Mercedes got it all wrong in the last 8 laps and tied themselves up in knots. If not, the heading would perhaps have something to do with an adventurous 17 year old named Max Verstappen.
The start of the race had a bit of promise, with Nico having being edged out of pole by a mere 3 tenths of a second tried to make amends by challenging Hamilton into the first corner. However he had to back off to defend second position from an opportunistic Vettel trying to slot in through the outside.
Hulkenberg was shouldered out by Alonso and Massa too had an incident at the back of the grid. And all was calm. The Monaco track lived up to it's reputation of being notoriously difficult to overtake. Ferrari tried the undercut on Mercedes by pitting Vettel early but the Silver team proved to be alert and covered it nicely to retain track position for Rosberg. And all was calm...that is till a young gun named Max Verstappen decided to put on his thinking cap and try to make it into a points scoring position.
His strategy was simple. As a back marker he pasted himself to the rear of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari as it lapped other back markers. As the back markers moved aside for Sebastian coming through, Vestappen followed Vettel to make up a position. By the time the fellow racers realised what was going on he was through in Sebastian's wake. A couple of positions were made up in quick succession. However Renault warned Grosjean on what was transpiring. Grosjean cleverly used the Grand Hotel haripin to let Vettel through and prevent Vestappen from following through. On the softs with newer tires Vestappen was much quicker and looked set to pass Grosjean. On the start straight, he sold Grosjean a dummy to the left and jinked to the right and tried to pass Grosjean on the inside. Grosjean held his line and braked a bit early with disasterous consequences. Vestappen barged straight into the right rear of Grosjean destroying his front suspension and crashing into the barrier at over 200kmph. Luckily he wa able to climb out of the car and walk away. A thin line between a hero and a zero.
However this guy is someone to watch out for with a very intelligent and mature head on his young shoulders. A definite future champion.
In the ensuing safety car period Mercedes suddeny decided that with a 21 second gap it would be a good idea to pit Hamilton. However this meant that Nico and Vettel were handed first and second on a silver platter. As Hamilton joined the grid both leading cars passed him.
The race ended in the same order. The championship is now closer with Hamilton's lead whittled down to 10 points. Now if only Ferrari's promised upgrades mount a mighty challenge to the Silver Arrows and we would have a stunner of a season!!
The start of the race had a bit of promise, with Nico having being edged out of pole by a mere 3 tenths of a second tried to make amends by challenging Hamilton into the first corner. However he had to back off to defend second position from an opportunistic Vettel trying to slot in through the outside.
Hulkenberg was shouldered out by Alonso and Massa too had an incident at the back of the grid. And all was calm. The Monaco track lived up to it's reputation of being notoriously difficult to overtake. Ferrari tried the undercut on Mercedes by pitting Vettel early but the Silver team proved to be alert and covered it nicely to retain track position for Rosberg. And all was calm...that is till a young gun named Max Verstappen decided to put on his thinking cap and try to make it into a points scoring position.
His strategy was simple. As a back marker he pasted himself to the rear of Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari as it lapped other back markers. As the back markers moved aside for Sebastian coming through, Vestappen followed Vettel to make up a position. By the time the fellow racers realised what was going on he was through in Sebastian's wake. A couple of positions were made up in quick succession. However Renault warned Grosjean on what was transpiring. Grosjean cleverly used the Grand Hotel haripin to let Vettel through and prevent Vestappen from following through. On the softs with newer tires Vestappen was much quicker and looked set to pass Grosjean. On the start straight, he sold Grosjean a dummy to the left and jinked to the right and tried to pass Grosjean on the inside. Grosjean held his line and braked a bit early with disasterous consequences. Vestappen barged straight into the right rear of Grosjean destroying his front suspension and crashing into the barrier at over 200kmph. Luckily he wa able to climb out of the car and walk away. A thin line between a hero and a zero.
However this guy is someone to watch out for with a very intelligent and mature head on his young shoulders. A definite future champion.
In the ensuing safety car period Mercedes suddeny decided that with a 21 second gap it would be a good idea to pit Hamilton. However this meant that Nico and Vettel were handed first and second on a silver platter. As Hamilton joined the grid both leading cars passed him.
The race ended in the same order. The championship is now closer with Hamilton's lead whittled down to 10 points. Now if only Ferrari's promised upgrades mount a mighty challenge to the Silver Arrows and we would have a stunner of a season!!
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