Report – Nico Rosberg reclaimed the lead of the Formula 1 world championship from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by beating him to victory in the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo smelled blood and closed Hamilton down, but fell short of beating the Brit to second place by just 0.4 seconds. The Australian thus had to be content with his second consecutive third placed finish. He had earlier made a slow start from third on the grid, but regained the lost ground thanks to problems for his team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
World champion Vettel ran third initially after a strong start from the second row, but reported a loss of power shortly after the first restart. Red Bull replaced parts of his Energy Recovery System unit before the race, following the ERS issue that hampered Vettel in qualifying, and the German complained of a loss of boost pressure from his Renault engine in the race. A frustrated Vettel rejoined the action after some adjustments in the pits, but was told by the team to retire his car.
Raikkonen thus looked as though he might claim his first podium since returning to Ferrari, having got up to fourth by passing his team-mate Fernando Alonso at the start and driving around the outside of Ricciardo’s Red Bull on the first run through Ste Devote. But the Finn’s race was undone by contact with Max Chilton’s Marussia during the second safety car period. Chilton was trying to un-lap himself, and the resulting collision forced Raikkonen into a second stop to repair some minor damage to his F14 T.
This condemned the 2007 world champion to a recovery drive through the field, while Alonso maintained his third position in the world championship by finishing a lonely fourth. Raikkonen ultimately ended up pointless after a botched pass on Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren at Lowes with a handful of laps remaining.
Magnussen had just been passed by team-mate Jenson Button as Hamilton and Ricciardo lapped a battle for fifth between Hulkenberg’s Force India, the two McLarens, and Raikkonen’s Ferrari. Raikkonen spotted a chance to dive down the inside at the hairpin, but ran out of road, meaning both drivers lost ground.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1h49m27.661s
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +9.210s
3. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault +9.614s
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +32.452s
5. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes -1 lap
6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes -1 lap
7. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes -1 lap
8. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault -1 lap
9. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari -1 lap
10. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes -1 lap
11. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault -1 lap
12. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari -1 lap
13. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault -3 laps
14. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari -3 laps
Retirements:
Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 59 laps
Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 55 laps
Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 50 laps
Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 23 laps
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 10 laps
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 5 laps
Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 0 laps
Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 0 laps
Drivers' championship:
Pos Driver Points
1. Nico Rosberg 122
2. Lewis Hamilton 118
3. Fernando Alonso 61
4. Daniel Ricciardo 54
5. Nico Hulkenberg 47
6. Sebastian Vettel 45
7. Valtteri Bottas 34
8. Jenson Button 31
9. Kevin Magnussen 21
10. Sergio Perez 20
11. Felipe Massa 18
12. Kimi Raikkonen 17
13. Romain Grosjean 8
14. Jean-Eric Vergne 4
15. Daniil Kvyat 4
16. Jules Bianchi 2
Constructors' championship:
Pos Team Points
1. Mercedes 240
2. Red Bull-Renault 99
3. Ferrari 78
4. Force India-Mercedes 67
5. McLaren-Mercedes 52
6. Williams-Mercedes 52
7. Lotus-Renault 8
8. Toro Rosso-Renault 8
9. Marussia-Ferrari 2
10. Sauber-Ferrari 0
11. Caterham-Renault 0
QUOTES
Kimi Raikkonen: “This was a very unlucky day for me, a real shame after getting a good start and managing to move up to third place. The car was handling well and had a good pace. Unfortunately, in a Safety Car period, my car was hit by Chilton’s Marussia and I had to make an unscheduled stop as my right rear tyre was damaged and that meant the end of any chance of getting a good result. I am sorry I still haven’t managed to get a good result because we are working very hard. We know there is a lot to do as our rivals are still a long way ahead, but I am sure that if we continue down this path the results will come, maybe with a bit more luck.”
Pat Fry: “Today in Monaco, luck was not on our side, especially in Kimi’s case. Mercedes and Red Bull showed they have a greater potential than we do, but thanks to a really good start, I think that Kimi, who was third at the first corner, could have finished on the podium. Unfortunately, during the Safety Car period, his F14 T was hit by a Marussia and that meant he had to make two stops in the space of two laps, effectively ruining his race. Fernando also got away well, but a few moments later and for all of the first sector, his car suffered a temporary drop in power. Fortunately, he managed not to lose too many places and after that, he ran a rather solitary race. We start work again tomorrow in Maranello, looking at our weak points: we are sure we can improve and now we must prove those words with facts.”
Raikkonen reprimanded for Magnussen clash: Raikkonen had been running third until hit by Max Chilton’s Marussia during the second safety car period. He had to pit for repairs and fell to 14th. He admitted that after that delay he had been willing to make very aggressive moves.
“I tried to overtake on the inside kerb and couldn’t make the corner,” Raikkonen said of the Magnussen incident. “He moved a little bit to the left and I went over the kerb and was pretty close to the turn, but the wall was too close and I had to reverse. I never hit him until I reversed, because obviously he was behind me. But I didn’t really care at that point – a few points for eighth place, or 10th place or 11th place, it makes no difference for me.”
NEWS
RT @cmckinleyF1 Kimi Raikkonen has been given a reprimand for colliding with Kevin Magnussen #F1
— KimiRäikkönenSpace (@EvenstarSaima) May 25, 2014
Maybe cos he was ill? Sheesh… RT @cmckinleyF1 No further action taken by the stewards over Raikkonen missing the drivers parade #F1
— KimiRäikkönenSpace (@EvenstarSaima) May 25, 2014
Max Chilton has been given a reprimand for colliding with Kimi Raikkonen during the race #F1
— Connor (@cmckinleyF1) May 25, 2014
VIDEO
Onboard race start with Kimi
Post-race interview with MTV3 (Translation in subtitles)
FUCK ISRAEL 
I so much wanted to see him on the podium. He would have smiled, I’m sure.
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😦 Sooooo heartbreaking. What a rollercoaster being a Kimi fan…
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Post-race interview: http://www.formel1.de/news/grand-prix-berichte/2014-05-25/gebrauchter-tag-raeikkoenen-wettert-gegen-rennkommissare
Translation courtesy of https://twitter.com/miezicat1
“Nobody has talked about the safety car phase until I asked about it. They said: ‘About this we know nothing’. I asked how that can be? then one guy said to me: ‘We have nothing from Charlie. Charlie told me that he had spoken to them about it, but 10 minutes later they tell me that he had not said anything. No idea. These things are unfortunately sometimes not very honest. Obviously this was the thing that destroyed my race but they had no great interest.”
Kimi “Somehow he has managed to drive into my rear tyre and damaged it. I don’t know how he could have expected that I would go off the line into a tight turn. He has destroyed my race at this time. After that the race was finished. I had a good position and a good speed but I haven’t taken anything which was not our fault.”
Q: best race of season? Kimi: “I have often done well, but in the race then always went something wrong. Punctures or other people who touched me. It just never all fits together. It’s a shame,because today we had a good position again. It’s just bad luck. Little things go wrong and make a big difference. There are unfortunate things and I’m still not happy with the car. During the race it was better than in qualifying, but it is still a long way to go before we get there, where we want to be. We have to improve in many areas. We have made a lot of things especially with the PU. But we still lack speed. Hopefully we have a bit more luck in the future.”
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It was most heartbreaking. Monaco could have suited the Ferrari, but THAT car has no speed. He would not have been on the podium anyway; Ricciardo would have eaten him for lunch!
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I disagree. I think Kimi would’ve kept him behind. Hard to overtake in Monaco and Kimi is no easy target.
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Sure has been tough going being a Kimi supporter, but we hang in there as always. I wonder if the lack of TV footage had any bearing on why it wasn’t brought up when Kimi was called to the steward’s office.
Did Ferrari lodge a complaint when the incident occurred??
We can just take comfort in Kimi’s great start at least. What a phenomenal move!
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Besides Kimi’s misfortunes, I just love how people like Alonso plays politics by saying he is happy to have gained more points than Kimi. Just a lame excuse to cover for his “regular” performance. Then you have Mcchickenmagnussen who claims kimi had too much vodka. This guy crashed into kimi twice under the influence of water.
I’m quite confidence with kimi of late, he is improving. However I dont believe mercedes will lose momentum, each gp that passes we see the gap getting bigger and bigger. We can all thank mercedes for saving kimi’s return to ferrari (in a way) I cant imagine what they would have done to kimi if he was in the same place and alonso was first.
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