With rain greeting the drivers at the Monaco Grand Prix, tyre strategy was vital to winning the race. Things were looking positive for the pole sitter, Daniel Ricciardo, as the race started behind the safety car, but his chance for victory was wiped out by one critical mistake in the pits.
Having started on the full wet tyres, as per the regulations regarding safety car starts, most of the drivers opted to change to the intermediate tyres as the track conditions began to improve and the dry racing line was increasing. Daniel Ricciardo was one of the drivers to take this strategy, but Lewis Hamilton chose a different strategy. Hamilton opted to remain on the wet tyres until the conditions were good enough for the slick tyre compounds, when he would change to the ultrasoft tyre compound.
A single lap after Hamilton’s pitstop, Red Bull decided to attempt to overcut Mercedes. This strategy may have worked, except for a massive pit lane issue which ultimately cost Ricciardo the victory. Due to a communication error between the team management and the team members in the garage, the car was stationary for almost a quarter of a minute while the team mechanics rushed to get the tyres for the car. This lost Ricciardo valuable time and a chance to challenge Hamilton for a race victory.
Despite finishing on the podium, Daniel Ricciardo was still disappointed by the race result:
“On the extremes in the beginning we were quick and I did everything I had to. I asked a couple of times how the people on inters were doing but they said that my pace was really good on the extremes so we stayed out and that was no problem. And then they said “box this lap”. We put the inters on and then we came out behind Lewis. Then when Lewis pitted we tried to pit the lap later to overcut him. It was all prepared and then I came into the pits and there were no tyres.
I actually hate being like this. I hate being miserable. I got a podium in Monaco. I should be extremely happy, grateful and thankful.I’ve been fast now for two races and that’s the positive, but again no win so I’m a little bit sick of being fast and not getting any real rewards. I don’t like being the sad story. To end it on a positive note, we are fast in all conditions, which is good.”
After coming out from the pit lane, Ricciardo was behind Hamilton. Some fantastic lap times allowed Ricciardo to close the gap to Hamilton, but a combination of traffic and the difficult nature of overtaking in Monaco, he was unable to pass the Mercedes, despite getting close to his gearbox. Even Hamilton admitted that the victory was largely due to Red Bull’s issues, saying, “If he [Ricciardo] hadn’t had a bad stop I wouldn’t have been ahead.”
“A very disappointing day,” Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, explained after the race. “We as a team owe Daniel a huge apology today as we failed to support him in the way we did to get him to his first pole position yesterday. The delay at his pit stop cost him the lead and despite some excellent driving to get close to Lewis, he couldn’t get past, as is so often the case here in Monaco.”
On the other side of the garage, Max Verstappen started from the back of the grid, having crashed early in qualifying on Saturday. Things were positive for Verstappen during the race, as he was able to master the wet track conditions and make some good overtakes. Things took a turn for the worse, as a crash into the barrier put a premature end to his race.
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