Horse power
Vettel, Raikkonen first and second for Ferrari in Monaco
MONACO: The body language on the podium spoke volumes after Ferrari, Formula One’s most glamorous team, won the showcase Monaco Grand Prix for the first time in 16 years on Sunday.
Sebastian Vettel, following on from fellow-German great Michael Schumacher in 2001, beamed and conducted his jubilant mechanics from the podium as they belted out the Italian national anthem.
Kimi Raikkonen, the Finnish teammate who had led from pole for nearly half the race, stared straight ahead and set about glugging the champagne as soon as he could.
It was Ferrari’s first one-two finish since 2010 and chairman Sergio Marchionne was quick to hail “a race which will be part of our history... a really exciting race where we saw the real scuderia [team].”
But Raikkonen saw nothing to smile about and the question being asked elsewhere was whether Ferrari had manipulated the pit stops to ensure Vettel got ahead.
“It doesn’t feel awful good,” Raikkonen told Germany’s retired 2016 champion Nico Rosberg in interviews after the podium ceremonies. The former Mercedes driver replied that he knew how that felt.
Raikkonen told reporters he had “got the bad end of the story... it’s still second place but obviously it doesn’t count a lot in my books at least.”
He had been called in first for his pit stop and released into traffic, losing precious time while Vettel stayed out for five laps more and banged in a series of quick laps before pitting and then coming out ahead.
There is nothing illegal with ‘team orders’ but Raikkonen is one of Formula One’s most popular drivers and there were many hoping to see the 37-year-old 2007 champion roll back the years and win again.
Vettel, the championship leader who has now won three out of six races and has a 25 point lead over Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton, said no instructions were issued.
“From the team point of view, there was no plan of any team orders or anything,” he said. “I can understand that obviously Kimi’s not happy. I would feel exactly the same, 100 percent the same.
“The rule is pretty clear when you qualify ahead and you are ahead in the first stint, you get priority on the first stop and that’s what happened. As it turned out, obviously today it worked in my favour.”
The German also received some support f rom Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
“They [Ferrari] are finally where we were back in the days that you finished one-two and then you have to explain why the right guy won,” he said with a smile.
“I think we need to give them credit... they needed to pit one of the two drivers and put him on the super-soft (tyre). How it all panned out, the super-soft was not quick enough and Sebastian was able to pull out some stunning laps on the used ultra-soft.
“I don’t think they saw that coming. At the end of the day it’s the right result for the team and the drivers’ championship. But I don’t think it was orchestrated.”
RESULTS
1. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) 1hr 44min 44.340sec, 2. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) at 3.145, 3. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull) 3.745, 4. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/ Mercedes-AMG) 5.517, 5. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 6.199, 6. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Toro Rosso) 12.038, 7. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes-AMG) 15.801, 8. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas) 18.150, 9. Felipe Massa (BRA/Williams) 19.445, 10. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/ Haas) 21.443, 11. Jolyon Palmer (GBR/Renault) 22.737, 12. Estéban Ocon (FRA/Force India) 23.725, 13. Sergio Perez (MEX/Force India) 39.089,. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Toro Rosso) 7 laps,. Lance Stroll (CAN/Williams) at 7 laps
Did not finish
Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Renault), Pascal Wehrlein (GER/ Sauber), Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren), Marcus Ericsson (SWE/Sauber), Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL/McLaren), Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Toro Rosso), Lance Stroll (CAN/ Williams)
STANDINGS Drivers
1. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 129pts, 2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 104, 3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 75, 4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 67, 5. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 52, 6. Max Verstappen (NED) 45, 7. Sergio Perez (MEX) 34, 8. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) 25, 9. Felipe Massa (BRA) 20, 10. Estéban Ocon (FRA) 19, 11. Nico Hülkenberg (GER) 14, 12. Romain Grosjean (FRA) 9, 13. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 5, 14. Pascal Wehrlein (GER) 4, 15. Daniil Kvyat (RUS) 4
Constructors
1. Ferrari 196pts, 2. Mercedes-AMG 179, 3. Red Bull 97, 4. Force India 53, 5. Toro Rosso 29, 6. Williams 20, 7. Renault 14, 8. Haas 14, 9. Sauber 4