Ricciardo closed on Hamilton as they went through the tunnel with the Mercedes cutting the chicane and then bullishly blocking his rival as he came under attack on the outside on the run to Tabac.
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Force India’s Sergio Perez took the final place on the podium with Sebastian Vettel in fourth for Ferrari.
The next race is the Canadian Grand Prix on June 12.
Nasr received team orders to let Ericsson through but apparently ignored them, so a determined Ericsson went for a gap that simply did not exist and they both collided at the Rascasse turn.
Daniel Ricciardo claimed his maiden Formula One pole in qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, and claims he had a feeling he would be able to pull it off.
“That was the longest run (with ultra-soft tyres), it was insane how long it was”.
And while Hamilton’s cause was aided by a disastrous second pit stop for Red Bull – which took 13 seconds and saw Ricciardo emerge nearly exactly alongside Hamilton – the Briton says the focus and skill it took to stay ahead on track, in changing conditions and against a faster vehicle, made the triumph incredibly sweet.
He cut the lead of teammate Nico Rosberg from 43 points to 24, with a race win worth 25.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – who became the youngest victor of an F1 race at the Spanish GP two weeks ago – has crashed out of the Formula One race in Monaco.
The 18-year-old was an early casualty of the session, getting too close to the barriers on the entry to the Swimming Pool section.
Hamilton’s miserable season has been littered with technical faults and crashes but he began to claw his way back towards the top of the pile with a near-faultless drive around the French province.
Sebastian Vettel was fourth for Ferrari, ahead of Fernando Alonso’s McLaren. But at the same time as this it was Renault teammate Jolyon Palmer who brought out the virtual safety auto after losing it on the pit-straight.
Hulkenberg produced a fine lap of 1:14.726, just enough to beat the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.
Raikkonen lost control of his auto after breaking too late going into a hairpin, locked his wheels and slammed into the barrier.
It can not have been easy being Daniel Ricciardo in the paddock in Barcelona two weeks ago following the Spanish Grand Prix.
Because of poor visibility and a drenched circuit, the first few laps were behind a safety auto. It was a hard qualifying but the good thing is I did get out to do a lap, so it is not as bad as some of the races have been. “This is a tough start today and we have to deal with it”.
Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified in third place, a remarkable recovery after he suffered a fuel pressure problem at the start of the final session and had to be pushed back along the pitlane.
On the restart, the battle between the front two resumed with Ricciardo nearly taking Hamilton at Turn 11 before the gap closed.
This year, the events are a week apart and there’s a notable absence of big names so far.
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“The good thing was that I could get out and do a lap”.
