Mercedes wins again as Verstappen’s failure to accept a penalty moved him from runner-up to fifth place.
MONTE CARLO, Monaco, May 26, 2019—Holding back the only set of tires he had Sunday, Lewis Hamilton was still able to hold off a hard-charging Max Verstappen to win his third Grand Prix of Monaco.
But while the outcome wasn’t remarkable (it was Hamilton’s third win in six races so far in 2019), the circumstances were unusual.
Earlier, Verstappen had been penalized for an unsafe pit release by his Red Bull team. The penalty, which was to have been issued as a five-second infraction, was never served. So, even though Verstappen finished second, race officials demoted him to fifth place. That decision elevated Sebastian Vettel to second. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, finished third.
For Hamilton, it was not just a tough race, but an emotional one, too, following the death of one of the team’s managers, F1 legend Niki Lauda, this past week. “That is probably the hardest race I have had,” Hamilton said. “I was fighting with the spirit of Niki (Lauda). Niki has been an influential part of our team, and I was trying to stay focused and make him proud. It has been the goal all week.”
Hamilton took the lead right from the start, together with Bottas, Verstappen, and Vettel who, as a group, pulled away from the rest of the grid.
The only safety car period followed for a couple of laps but, while most flew into the pits, Hamilton stayed out. Verstappen got out in front of Bottas while pitting, but the release from Verstappen’s team was unsafe because the team did not see Bottas coming close to them down the pit.
Verstappen and Bottas went side-by-side down the straight until Bottas sustained a puncture when he collided with Verstappen. Bottas knew race officials would investigate the incident. Only two minutes later, officials issued Verstappen a five-second penalty the next time he went into the pits.
But Verstappen now found himself in second place, and Hamilton’s tires were wearing down. Verstappen’s were getting stronger and, by the end of the race, the two were battling for the lead. Then, only a few laps from the end, the two drivers touched into the next corner after coming out of the tunnel. Thankfully, the touch was without incident.
Hamilton knew that the longer he led, the better chance he had for another victory. In the end, Verstappen’s attempt was in vain, and Hamilton walked away with a 2.6-second win over Vettel, who himself began to lose grip on his tires, which was the lone exception for him in an otherwise calm race.
In a race known for its attrition, only Leclerc retired from the race, doing so on lap 19. Even with new tires, Leclerc had too much damage from his incident.
Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Pierre Gasly, took a fine fifth, while Carlos Sainz Jr. gave McLaren additional points finishing in sixth. Toro Rosso received double points with Dani Kvyat and Alexander Albon taking seventh and eighth, respectively. Daniel Ricciardo finished in ninth with his Renault after the American Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean was penalized late (issued five seconds), which took him down to tenth. Kevin Magnussen finished 12th in the other Haas F1 car.
Despite issues with his tires, Hamilton was not ready to give up the lead at any point. “I was never going to come in,” he said, “but I was confused. I remember in 2007 when I did this and lost the race. I was not going to come in whether I crashed or pitted. I was driving on nothing to see how much understeer I had.”
Then, in perhaps an understatement of the F1 year, Hamilton proclaimed that “the team has done an incredible job…. They are remarkable!”
Mercedes has won every race this year, and Hamilton is 17 points clear of his Mercedes’ teammate (Valtteri Bottas) as the year’s top driver.
Mercedes will try to keep that streak alive when the circuit moves to North America. The Grand Prix du Canada will be run on Sunday, June 9.
