2019 MONACO GP

In the wake of the death of Niki Lauda, who had been so instrumental in persuading Hamilton to join the Silver Arrows, emotions were high at Monaco. And this time it was a strategic error from Mercedes that made life tougher for Hamilton.

He had led from the start after taking a fine pole, and all looked normal until a safety car period brought the leaders in on lap 11 of 78. Mercedes opted to put medium Pirellis on Hamilton’s car, while Red Bull and Ferrari went for hard tyres for Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel respectively.

Racing went green again on lap 15, giving Hamilton the task of conducting a mammoth 64-lap stint on the softer compound. Not for the first time Hamilton expressed his frustration over the radio, but that didn’t prevent him putting in a well-judged drive, looking after the rubber and not making mistakes, while keeping arguably the most aggressive driver on the grid – Verstappen – behind him.

Verstappen had extra motivation to pass Hamilton, thanks to a 5s penalty for a clash with Valtteri Bottas during the pitstops. His big attack finally came on lap 76. Verstappen was close enough to the struggling Mercedes to try an ambitious move down the inside into the chicane (left). Hamilton demonstrated his sixth-sense-like racecraft by straightening up as the Red Bull arrived, taking the sting out of the inevitable contact and allowing the Mercedes to come out still ahead. It was easy to imagine a more destructive clash had any other driver in the field been in the lead car.

“I think it was one of the hardest races I’ve had,” said Hamilton. “It was one of the most strategic drives that I think I have ever had to do in terms of finding that balance around the track to try to keep the gap. I definitely touched the barrier a lot of times.”