By contrast, Hamilton was delighted, jumping out of his vehicle and throwing himself into the arms of his team engineers – and even getting congratulated by USA pop star Justin Bieber.
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Lewis Hamilton has won the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix at Circuit de Monaco but had to thank rivals Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who gave him the opportunity when Ricciardo suffered a pitstop disaster.
“I didn’t expect the points to shift in the way they have”, said Hamilton.
“I knew it would be virtually impossible to win here unless something radical happens”, Hamilton added.
Rosberg had been odds-on to extend his lead over Hamilton, considering that he was starting from second on the grid with Hamilton behind him on the hardest track in F1 to overtake on.
The tone for the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix was set when the race started in the rain behind the safety auto, and the slippery surface-fueled attrition that followed met exactly the expectations set by the unpredictable wet Grands Prix of the past. Red Bull needed to change the Aussie’s tires into supersofts.
Hamilton won his third world title past year but went into Sunday’s race 43 points behind championship leader Rosberg, who started 2016 with four straight victories. For Nico it was a messy day.
At the end of the 16th lap, Hamilton finally got past Rosberg, but only after Mercedes had instructed the German to move over because he appeared to have trouble with his brake temperature.
“I forced him into the fence and by doing so he made a mistake and cut across the chicane”, Ricciardo said.
“The team were like “others are boxing, the intermediate looks quicker, box this lap” and I was like “no, it’s drying real quick so if you box me now I’m going to be coming back in in 10-15 laps anyway and probably going to grain the tyres”. The Australian was left waiting for an extended period because his Red Bull pit crew was unprepared.
“Two races in a row I’ve been screwed”, said Ricciardo, whose team made an error when he finished fourth in Spain two weeks ago.
“So they should have been ready”.
“What the f***? was that?” asked a furious Ricciardo as he waved his hand at Hamilton. “I prayed for a day like this, it came through and I feel truly blessed”.
But despite believing there was enough time to get the tyres ready, the situation became complicated when it emerged those tyres were trapped at the back of the cramped Monaco garage, and the mechanics failed to retrieve them in time before Ricciardo arrived. That is where he seem poised to finish, but to cap a bad afternoon at his adopted home, he was passed in the closing stages by Force India’s Hulkenberg to finish the race in seventh.
Verstappen was one of several drivers who crashed out in the wet conditions.
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Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat – the Russian driver who has twice been blamed for racing incidents with Vettel this season – ploughed into the turn at La Rascasse, taking Kevin Magnussen’s Renaullt into the barriers with him.
