Daniel Ricciardo with Red Bull won the Grand Prix of Montecarlo, a daunting race and no surprise, with pilots of the leader who maintained their positions.
On the podium, Sebastian Vettel climbed with Ferrari (second) and Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes (third), while two Finnish pilots Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) were joined by Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes). So the first five retained their positions before racing, somewhat expected in a city race like that of Montecarlo, which, unlike the last few years, did not give a lot of surprises or emotions this time.
The pilots competed within the limits, avoided the mistakes and the stoppage on the pads to change the tires did not bring any surprises in the ranking. For Ricciardo this is the second success in this World Cup, after him in Azerbaijan, equalizing 2 victories of Vettel and two of Hamilton, thus entering the race for the championship title. A perfect weekend for Red Bull, which proved to be a contender.
The race starts without surprises, pilots retain their positions even though it is a narrow runway in the Montetravel city streets and where accidents are frequent. But surprisingly the race is smooth and no surprises, making it boring for the fans. The only one to retrieve positions in the runway is Verstappen who started the race from the last place and in the top half of it ranked the tenth. At the top of the race no change in the top 5 spots, with Ricciardo leading, leaving behind Vettel, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Bottas.
Even the first stoppage in the box and the change of the tire by the pilots does not make any difference in the ranking, as all use the same tires and timing differences are almost the same, making the race a bit attractive. On the 52rd lap comes the first draw from a driver’s race, Alonso with McLaren, while at the top of the race no change, the top five pilots are all together in the 10-second arc, but no overtaking. 6 laps from the end comes the only race accident, but that does not change much in the rankings even though commissioners place the “virtual security car”.
Even last laps do not bring any new in the ranking, Ricciardo wins the race with merit, after checking it all the time, while Vettel and Hamilton climb to the podium. Mercedes’s Mercedes maintains the head of the Formula 1 World Cup (110 points, Vettel 96 and Ricciardo 72 points), while the next race in Canada after two weeks./Flashsport24
