What did we learn from the Monaco Grand Prix?
As the 2019 FIA Formula One Championship reached its sixth round, the Monaco Grand Prix, Mercedes continued its domination with its sixth victory in a row.
Lewis Hamilton scored the triumph for the Anglo-German marque while his team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished the race third. Mercedes scored five one-two finishes at the start of the season and with Sebastian Vettel grabbing the second place, this incredible series came to an end.
Three – Lewis Hamilton scored his third Monaco Grand Prix victory on Sunday, making himself the most successful driver on the current grid. Kimi Räikkönen and Daniel Ricciardo both have won once in the Principality while Sebastian Vettel have scored two wins. With his third triumph, Lewis Hamilton joined the trio of Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart and Nico Rosberg in terms of Monaco race victories.
Nine – While the majority of the field recorded its fastest race lap towards the end of the race, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen registered their best lap time on lap 9. The reason for that was the early safety car period which urged the leaders into the pit. Because Hamilton had the medium compound for his second stint while his rivals the hard, the Briton had to conserve his tyres by circulating around 1.5s slower per lap.
1:14.279 – Red Bull managed to snatch away the one additional point for the fastest race lap. Being in no danger from behind, Red Bull instructed Pierre Gasly to come into the pits towards the end of the race. The Frenchman had a time gap of over a pit stop behind, so he did not lose any places with his extra stop for fresh tyres. Valtteri Bottas was also desperate to secure the additional point on his used medium tyres. Tracelling behind Sebastian Vettel, the Finn completed some slower laps to prepare his tyres and charge up his batteries before going for the fastest race lap, Despite setting the best lap at that point, Red Bull won thie particular battle thanks to the much fresher tyres.
300th – This weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix marked a big achievement for Kimi Räikkönen. The race represented his 300th presence at an F1 race weekend. However, it was his 297th race starts as he missed three starts – the 2001 Belgian GP due to a transmission problem, the 2005 United States GP due to tyre issues and the 2017 Malaysian GP because of engine problems.
The longest once again – The avarage speed on the tight streets of Monte-Carlo is the lowest of the season at 160kph. To complete the race comfortably under the two-hour time limit, the race distance is in Monaco only 260.286km instead of 305km. Despite to the shorter distance, the race is the longest in terms of race time. The winner of the race, Lewis Hamilton needed 1 hour 43 minutes and 28.437 seconds to complete the 78 laps which also included a safety car period.
A successful day – McLaren could leave Monaco with relief and happiness. Carlos Sainz ended the sixth round of the season in the sixth position, adding eight points to his own and McLaren point tally. On top of that, the Spaniard’s pit visit was the shortest in the entire race. The former Formula Renault champion needed only 23.795s to enter the pit, get new tyres and leave the pit.
Series of penalties – Race stewards handed out penalties to five drivers. Max Verstappen was given a five-second penalty because of an unsafe release during his sole pit stop. His team Red Bull was too ambitious when releasing the Dutchman to gain a position on Valtteri Bottas which ended in a clash between the two drivers in the end. Lance Stroll was handed a five-second penalty and a penalty point for cutting Turn 10 and gaining time so. Kevin Magnussen was given the very same penalty for the very same infringement. Antonio Giovinazzi received a ten-second time penalty for crashing into the car of Robert Kubica at Turn 18. Romain Grosjean was given the same penalty as his team-mate Magnussen, albeit for another infringement: the Frenchman crossed the white line while exiting the pit lane after the pit stop.
Six – So many different team managed to score points on Sunday. Mercedes, Red Bull and Toro Rosso collected points with two cars while Ferrari, McLaren, Haas and Renault increased their points tally with one of their cars.
Williams upped its game – After the miserable start to the season, Williams’ performance during the Monaco Grand Prix was a definite step in the right direction. George Russell ended the race in the 15th place, beating Lance Stroll, KImi Räikkönen, Robert Kubica and Antonio Giovinazzi. While Lewis Hamilton was preserving his tyres at the front, the young Briton was able to mirror the reigning champion’s pace. „I got into the rhythm and my engineer came on the radio and said you are lapping the same pace as the leaders,” he said.
Wow, Honda! – Since the start of the season, Honda supports two teams, four cars with their power unit. The Monaco Grand Prix marked the first race that the Japanese manufacturer could score points with all four Honda-driven cars.
Superstars – The Monaco Grand Prix has made its name not only with its tight streets which make it the ultimate test of man and machine, but also with its glamourous setting. That is why the venue of often visited by stars. Sunday’s race was no exception in that regard with starts like Winnie Harlow, Cristiano Ronaldo, José Mourinho, Radamel Falcao and Odell Beckham visiting the 66th F1 race in the Principality.
The increasing gap – With his fourth win of the season, Lewis Hamilton increased his lead in the championship to 17 points to his team-mate Valtteri Bottas. Sebastian Vettel reconquered the third place in the standings, but he is already 55 points adrift of the Briton. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes enjoys a daunting lead of 118 points in front Ferrari while Red Bull are a further 29 points behind.
