The Monaco Grand Prix got off to a largely uneventful start, but it came alive in the closing stages, with Nico Rosberg taking his third consecutive win around the Circuit de Monaco.
Sebastian Vettel was second, with a late strategy error causing Lewis Hamilton - who pitted during the Safety Car period, unlike his rivals - to fall to third. Here are some post-race thoughts from the the 2015 grid. Hamilton disappointed to lose Monaco win:
"I can't express the way I feel at the moment. I saw the team out in the pit-lane on one of the screens and thought Nico was pitting. I came in with full confidence that the others had done the same. This is a race that's been close to my heart for years and it's special to me, so I really wanted to win.
"The team have been brilliant all year, so I don't blame them. We'll analyse and work out what went wrong, but we'll do that collectively and try to improve for the future. I always say to my team and my fans, we win and we lose together. You live to fight another day."
"It was a good race today and a good result for the team. I had some fun in the last few laps trying to get close to Hamilton and Vettel to fight for a podium position. I knew we were in a position to attack in the end which made it exciting I think. The team worked well, Dany let me past to have a crack at the podium and I gave back the place on the last lap when I couldn’t get past Hamilton.
"I had a little incident with Kimi and it’s hard to get a clean move without a little contact in Monaco, I appreciate the stewards not taking any further action and I think the crowd and the fans enjoyed it. We’ll try and keep up the pace in the next few races to hopefully stay in the top five."
Tough weekend for Bottas:
"This has been a tough weekend that ended in an even tougher race. We tried everything to try and get some points but with the pace we had it wasn’t possible today. We tried the two-stop strategy which never really came to us, with the safety car coming at just the wrong time.
"There are not too many positives from the weekend but plenty we can learn from as to why we struggled. We know we still have a good car and go to races in the next few weeks where we should be able to demonstrate our true performance."
Second a great result for Ferrari:
"We were there in the moment when it mattered and able to pip Lewis when he came out of the pits. When we decided to pit we were a bit too far back but nevertheless, second is a great finish for the team.
"The thing is these tyres are not made for cooling down and going again. Me and Nico saved the tyres earlier because we maybe knew we couldn’t attack Lewis too much which helped when we restarted. But it was incredibly difficult. After a few laps they warm up but at first it was hard."
"It’s been a positive day for us. We were hoping to score a point today, and we scored four. I certainly didn’t expect to finish eighth. At the start I lost a position to Nico [Hulkenberg], but got it back by going around the outside of him at Turn 3 on the first lap, which was good fun.
"Once I got past Pastor [Maldonado], my race was basically about turning quali lap after quali lap: it was flat-out. That was tough – in fact it was pretty physical out there – but I really enjoyed it. I’m really happy for the team – we’ve worked hard to get into this position, and they deserve this. We have work to do, but this is a hugely positive step for us."
Messy race for Hulkenberg:
"My race was obviously very difficult right from the start: Fernando [Alonso] more or less pushed me into the wall on the first lap and from that moment I basically had to play catch up. I knew he was there so I left him a bit more space and turned in later, but he must have locked up as he crashed into me and sent me straight into the wall.
"The only damage was to the front wing, but getting back to the pits and changing the wing cost me a lot of time. My race was already compromised then - it is not easy to race from so far back because you have to let the leaders through and you're on the back foot the whole time.
"In terms of pace I was doing quite well, especially when in clean air, but obviously getting lapped costs you a lot of time. It is a shame as I feel that without the incident I would have been well into the points today. I still take encouragement from our pace and hopefully we can maximise the next weekend in Canada and get some more points."
Verstappen okay after heavy crash
"I got off to a good start and even though I was blocked between Perez and Maldonado, in general I was happy with how the car performed straight away. I took it easy during the first laps and stayed out of trouble. After that we had great pace, I managed to pass Maldonado early on in the race and we then closed the gap to Perez.
"I was feeling very good in the car! Unfortunately, we had a slow first pit-stop, so we lost some positions and had to fight my way forward. I pitted again when I got stuck behind Bottas and on the super-soft tyres we had great pace again. I was really happy with the car in the race.
"I was even catching up with Vettel and Rosberg, even though I decided to stay behind because it made it easier to get past other people. Then I got very close to Grosjean while fighting for the final points position and I ended up in the barriers. It was quite a big crash, but I’m feeling fine."
Grosjean - Verstappen contact cost Lotus points:
"I
didn’t see much of the accident with Verstappen, just his car flying
past me in the air. Overtaking in Monaco is difficult and I think he
gained that bit of experience today. It’s good to know he’s okay, as it
was a bit dangerous for both of us, and it cost us what would have been a
hard-earned point. Until then my race had been going pretty well when
you consider where we started.
"The
car felt good and the strategy was working well. After the accident, I
turned around which established all four wheels were there, then looked
in the mirrors to see if the rear wing was still there too, then got on
with my race."
"I’m really happy with my result today. The pace was good and it was a great feeling to be racing in my first Monaco Grand Prix. I’m pleased for the team to get another two-car finish and we have plenty of data again to understand how we can keep improving the car for the next few races.
"The past few races have been tough but it feels like everything is coming together now. Canada will be a new and different experience again but it feels like we are making good progress now."
Nasr back in the top 10:
"It was a great race, and I am happy to have scored points again. It is an amazing feeling being rewarded after such a difficult weekend. It was an exhausting race, as I did my best to extract the most out of the car. The team did a very good job by choosing the correct strategy and calling me in for the pit stops at the right times. The points are for everyone in the team."
No comments:
Post a Comment