Sebastian Vettel WINS the Monaco Grand Prix
Sebastian Vettel has won the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix with team mate Kimmi Raikkonen taking second place for a Ferrari one-two. Hamilton in seventh for Mercedes.
Whether Vettel’s win was entirely deserved is subject to whether or not you can see team orders in Ferrari’s race tactics, with pole position Raikkonen.
Raikkonen kept his lead at the start and the two raced ahead of the pack with Raikkonen pitting first on lap 34, which didn’t seem entirely logical, and he came out behind slower cars.
That left Vettel the opportunity to put in a few fast laps before he pitted, and when he rejoined the race he was two seconds ahead of his team mate. Not obvious team orders, but it’s hard to see it any other way.
Behind the top three, Bottas managed to salvage fourth and some points for Mercedes, fending off the Red Bull of Verstappen who took fifth, with the Toro Rosso of Sainz in sixth.
Lewis Hamilton managed to improve on his poor starting place to gain a few points in seventh place, and the Haas cars of Grosjean and Magnussen took eighth and tenth respectively, split by Massa’s William.
Jenson Button, on his one-off return to fill in for Alonso who’s out playing Indy, never had much chance, despite qualifying in the top ten after penalties saw him start from the back.
McLaren pitted him on lap one to get the tyre change out of the way, but he was baulked as Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein was let go on an unsafe release, and Button spent 60 laps stuck behind the Sauber before attempting a maneuver which saw both cars go out.
A safety car near the end did make for a lively last few laps, with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson crashing, Perez coming together with Kvyat and Vandoorne sticking his McLaren in to the barriers.
The outcome of the Monaco Grand Prix leaves Vettel 25 points ahead of Hamilton in the Drivers Championship, and Ferrari 17 points ahead of Mercedes in the Constructors.
Have your say - leave a comment