MONTE-CARLO, Monaco — Sebastian Vettel took Ferrari’s first win on the streets of Monte-Carlo since 2001 with a comfortable drive to victory at the Monaco Grand Prix ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
The win extends his lead in the championship to 25 points over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who started 13th on the grid and recovered to seventh in an afternoon of damage limitation. Vettel was shuffled ahead of Raikkonen during the pit stops, after Ferrari dropped the Finn into traffic following his one and only tyre change while Vettel was allowed to make up time in clear air.
Daniel Ricciardo benefitted from a similar strategy to take third from Valtteri Bottas, who also pitted early in reaction to Ricciardo’s Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen kicking off the pit stop window on lap 32. Bottas just held off Verstappen at the end of the race after Red Bull took advantage of a late Safety Car to put the Dutch teenager on fresh set of ultra-soft tyres for the final ten laps.
That Safety Car was caused by an accident on lap 61 of 78 when returning McLaren driver Jenson Button lunged up the inside of Pascal Wehrlein at Portier. For the move to work it needed Wehrlein’s full cooperation, but it’s unlikely the Sauber driver was even aware of Button’s intentions until the two collided.
Wehrlein’s car was launched on its side and into the barriers, where it remained until the marshals were able to put it back on all four wheels. The German walked away from the accident before heading to the medical centre for precautionary checks, while Button continued as far as the Nouvelle Chicane before retiring with broken suspension.
With Raikkonen as his rear gunner, Vettel had no problem retaining the lead when racing resumed and crossed the line 3.1s ahead of his teammate to take Ferrari’s first one-two victory since 2010.
Source: Vettel extends championship lead over Hamilton with Monaco win
