Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany steers his auto during the Formula One Grand Prix at the Monaco racetrack in Monaco, Sunday, May 29, 2016.
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However, with the rain pouring down in Monaco news would come through that the race would begin under a safety vehicle.
Red Bull was not ready with the tyres when Ricciardo came in from the race lead for slicks, and the resultant delay as a set of super-softs was brought out meant he emerged just behind eventual victor Lewis Hamilton.
The race started again on lap 10 after the debris was cleaned of the track, and Ricciardo moved away from the Mercedes as Rosberg was once again holding back Hamilton and all the others.
Lewis Hamilton took his 44th career victory today – his second at the Circuit de Monaco and first of 2016.
The 30-year-old German, who leads defending champion Hamilton by 24 points in this year’s drivers’ world championship, finished seventh in his home event.
Because of poor visibility and a drenched circuit, the first few laps were behind a safety auto.
Ricciardo was leading the pack after a good start, but “a miscommunication meant Red Bull had no tyres ready for him and the Australian was stationary for a very costly 13.6s”.
The Australian driver was unforgiving, saying “everyone was running around like headless chucks (chickens)”. “Massively, massively disappointed”, Ricciardo added.
He said he had no argument with the team’s request for him to move over and allow Hamilton to pass him during the first phase of the race.
“Then the pit stop was the pit stop”.
Ricciardo stood watching, glum-faced, but did shake Hamilton’s hand.
Overnight rain continued throughout the morning in Monaco with conditions sufficiently treacherous that the race was started under the safety auto for the first time in its history.
Hamilton recognised he had been through a tough time.
Eventually, the team fitted super-softs and got him out, but as he exited the pits Hamilton swept around the outside to retake the lead. I didn’t have the pace to fight for the win and we need to understand why.
“I don’t know, I don’t want to comment on the race to be honest”, said the dejected Aussie. I got the call, so they should have been ready.
Shortly after, a race engineer tried to reassure Ricciardo, saying “get your head together, you’re quicker than him, let’s do it”, but the error was a bad one. “I said thanks for being a gentleman”.
“For sure it caused problems, but it ” s too early to say whether that was all of it, or to come to any definite conclusions at the moment.
The first element of luck was the fact that it rained heavily before the race.
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Force India’s Sergio Perez completed the podium places, Sebastian Vettel was fourth for Ferrari, Fernando Alonso fifth and Jenson Button ninth in the sister McLaren, while fellow Brit Jolyon Palmer and Max Verstappen both crashed out. Several drivers crashed in the hard conditions, including Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and Spanish GP victor Max Verstappen, while the two Saubers of Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson managed to crash into each other.
