Nico wins in Monaco to make it a hat-trick of wins in the principality, with Lewis completing a double podium in P3
It was a bittersweet victory for the team today after accepting a mistake was made in pitting Lewis under the safety car, which ultimately cost him the win. Nico secured his second win of the season and made history at this circuit, becoming only the fourth driver to win three consecutive races in Monaco after Graham Hill, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
Nico ran option then prime stopping once on lap 37, with Lewis running option/prime/option, stopping on laps 38 and 65. Lewis leads Nico in the Drivers' World Championship by 10 points with Mercedes AMG Petronas heading Ferrari by 84 points in the Constructors' battle.
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: What a crazy day. I don't think there has ever been a more bittersweet feeling than this one. We have won the Monaco Grand Prix and we have lost the Monaco Grand Prix all at the same time. First of all, we must apologise to Lewis. We win and we lose together and what I am proud of in this team is that we take collective responsibility. But this is a day when we simply have to say sorry to our driver, because our mistake cost him the victory here. What happened? In simple terms, we got our numbers wrong. We thought we had the gap for Lewis to take fresh tyres and come back out in the lead behind the Safety Car, ahead of Nico and covering off any risk of another competitor taking fresh tyres. But the calculation was incorrect and he came out in third place. It was our decision to call him in and our mistake, pure and simple; in these situations, a driver trusts his team. Lewis had driven flawlessly until then and really delivered a perfect weekend, with a stunning pole lap and a masterful race. There's nothing more to say other than to highlight the grace with which he handled the situation; he was a leader and a true sportsman this afternoon. As for Nico, he didn't put a foot wrong all day, and it would be wrong if we didn't take the time to recognise his achievement: a third consecutive win in Monaco is something only three other drivers in history have achieved before. It is a very special moment indeed and one for him to savour. He didn't have the pace of Lewis today but, in this sport, you take the victories any way they come. This, too, is motor racing. We now need to stay calm and analyse how we made the mistake this afternoon. We will be harshly self-critical behind closed doors and this experience will make us a better and a stronger team in the races ahead. There is still a very long way to go in this championship and today showed that we have the performance in our car to do the job this year.
Christian Horner, Team Principal: "It was a great result for the team today and we maximised every opportunity that came our way in the race. It was all fairly static until the last safety car, which gave us the opportunity to have a free stop with Daniel and put a set of Supersofts on the car. He was able to get past Kimi on what was a great move to grab fifth. As Daniel was on the faster tyre, we switched the cars to see if he could have a go at the two guys fighting ahead, on the understanding that if he didn't make the place he would give it back to Dany on the last lap. Dany drove a very strong race, his best race so far this season and best ever result in F1. It was a great team performance and I think that was the best result we could have hoped for today."
Thierry Salvi, Renault: "This weekend has been extremely busy as we knew we could make a difference on this city track. We did the maximum we could at Viry over the last weeks to ensure reliability, but we also worked on the driveability, knowing that it is a key factor here. I think we're back in the right direction and got the first good result of the year. Both drivers had a very exciting race and were able to challenge the frontrunners right until the end. It's a strong result for the team and for Renault and we all deserved these precious points."
Valtteri Bottas finished 14th and Felipe Massa 15th in today's Monaco Grand Prix. Felipe had contact with another car at Turn 1 causing a front-right tyre puncture. His first lap pitstop for new tyres and a new front wing resulted in him re-joining at the back of the pack and unable to fight for any points. Starting P16, Valtteri struggled for pace and was further compromised by a late safety car. The team heads into the next race in Canada confident that the FW37 will show a marked improvement in performance and will be back challenging for points.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: It was quite a difficult weekend and we were nowhere near where we should be. At Monaco, if qualifying doesn't go well you have partly made your bed so we knew getting points was going to be tough. It wasn't a great race for us but we can't dwell too much as we are out of position. We have to look at all areas to see what went wrong here with the inherent car performance and set-up. We cannot return here in 2016 and repeat this performance. We now have to focus firmly on the next three races. We have a really good package and some healthy upgrades coming soon so we look forward to coming back stronger in Canada.
Today marked the sixth consecutive podium finish for the Scuderia in as many races this year. In 2007, we had five in a row. This is Scuderia Ferrari's 49th podium finish at the Monaco Grand Prix. With this result the team further consolidates second place in the Constructors' championsip.
Maurizio Arrivabene: "Congratulations to Seb for holding Hamilton back in the final laps of the race. It was no easy job because Lewis had super-soft tires, while Seb's Primes were low on pressure because of the laps he had done behind a very slow safety car. In the key moment of the race Iņaki Rueda, our race strategist, told everybody to keep calm and stay out on track, while the Mercedes came in for fresh tires. I am aware of the fact that we were lucky, our competitors are intelligent and very strong, but we outsmarted them this time. As for Kimi, he has a problem with qualifying, because he's always strong on race pace. When Ricciardo got past him, I was determined to have a hard look at the rules, but then I was told that now the move is allowed when the driver in front opens up the line and the one behind manages to put at least on wheel inside. So we respect the Stewards' decision. In the next races we'll not be standing still, we have some developments in the pipeline, but if luck comes again, we are prepared to take advantage. Anyway, so far we've always been on the podium this year, and the gap is not massive. Maybe on some tracks we will experience the same issues that we had in Barcelona, but on other circuits we can be stronger".
McLaren-Honda scored its first points of the season at Monaco today. Starting from 10th, Jenson Button drove a typically unruffled race to eighth, earning the team four points. In fact, Jenson was never out of the top 10 all afternoon; he moved past Pastor Maldonado when the Lotus driver encountered bra ke issues, then jumped Max Verstappen when the Dutchman was delayed in the pits.
The late-race Safety Car offered the opportunity to catch Sergio Perez, but he was unable to generate enough temperature in the tyres to mount a sustained challenge to the flag.
Fernando Alonso's race started well - he made a strong start to jump from 13th to 11th, but was given a five-second penalty (which he took at his pit-stop) for clashing with Nico Hulkenberg as the pair turned into Mirabeau on lap one. Fernando was the first driver to start on Primes, and his pace looked strong at the start of the race; however, his afternoon came to an end after 41 laps with an as-yet-unspecified overheating issue.
Eric Boullier, Racing director: "Since the beginning of the season we've been consistent in our messaging: we're all working extremely hard, and the result of that arduous toil is steady improvement.
"Today, thanks to Jenson's eighth place, our renewed McLaren-Honda partnership was rewarded with its first world championship points - a result that underlines that steady improvement.
"Okay, we've now squirrelled away four world championship points, but, although Jenson drove very well, we won't waste time celebrating that milestone. Yes, it's encouraging, but our ambitions run to far greater heights than eighth places. And we'll achieve them, believe me.
"For Fernando, finally, this afternoon was another frustrating one, and we're still investigating the cause of his retirement. He, too, drove very well, and, had his car proved reliable, would also have scored world championship points."
Yasuhisa Arai, Honda R&D senior managing officer - chief officer of motorsport: "Thanks to Jenson's steady run, and the team's effort to improve the power unit's driveability for Monaco, we earned our first points of the season today. It feels like we've now finally arrived at the start-line of the race calendar.
"As for Fernando, he left the garage feeling confident that he could finish in the points. He was running well in the race - and I also felt confident that we could see both cars in the top 10 for the first time this season - but, unfortunately, a drive-fail warning popped up and ended his race prematurely.
"As always, McLaren-Honda will keep pushing as a team and work towards better results at the next race."
Sahara Force India scored six points today as Sergio Perez raced to seventh place - securing his first points finish on the streets of Monaco. Teammate Nico Hulkenberg recovered to P11 after being pushed into the wall by Fernando Alonso on lap one of the race.
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director: "Monaco always gives us an opportunity to shine and seventh place for Sergio is a fantastic result for the team. We did most of the hard work yesterday in qualifying and Sergio delivered a faultless performance this afternoon. He should be very proud of scoring his first points in Monaco. I feel very disappointed for Nico who was unlucky to be hit by Fernando. He had similar pace to Sergio and would surely have scored good points as well. With six points we have moved up to sixth in the championship. The team is doing a tremendous job and the result today helps keep the pressure on the teams around us."
Romain Grosjean drove a distinguished Monaco Grand Prix to fight back into a point scoring position from his P15 start, but ultimately finished twelfth after an overambitious move from a rival driver, whilst Pastor Maldonado suffered from a suspected hydraulic leak meaning he had to retire from the race.
Lotus F1 Team ran with branding for the creative force that is Pharrell Williams in today's race to highlight the start of a new global collaborative marketing partnership between Lotus F1 Team and Pharrell Williams.
Romain started from P15 on the grid on fresh super soft compound tyres, changing to new soft tyres on lap 17. Pastor started from P8 on the grid on his qualifying super soft tyres before retiring with five laps completed.
Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: "What a frustrating day for both our drivers. Pastor was in a great position to score well but a technical issue meant he had to retire. Romain was also looking like getting a point after his penalty-place start but was robbed of that by an incident. The positives are that both drivers remain optimistic and full of praise for the car. Monaco is always a unique event and for us we started something special with our new relationship with Pharrell Williams. We're looking forward to Canada for many reasons."
Nick Chester, Technical Director: "With Romain we did all we could with strategy to assist him to move up the order, and he was in tenth position after starting fifteenth, but he was taken off by Max Verstappen. For Pastor it was a real shame as he was in a strong position with a quick car with seventh position looking like a strong probability. Unfortunately he suffered from what looks like was a hydraulic leak which meant we had to retire him. Despite less than positive results here, we could see good pace from the E23, meaning we're quietly confident heading to the next races."
The Monaco Grand Prix ended positively for the Sauber F1 Team after a rather difficult weekend. Marcus Ericsson was 13th, while Felipe Nasr managed to finish the race in P9, bringing the team two world championship points. In total the Sauber F1 Team has 21 points, and is fifth in the constructors' championship.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "An encouraging result, especially when you take into account how the weekend had gone up to the race. Felipe drove a good race. In Monaco you need to drive intelligently and be patient while waiting for chances. This is what he has done. Marcus did the same, unfortunately was not rewarded with points, but he also put in a solid performance. The whole team did a very good job - here at the track and also at the factory in Hinwil."
Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Head of Track Engineering: "Earning two points here in Monaco is undoubtedly a good achievement, especially when considering our practice results. Felipe achieved the best out of his 14th starting position, which was also thanks to a few retirements. He was able to keep up well from the start on, so we adapted our strategy to our direct competitors. During the safety car period we called him in for his second pit stop, because we expected not to loose a position. Marcus was stuck in traffic more, so we went for a different strategy with his first pit stop planned early in the race. Felipe and Marcus both did a good job. Driving a troublefree race on this street circuit over 78 laps is not at all easy."
Roberto Merhi ended his debut Monaco Grand Prix in 16th position today, achieving the best result of his rookie season so far. His team-mate Will Stevens made it another two-car finish for the Manor Marussia F1 Team, bringing his car home in 17th position having experienced a more frustrating Monaco debut after sustaining front wing damage early in the race.
John Booth, Team Principal: "Roberto drove a strong race today and was clearly relishing his debut at this historic circuit. He had good pace and has started to find a better groove after struggling rather more at the last race in Spain. For Will things were a little more frustrating as it seems that damage to his front wing was more severe than was apparent, so it was a long race for him. Nonetheless, we are pleased to get both cars home for the fourth race in succession and to see we have improved the car a little here versus the teams directly ahead. It hasn't been an easy week for the team as this event carries so much significance for us, but we have achieved our target of a strong race and a two-car finish. Although it is a very different result to the one we left Monaco with 12 months ago, in the context of this year it is a good performance."
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg has won the Monaco Grand Prix using a one-stop strategy, starting on the P Zero Red supersoft tyre and then switching to the P Zero Yellow soft. The German now becomes only the fourth driver in history to win the Monaco Grand Prix for three consecutive years, after claiming his second consecutive victory of the 2015 season to close up the fight for the championship.
The race was turned on its head by a safety car period close to the finish, during which Lewis Hamilton lost the lead that he had held from pole position, after making an extra pit stop to change to the supersoft.
The majority of drivers stopped just once after starting on the supersoft tyre, although Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, McLaren's Fernando Alonso, Williams driver Valtteri Bottas and both Manors started on the soft tyre.
Temperatures were generally cool throughout practice and qualifying but warmed up during race day, peaking at 42 degrees centigrade on track, which improved the grip from both compounds. As usual, wear and degradation was minimal on the least abrasive and slowest circuit of the year. This made maintaining tyre temperature crucial after five laps of the safety car.
A particularly impressive drive came from the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz, which started from last place following a penalty post-qualifying. The Spaniard got up to a points-scoring 10th on his Monaco debut, using a one-stop strategy. Crucial to his strategy was a 66-lap stint on the soft tyre at the end of the race.
Rosberg set his fastest lap of the race just two laps from the finish, when his final set of soft tyres were already 39 laps old.
Paul Hembery: "I was as surprised as everyone else to see the final pit stop that decided the outcome of the race. But that shouldn't take anything away from the great job that Lewis Hamilton did throughout the entire weekend. It just goes to show that it's never over until the chequered flag falls in Formula One: a fact that Nico Rosberg clearly appreciated today! The long safety car period at the end of the race obviously made maintaining tyre temperatures important at the re-start. In the end, we saw a spectacular finish, with the one-stop strategy that we predicted for the race used by the vast majority of competitors."
Truth-O-Meter
We predicted a one-stopper as the most likely winning scenario for the 78-lap race, and this is what Hamilton chose. Our prediction said that after starting on supersoft, the best time to put on the softs would be from lap 27 onwards. In the end, the drivers ran longer on the supersoft than expected: Rosberg made his sole stop on lap 37.
