Mercedes “sorry” for Hamilton’s race-losing pit stop

Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff apologised to Lewis Hamilton after a pit strategy error cost him an almost-certain victory in the Monaco Grand Prix.

Hamilton was leading comfortably when Mercedes chose to bring him into the pits during a late Safety Car period. It proved a misjudgement which cost him the race, allowing Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel past.

“There is nothing else to do than apologise to Lewis,” said Wolff, “it was a misjudgement in the heat of the moment”.

“I’m sorry for Lewis that we made the mistake and I’m sorry for Lewis. It should have been a perfect one-two today. We made a decision and it was the wrong decision. We need to analyse it and to apologise to Lewis.”

“I’m sure we’ll sit down afterwards and try and think of ways we can improve,” said Hamilton after the podium ceremony.

“It was not the easiest of races,” he added. “The team has been amazing all year long. We win and lose together. I’m just grateful for the job they did. Congratulations to Nico and Sebastian.”

Verstappen penalised for Grosjean crash

Max Verstappen has been given a grid penalty and penalty points on his licences for his collision with Romain Grosjean.

Verstappen will lose five place on the grid at the next round in Canada and has been given two penalty points.

The Toro Rosso driver blamed Grosjean for the collision, saying his rival braked early for the corner. However the stewards ruled that “car 33 [Verstappen] caused the collision with car 8 [Grosjean] in turn one.”

Kvyat ‘massively relieved’ after last-lap pass for fourth

Daniil Kvyat described his relief at taking the best finish of his career so far after his team mate let him by for fourth place at Monaco.

Kvyat had let Daniel Ricciardo by into fourth a few laps earlier as his team mate had switched to the softer tyres in an attempt to make a pass for a podium position. When he wasn’t able to the team told him to let Kvyat back through.

“It was a strategy gamble they tried with him,” Kvyat confirmed to reporters after the race. “He was meant to overtake the people in front, the Mercedes and Ferrari, but it didn’t happen.”

“So then we stick to the fair plan because they tried the strategy with him, not with me.”

Kvyat’s best finish until today had been a string of ninth place finishes. “It was a very positive day,” he said. “It was my highest, by far, career finish in F1.”

“So to be fair massive relief. Next step, you know where it is. I’m feeling actually quite happy at the moment.”

Kvyat had come under some criticism from Red Bull motorsport director Helmut Marko in the run-up to the race, who suggested his results weren’t good enough. “The bits were there for a good race but we were missing out a little bit first races,” said Kvyat.

“This race seemed to come in our favour a little bit more, this track more adapted to us. But hopefully now we can carry on this momentum on the next races. So all in all it was a very positive weekend.”

2015 Monaco Grand Prix result

Pos # Driver Car Laps Time/gap Difference Reason
1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 78 1hr 49m 18.420s
2 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 78 4.486 4.486
3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 78 6.053 1.567
4 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 78 11.965 5.912
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 78 13.608 1.643
6 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 78 14.345 0.737
7 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 78 15.013 0.668
8 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 78 16.063 1.050
9 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 78 23.626 7.563
10 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso-Renault 78 25.056 1.430
11 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 78 26.232 1.176
12 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Mercedes 78 28.415 2.183
13 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 78 31.159 2.744
14 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 78 45.789 14.630
15 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 77 1 lap 1 lap
16 98 Roberto Merhi Manor-Ferrari 76 2 laps 1 lap
17 28 Will Stevens Manor-Ferrari 76 2 laps 3.682
Not classified
33 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 62 16 laps 14 laps Accident
14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 41 37 laps 21 laps Transmission
13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Mercedes 5 73 laps 36 laps Brakes

Rosberg lucks into third Monaco win in a row

Nico Rosberg took a surprise third consecutive Monaco Grand Prix victory in a race which his team mate was dominating until a late Safety Car period.

Lewis Hamilton was leading comfortably until a collision between,Max Verstappen and Romain Grosjean caused the Safety Car deployment which changed the outcome of the race.

Mercedes took the opportunity to give Hamilton a fresh set of tyres, but he was unable to rejoin the track before the chasing Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel arrived. After the Safety Car came in Hamilton was unable to pass the Ferrari driver for second place, leaving Rosberg to win as he pleased.

Hamilton briefly came under pressure from Daniel Ricciardo, who had adopted the same strategy, overtaken Kimi Raikkonen and been waved through by team mate Daniil Kvyat. Having failed to pass Hamilton, Ricciardo let Kvyat back into fourth on the final tour.

Raikkonen took sixth ahead of Sergio Perez while Jenson Button claimed McLaren’s first points of the season with eighth place. Team mate Fernando Alonso retired with a technical problem.

Felipe Nasr and Carlos Sainz Jnr completed the points scorers, the latter having started from the pit lane.