. Congratulations to Nico and Sebastian. What happened? We'll sit down together and see what we can improve. What am I thinking now? Just to win the next race".
And he adds Niki Lauda:
"I don't know what happened. It's an incredible mistake and I don't know why. Lewis will be angry and we have to apologise to him, but what happened is unacceptable".
The non-executive chairman of Mercedes said of the other driver's victory, Nico Rosberg:
"It was perfect, he had a good race, he won well, although through a mistake because Lewis was faster".
A mistake that Maurizio Arrivabene, the Ferrari team principal, sums up as follows:
"They were arrogant, presumptuous and we were cunning. They thought they could overtake us with fresh tyres, but they didn't count on the Vettel phenomenon. In reality, we were targeting them; we thought they would make a little drama when they came out, so we were very careful. And when we realised they were serious, we thought: wow, they are arrogant because they thought they could overtake. But when you think you're smart, you forget to be cunning. Today we were lucky, but today we were looking for it and let's continue like this".
He never gave up, comforted by Inaki Rueda's strategy, praised by Maurizio Arrivabene at the end of the race and supported by a Ferrari that held its own in terms of pace, as Nico Rosberg never managed to disappear from Sebastian Vettel's horizon. Less positive for Ferrari was Kimi Raikkonen, who started and finished sixth in a race full of question marks. Fifth was retaken by Daniel Ricciardo in a wheel-to-wheel duel. Raikkonen is furious:
"He tried to push me out, they should have punished him".
Instead, the Australian was given a clean bill of health by Arrivabene's judges. Instead, Kimi was told: "Write a hundred times on the blackboard: 'I need to be faster in qualifying. Arrivabene revealed it, it's a suggestion, but it could become a threat.
"His race reflected his qualifying yesterday. Then, in contact with Ricciardo, the Red Bull driver widened too much. We called Charlie (Whiting, editor's note) and something must have happened because then his team radioed him to give the position back to his team-mate. Anyway, it went well. Of course we have to work. We think about the next race and move on".
Ferrari want another Raikkonen, not least because they are not yet resigned to Mercedes' escape. The Anglo-German team will take a new engine to Canada (the first one lasted six races, a record), while the Maranello team will have to wait until Silverstone in July and Monza in September for any significant developments. In the meantime, with Vettel, they are there, as Arrivabene claims:
"If my rivals make mistakes, I won't cry".
It's called hubris, and over the years it's sunk ocean liners, destroyed civilisations and lost wars that had already been won. Imagine if it couldn't keep its nose out of a modest Formula One race, which, by the way, is boring. Less predictable was the form in which hubris would choose to make its deadly contribution. What happened on the 65th lap of the Monaco Grand Prix left everyone open-mouthed: the perfect mechanics of the Mercedes spaceship jammed due to a miscalculation by an engineer. Something as trivial as 26-23. That is the advantage that Hamilton, the leader of the race, had over Rosberg and Vettel at that moment, minus the standard time lost due to a tyre change. If the result of the operation had given a lead of 3.5 seconds, the pit stop could be made without risking an overtaking manoeuvre.
"We had problems with the mathematics".
Toto Wolff, the Austrian head of Mercedes, admitted this in red, more out of embarrassment than anger. Wolff presides over a colossus of three factories between the English motor valley and Stuttgart, managing a budget rumoured to be around £325.000.000 a year and able to recruit the best engineers from the group's 270.000 employees. To give you an idea, it is said that at Brixworth, where the engine for the W06 Hybrid - the amazing car that will win this world championship - is built, to ensure that every screw is tightened with exactly the same force, every screwdriver is connected to a powerful computer the size of a walk-in wardrobe. When you think about it, and then imagine a German engineer in the pits, confused by the pressure of a 26-23, it makes you smile. But what's even funnier is that the calculation was ultimately pointless because everyone knew from the start that the tyre change was unnecessary; the race was already won, the Pirellis were fine and the Safety Car that came out at that moment would have taken Hamilton just a few laps from the end. Laps that, on a city circuit where overtaking is rare, the Englishman would have comfortably completed before taking a well-deserved shower.
"When they called me back to the garage, I trusted them. I thought everyone would do the same. Instead, I was the only one who returned, the others continued. When I came out, I was third".
No, there was no need for that calculation, it did not respond to any need other than a mad desire for perfection, a stubborn desire to win, from seven to one in Brazil, always and in any case, even when there was no Brazil to humiliate on the pitch and the game against the others was already won. With fresh tyres, they must have thought on the pit wall, Lewis gives everyone a minute. Ambition, they say, when things are going well. Overconfidence and arrogance when things go wrong.
"The truth is that in the end we are Germans, always the same Germans".