Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
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Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
Formula 1 ... Monaco Grand Prix ... hard worked victory for Daniel Ricciardo
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Monaco, 27 May, 2018

Weather
cloudy and dry
25-28°C air
33-37°C track

Scuderia Ferrari come away from the Monaco GP, finishing in their grid positions, with Sebastian Vettel back on the podium in second place and Kimi Raikkonen fending off Bottas in the Mercedes to claim fourth.

There were a few harmless drops of rain prior to the start, while the wind constantly changed direction. From second place, Seb immediately tried to attach Ricciardo and Kimi kept fourth place. Then the classic Monegaque Sunday train set off aroun the 3337 metre-long track. The only one who was in DRS range, for the little it counts here, was Raikkonen, who was right up behind Hamilton. Stroll’s Williams got a puncture and pitted right in front of the leading duo.

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After 12 laps, the first to change tyres was Hamilton taking on Ultrasofts. Seb picked up the pace to cover off any possible undercut and Kimi also went flat out. On lap 16, the Number 5 car pitted with Sebastian taking on Ultrasofts, managing to get out, as planned, ahead of Bottas. Ricciardo and Kimi also changed tyres, with Bottas coming in for the harder Supersofts. Out in front, no change, but the gaps grew a bit bigger.

On lap 28, Ricciardo’s pace dropped and Seb tried to make the most of it, using all the aids on the steering wheel. But this is Monaco and in the twisty bits, engine power counts for little, so that we had the usual paradox here that the leader manages the situation, going slower than those behind.

The other unusual feature is that the tyres, rather than getting worse, actually improve as the graining gradually cleans up. Sebastian kept the pressure on Ricciardo right up to the closing stages, but the only chance here is if your rival makes a mistake.

There was still time for some drama, as Leclerc, having run out of brakes, collided with the back of Hartley at the tunnel exit, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car. Vandoorne who was lapped, pitted and came out right in front of Seb, who thus immediately lost four seconds prior to the restart. So, a low key finish, but a Ferrari on the podium and 30 points towards the Constructors’ championship in the knowledge that we were on the pace. “Thanks guys, the car was very strong,” was Seb’s comment over the radio.

Maurizio Arrivabene
“Compared to the race weekend here last year, this one seemed more difficult right from the start. But thanks to the efforts of everyone in the team, the SF71H got progressively better, until it proved capable of taking second place in qualifying. However, on a track like this, it was not enough to produce an even better race result. Like everyone else, we opted for a one-stop strategy, which therefore meant having to manage the tyres in the second stint, so as to save them for the final laps. However, at that point, the Virtual safety car came out, meaning it was no longer possible to attack.”

Sebastian Vettel
“Today, I was trying to get closer to the car in front and do something; but obviously if you get closer it doesn’t help with your tires. In some corners you don’t really need power and Ricciardo was quicker than us. He was always able to open the gap and I was never really there. He could keep his pace and I think that perhaps it could have been worse for us if he hadn’t had some issues. Unfortunately, there weren’t many chances to do something different. I think it was tricky for us to make the tires work the right way. Then, when the Virtual Safety Car came on, a McLaren was just exiting the box and took a lot of time, while I was struggling with tire warm-up, and I think that was the biggest issue that cost me quite a few seconds. It took to me one and a half lap to get the rhythm back, but by then it was too late. However, there are so many races to go and I believe we need to understand our problems. We have a good car, but we can make it better.”

Kimi Raikkonen
“Today nothing really happened in the race; to be honest, it was a pretty boring one. We know that on this track, once everybody has stopped, whoever is in the front dictates the speed and no matter if he goes four second slower on a lap, there’s no way to pass unless somebody makes a big mistake or runs out of tires. We end up following each other through the whole race. I had no problem managing my tires, in fact they were pretty good. I only had some graining with the first set, but apart from that they were ok. I was never worried about Bottas behind me, we had the speed and I could easily close up with the car in front, but there was no way to pass him. We were all the time doing our best, but couldn’t use our pace. Obviously we cannot be happy with fourth position, but as always, we try to learn from every race.”

Lewis Hamilton

A big congratulations to Daniel, I’m really happy for him. He was so close to winning his first Monaco Grand Prix two years ago, so it’s good for him to have it now. I’m happy with the weekend – we were the third quickest team and we almost got second. I’m grateful to only have lost three points to Sebastian in the championship fight – I’ll take that and move forwards. It wasn’t a really difficult race, we just had to take the tyres go a long way; I didn’t think they were going to go as far as they did. It’s a shame that the race is unfortunately not as exciting as the whole spectacle of Monaco, especially since through practice there’s no place like it and the track is just epic in Qualifying. We hope that Canada will suit our car a little bit better; but it will be another close fight, especially with the Ferrari.

Valtteri Bottas

That’s Monaco - sometimes a lot of things happen; sometimes nothing happens and you get a pretty uneventful race like today. I think we made the right choice with the SuperSoft tyre for my second stint, it felt like it was working better than the UltraSofts. The first stint was difficult because of the tyre drop-off, but the second stint was really good, I could put pressure on the cars ahead. I had more pace than the cars in front of me, and yet there was nothing I could do; even with the pace difference overtaking was impossible. We knew the weekend might be difficult and that’s how it turned out to be, but we managed to do successful damage limitation. Qualifying P5 did not make that any easier for me and I don’t think we could have done anything different today with the car we have. Montreal should be a better hunting ground for our car, so we hope for a better outcome in Canada.

Toto Wolff

In sport, you have to accept that there are days when you won’t win and, if you’d offered us third and fifth before the weekend, we’ d probably have taken it as a fair result. Congratulations to Daniel, he deserved the win and was the quickest man out there this weekend. It was a tough and frustrating afternoon for Lewis and Valtteri. Lewis suffered from graining on both tyre compounds which he had to manage through most of the race; we discussed making another stop but it would only have cost us positions, not gained any, so it was the right call to stay out. Valtteri ended up running most of the race on the best compound, the SuperSoft, but there was no way past Kimi so he had to follow him to the flag. Overall, this was a weekend of damage limitation for us and we can be pleased to leave Monaco in the lead of both championships. Now we will regroup and aim to return to winning form in Canada.

Andrew Shovlin

It was a frustrating afternoon in many ways, we finished where we started and never really had much opportunity to do any more. Our HyperSoft stints were weak on both cars, we suffered graining early on and fell back so stopped Lewis quite early for UltraSoft to avoid losing race time. Valtteri had a similar issue but we kept him out a bit longer as it wasn’t really impacting his race. Our championship rivals were better at managing the HyperSoft today and we need to understand and improve before Montreal as it’s likely to be even trickier there. With Valtteri we decided to try the SuperSoft tyre as Lewis was feeling that the ultra was quite delicate and needed managing. This seemed to work well in terms of pace, with Valtteri catching the cars ahead quite quickly but there was no way to pass so he had a rather frustrating afternoon following Kimi for 46 laps. Lewis was concerned that he wouldn’t get his tyres to the end as they opened up early on but after some degradation they stabilised and he was able to keep pace with Vettel who seemed to have similar issues and Riccardo who was struggling with a power unit problem. Towards the end of the race, the midfield cars closed up which took away any real options to do anything under a safety car, so we just focused on bringing the cars home. Happily we’ve not suffered too much of a dent in our championship today and we didn’t come here expecting to be the benchmark, so overall we are not too disappointed. However, whilst Montreal should suit our car more, the tyres will play a big role in the strategy there and unlikely Monaco, you can overtake. So, we’ ll be working hard over the next few days to make sure we understand our weaknesses. We had a tough weekend in Monaco last year and finished first and second in Montreal a few days later so we are confident that we can recover our form and will be aiming to do just that.

Alfa Romeo Sauber

This weekend's hard work by the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team in Monaco was seen during today's race with both drivers delivering a consistent and strong performance. On the demanding city track of Monte Carlo, the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team drivers were fighting in the midfield, with Charles Leclerc in P12 followed closely behind Marcus Ericsson in P13. They were managing the race well with a solid pace when, just a few laps before the chequered flag was waved, Charles Leclerc had to retire following a collision with the car ahead (Brendon Hartley) caused by a brake disc issue on his car. Marcus Ericsson made his way forward step-by-step, ultimately finishing the Monaco Grand Prix in P11.

Marcus Ericsson

"As expected, it was a tricky race for us. It was good though, and I am happy with my result. The focus of the race was on tyre management. It was challenging to keep them working in the right window, and make sure to not use them too quickly. It was tough to advance, as we were both stuck behind Brendon (Hartley) for the majority of the race. We lost a lot of time there. It was a good team effort overall, and there are a lot of positives. Next up is Montreal, which is a track that suits us much better. I look forward to that."

Charles Leclerc

"It was a tough race, and it is disappointing that I could not finish it. Everything was going quite well, we had a good pace, and were competitive in the midfield. We lost a bit of time getting stuck behind Brendon (Hartley) for much of the race and, being on a track where it is difficult to overtake, there was not much we could do. Unfortunately, there was an issue with my brakes just a few laps before finishing. I tried to avoid the car ahead, but there was nothing I could do. A shame, but I look forward to the next race in Canada now."

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal

"We had a strong pace in today's race with both of our drivers. They lost quite a bit of time behind Brendon Hartley, but still advanced and defended their positions well. The face of the race changed after Charles collided with Brendon ahead. He had an issue with his brake discs and could not avoid it. Marcus had a strong pace, especially towards the end of the race, when he was able to catch up with Sainz. Overall, a good job done by both of them, and we will make sure to continue to fight in the midfield in Montreal."

Nico Hülkenberg

“It’s a positive feeling today. I had the possibility of running a different strategy to Carlos and it worked well. It was a good recovery from a not so successful qualifying yesterday and I think eighth was the best we could do in the situation. My first stint was very successful. It was very difficult in the middle as I had a lot of graining, but the tyre recovered and I could do some very quick laps and it brought the race back to me. That’s the thing with Monaco; it can be crazy or it can be like today, but we made the most of the opportunities.”

Carlos Sainz
“It was a very difficult race for me. We changed tyres on lap 16 and then I had to do over 60 laps with the Ultrasoft tyre, which was not ideal due to the heavy graining we had. There wasn’t much I could do – the other cars on other strategies were just much quicker. Let’s look at everything calmly next week and come back stronger in Montreal.”

Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal
“It’s been a mixed weekend. The overall result is good; two cars in the points and a good cushion in fourth in the championship, but a race like this one exposes more of our weaknesses. Carlos did his best with the strategy, but experienced more severe tyre degradation than expected on his set of Ultrasofts. We have to thank him for playing the team game and helping us with the result today. Nico’s first tyres came back to life so we could implement the strategy that we had planned and he could secure eighth. Despite the fact it is a much better result than last year in Monaco, we were not as competitive as recent races and more work needs to be done on tyre management and understanding, as in the current situation we are almost better to start P11 and have a free tyre choice than to start within the first ten with the qualifying tyres. Clearly some teams ahead of us manage to make it work, so it is possible. Let’s move on to Montreal.”


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