Rosberg makes it a double in Monaco

Germany’s Nico Rosberg won the showcase Monaco Grand Prix for the second year in a row yesterday to snatch back the Formula One world championship lead from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Rosberg’s second victory of the year, from a controversial pole position that had ratcheted up the tension between the two title rivals, took his points tally after six of 19 races to 122 with Hamilton on 118.

Hamilton, who complained 13 laps from the end that he had something in his eye and could not see properly, was second as domi- nant Mercedes chalked up a sixth win in a row and fifth successive one-two finish.

‘‘It’s a special win, definitely,’’ Rosberg said of a fifth career victory that ended his team-mate’s run of four in a row and came on the streets he has known since boyhood.

‘‘Lewis has had the momentum with the results and everything and I really needed to try to break that momentum . . . I managed to do that this weekend.’’

Australian Daniel Ricciardo took third after chasing Hamilton nose-to-tail to the finish while quadruple world champion team- mate Sebastian Vettel, in his 100th race for Red Bull, retired after eight laps with a turbo problem.

After coping with two safety car interludes, Rosberg took the chequered flag 9.2 seconds ahead of Hamilton after the two had spent the first half of the race barely a second apart.

Hamilton, who had simmered on Sunday when he suggested Rosberg might have deliberately brought out yellow warning flags in qualifying to slow the Briton and deny him pole, had a comparatively low-key afternoon.

The wheel-banging drama and Ayrton Senna-Alain Prost style rivalry that some had expected, or hoped for, never materialised even if Hamilton was certainly not about to extend a dinner invitation to his team-mate afterwards.

He had talked enigmatically about taking a leaf out of Senna’s book, translated by some as referring to the late McLaren driver’s notorious first corner collisions with Prost, but he kept his calm.

‘‘I drove with all my heart and gave it all I could, fairly . . . I feel like I drove fairly all weekend,’’ Hamilton said. ‘‘So I leave today quite happy and I can go into the next race with even more energy and determination.’’

His hopes had faded long before the end anyway when he told his team over the radio about his vision problem.

‘‘It was just something that came through the visor – it was nothing important,’’ he said.

‘‘It was a good day for us – it’s very important for the team to get another one-two. I had great pace and I felt I was strong but it’s incredibly difficult to overtake.’’

In a 78 lap race of attrition, with only 14 finishers out of the starting 22 on a dry but overcast afternoon, Rosberg lapped all but the three cars behind him.