Blunder robs Hamilton of Monaco winposted in F124 | 05 | 2015
A CATASTROPHICALLY EMBARRASSING pitstop blunder by his Mercedes team robbed world championship leader Lewis Hamilton of a dominant victory in today's Monaco Grand Prix.
Having totally dominated the race from pole position, and established a 21-second lead with only 14 of the 78 laps remaining round the tight, twisting street circuit where track position is king, the race took a dramatic turn.
When Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen careered into the rear-right wheel of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean at Sainte Devote, for the first time in F1 the 'virtual safety car' sign was displayed. Soon after, the Safety Car was deployed.
For some reason — one which Mercedes immediately afterwards admitted was a complete error of judgment — the team called Hamilton into the pits to take on a set of super-soft compound tyres.
His Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel — who had been lying second and third respectively — then found themselves one and two as Hamilton merged from the pits.
In the space of 23s, Hamilton's virtually impregnable position had been destroyed by incompetency within the Mercedes camp.
Despite being on much faster rubber for the closing eight laps after the Safety Car period, Hamilton couldn't muscle his way past Vettel and he trailed in third, behind race winner Rosberg. It was the German's third successive win in F1's Blue Riband race.
Related: Hamilton bags first Monaco F1 pole
Hamilton,who, understandably, inside must have been screaming with frustration and anger, remained incredibly composed and positive post-race.
"I can't really express the way I'm feeling at the moment so I won't attempt to," Hamilton, who has seen his 20-point lead in the title race over Rosberg halved to just 10, said. "To be honest it happened so fast I don't remember. You rely on your team."
The double world champ explained he believed the cars behind him had pitted, so he assumed the team was calling him in to cover off the fact Rosberg and Vettel would be on fresher tyres when the race resumed after the safety car.
"I saw a screen and it looked like the team was out in the pits," Hamilton contimued. "It looked like Nico had pitted.
"I thought the guys behind were pitting, so when the team said stay out, I said the tyres were dropping temperature, and I was assuming that these guys would be on options and I would be on the harder tyre, so they said to pit.
"I did that and came in thinking with full confidence the others had done the same.
"This race has been close to my heart for many years. It was a great feeling in the race, I had so much pace. I didn't have to push too much.
"I could have doubled the lead if I needed. I'm grateful for that pace and I'll come back to fight another day: at the moment I can't think of anything else."
F1 Monaco Grand Prix — Result:
1. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 78 laps 1hr 31m 54.067s
2. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari +4.4s
3. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes +6.0s
4. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull-Renault +11.9s
5. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-Renault +13.6
6. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari +14.3s
7. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes +15.0s
8. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda +16.0s
9. Felipe Nasr BRZ Sauber-Ferrari +23.6s
10. Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Renault +25.0s
11. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes +26.2s
12. Romain Grosjean FRA Lotus-Mercedes +28.4s
13. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari +31.1s
14. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes +45.7s
15. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
16. Roberto Merhi ESP Manor-Ferrari +2 laps
17. Will Stevens GBR Manor-Ferrari +2 laps
Retired:
Max Verstappen NED Toro Rosso-Renault 63 laps completed
Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda 41 laps
Pastor Maldonado VEN Lotus-Mercedes 5 laps
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Jim McGill