Ferrari 1-2 in the Monaco sunshine
GERMAN SWEEPS TO VICTORY IN PRINCIPALITY Hamilton comes in seventh on a bad day for Mercedes.
Sebastian Vettel secured a memorable one-two for Ferrari in yesterday’s 75th Monaco Grand Prix to extend his world championship lead to a luxurious 25 points over Lewis Hamilton.
Taking full advantage of generous, if grim-faced, support from his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who led from pole position until the pit-stops, the four-time champion came home 3.1 seconds clear of the Finn.
Vettel’s success was Ferrari’s first here in 16 years since seven-time champion Michael Schumacher triumphed in 2001.
It was the 82nd 1-2 in the team’s history and celebrated noisily by the tifosi who had thronged into the circuit overnight.
It was also the 29-year-old German’s second Monaco triumph, his third win this year and the 45th of his career, lifting him 25 points clear of Mercedes’ Hamilton in the title race.
Vettel now has 129 points after six rounds of this year’s championship ahead of Hamilton on 104.
“Yes, yes, yes,” screeched Vettel after winning before launching into thanks for his team. “The two laps with old tyres, I gave it everything I had,” he said.
Raikkonen was stoney-faced and more taciturn than usual when retired 2016 champion Nico Rosberg interviewed him by the podium.
“Hard to say, really,” he responded when asked about his feelings. “It’s second place and it doesn’t feel good. This is how it is sometimes.”
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who was unlucky not to win last year, finished third for Red Bull, despite hitting the barrier at Ste Devote, ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes and Dutch teenager Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull.
Briton Jenson Button, back for one race to replace two-time champion Fernando Alonso, racing at the Indianapolis 500 later yesterday, retired his McLaren fter a collision with Pascal Wehrlein’s Sauber.
Wehrlein’s car finished on its side at Portier, but he was unhurt in the crash, which required a Safety Car intervention for six laps in the closing stages.
Hamilton finally came in after 45 laps from sixth, rejoining seventh, but Vettel was out of sight, nine seconds down the road and clear of Raikkonen, with Ricciardo a further five seconds adrift in third. – AFP