14 Brilliant Moments From The Bonkers Monaco Grand Prix
1. Rain, rain, rain
As soon as we woke up and saw it was wet and rainy in Monaco, we all knew it would be quite a special Formula 1 race. Heavy showers prior to the start meant it began behind the safety car but after eight laps, the racing got underway and what a treat it was!
The green flag racing had only just started when Jolyon Palmer crashed his Renault. He lost control on the pit straight, smashing into the barrier and sliding all the way along it, before crashing into the wall at Sainte Devote. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed to clear the debris.
Just a few laps later Kimi Raikkonen slowly slid into the barrier at the hairpin. It was a clumsy mistake and the broken front wing went under his car, which caused him to go straight on at the next corner and block in Romain Grosjean. He tried to continue, with debris flying from his car through the tunnel, but he eventually had to retire. Silly Iceman.
4. Switching to inters
This proved to be a crucial part of the race. Kevin Magnussen was the first to go from full wets to intermediate tyres, as conditions improved. The majority of the field soon followed them in but crucially Lewis Hamilton stayed out much longer than most.
5. Clumsy contact
Daniil Kvyat was one lap down after an earlier problem under the safety car but despite this fact, he still tried an ambitious move on Magnussen at Rascasse and the two collided, with both hitting the wall. The Renault continued, the Toro Rosso did not…
6. Lovely overtakes
Max Verstappen was on a mission early on after his qualifying crash. He put in some stunning passes at the Nouvelle Chicane, as did Jenson Button. Overtaking in Monaco is a fine and delicate art but when it happens, it is pretty damn spectacular!
7. No tyres ready
Marcus Ericsson was the first driver to move onto slick tyres, going for the ultra-soft compound. Hamilton stayed out on the wet tyres and the strategy worked well as he was able to skip the intermediates and go straight to the slicks!
But when Ricciardo pitted, from the lead and in a good position, the tyres weren’t ready. It was painful to watch as he waited for the super-softs to arrive and be fitted. A truly woeful moment for Red Bull.
Red Bull’s day continued to unravel when Verstappen’s charging drive came to an end after he locked up at Massenet and crashed on lap 35, bringing out another VSC.
9. HAM vs RIC continues
The battle for the lead changed drastically through the middle of the race and things heated up between Hamilton and Ricciardo on lap 37. The Red Bull driver tried a move at the chicane but Hamilton went across the run-off and kerb. He was slow as he returned to the track and Ricciardo tried to pass on the outside but was squeezed out.
10. Couldn’t get more awkward
Felipe Nasr was told to let team-mate Ericsson through as he was quicker but before that could happen, Ericsson tried a pass at Rascasse and the two collided. The worst thing team-mates could do! Both later retired, and it’s safe to say the atmosphere at Sauber was probably pretty awkward afterwards.
11. “What’s that on track?”
There was a brief VSC late in the race after some kind of plastic cover or tarpaulin was blown onto the track before the first corner, probably from one of the balconies above. Someone will be feeling pretty embarrassed and sheepish right now!
12. Hamilton wins
Both Hamilton and Ricciardo’s tyres were going off dramatically in the final laps and rain drops arrived just in time for the chequered flag too. But the Mercedes was in a better position and Hamilton crossed the line clear of the Red Bull to win his second Monaco GP and first race of 2016, with Sergio Perez completing the podium after a brilliant drive for Force India.
13. Pipped at the line!
Nico Rosberg looked set to finish sixth after slipping back in the pitstop phase but better traction out of the final corner gave Nico Hulkenberg a better run to the line and the Force India just pipped Rosberg to the position!
Justin Bieber was at the podium for some reason and drank Hamilton’s champagne, as well as swearing on live TV - because of course he did. This picture and caption pretty much sums up most F1 fans’ reactions to that.
What was your favourite moment of the race? Let us know in the comments!
Comments
Is it just me or does every second article heading on CT contain the word “bonkers”?
Bonkers new Mercedes!
Alex’s M3 sucks. Bonkers!
Bonkers (insert race) gran prix!
One of the best parts was the finish of Sergio Pérez. He worked his way forward to the third place and nobody noticed it.
And I bet that Ricciardo now wants to eat his pit crew alive.
Did he get driver of the day?
He did an awesome job, always delivers when there is a chance of a good result
“What the f*ck is Kimi doing?”
It was great to see my three favourite current drivers take podium, absolutely great!
Is it only Jaques Villeneuve and me, or the FIA has ruined the Grand Prix by not giving a normal start of the race. What was the point of almost ten laps under safety car???
To see if the weather would clear up a bit before they unleashed the cars. Because it is a street course you do have all the oil and grime from everyday cars. And then there’s the time window. Pretty much what was said by the commentators during those laps
Senpie was watching
Credit: @BaronVonClutch
I really hoped that Ricciardo would win :( dumb pit crew, lots of people getting sacked pretty soon lol
What made it worse was when HAM cut him off just after. If I was him I would be way too angry to keep up with the pace so he did really well.
Perez was incredible but right now I feel gutted for Riccardio who clearly was so pissed off after the race he struggled to describe it without swearing
Another great drive by Pastor Mal…cough,cough,cough,I mean Daniil Kvyat
#Nasr’sFault
What the F is Kimi doing?! I laughed a bit at that moment. But seriously, I think im not the only one who thought; ‘what the f*ck is justin bieber doing there’, guy ruins expensive cars and now suddenly he cares about F1.. Right..