Monaco Grand Prix strategy report

The 2015 Monaco Grand Prix was the race’s 62nd appearance on the F1 calendar and marked the sixth round of the season. Nico Rosberg scored his third consecutive win in the Principality, but it should have been Lewis Hamilton receiving the first place trophy. More on that later.

Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton were second and third, with Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo fourth and fifth for Red Bull. Kimi Raikkonen, Sergio Perez, Jenson Button (yes, really!), Felipe Nasr and Carlos Sainz Jr completed the top 10. Here is a look at the major strategy stories from the Monaco Grand Prix.

Mercedes Mucks Up

Hamilton had been dominating the race, after retaining the lead at Turn 1 – Rosberg’s best opportunity to overtake. The reigning world champion eked out a comfortable lead and his advantage was 21 seconds when the Safety Car was deployed for Max Verstappen’s scary crash on lap 64.

Mercedes opted to pit Hamilton for a fresh set of the supersoft tyres. However, a mix-up in their calculations meant he emerged behind Rosberg and side-by-side with Vettel. The Ferrari driver was found to have been ahead at the pit exit line, therefore giving him second place for the restart.

It was clear that this was a big mistake by Mercedes, but all teams make them from time to time – it is part of F1, as Hamilton said. Nevertheless, the Brit was clearly gutted and frustrated afterwards, but both Mercedes racers handled the odd situation very well. So, what caused this to happen?

Whilst Mercedes is taking the brunt of the blame, could Hamilton also be at fault? Executive director (business) Toto Wolff admitted that it was a simple miscalculation that saw Hamilton fall to third, thinking they had a big enough gap to switch him to the option tyre without losing the lead. However, catching the Safety Car towards the end of the lap and a slightly slow stop (losing a few tenths) waiting for a Sauber to pass also contributed to this.

Hamilton said in the post-race press conference that he noticed the Mercedes mechanics in the pit lane on the screens and thought his team-mate was pitting. He was told to stay out but reported that his tyres would drop in temperature, being on the primes and thinking his rivals would stop. Mercedes brought him in at the last minute but Rosberg and Vettel did not pit, so it would appear that Hamilton’s enquiry over the radio helped prompt the stop.

Nevertheless, Mercedes made the final call to pit and the mix-up with the gap to those behind cost Hamilton the win. It was over-confidence, really. Rosberg said afterwards he was lucky to inherit the victory – his second in a row (and 3rd in a row at Monaco), a feat he has never previously achieved –closing the gap to 10 points in the championship.

Ricciardo Joins the Fight

Red Bull Racing showed improved pace in Monaco, qualifying fourth and fifth. Ricciardo and Kvyat swapped positions early on, with the former struggling more for speed and not getting the best launch from the grid.

Ricciardo then fell behind Raikkonen after the Finn successfully undercut his rival at the first round of pit stops. However, the Australian stuck with the Ferrari driver and was pitted under the Safety Car. With a decent gap behind him, he remained in sixth place for the restart.

The Red Bull ace put in a forceful and aggressive move on Raikkonen at Mirabeau on the 71st tour, after the restart. The Iceman wasn’t happy about it, reporting on team radio that it “wasn’t very nice”, but the stewards investigated and took no further action. A bit of team orders helped Ricciardo move up to fourth, with Kvyat on much older tyres having stopped just once on lap 28.

Ricciardo quickly caught the battling Vettel and Hamilton on fresh tyres, but like the reigning world champion, he couldn’t find a way through. With no progress made, he was then told to give fourth back to Kvyat on the final lap.

Sainz Recovers Well

Carlos Sainz Jr missed a FIA weighbridge call in qualifying and was disqualified from the session. He started from the pit lane and made progress early on as other drivers collided, before pitting for the one and only time on lap 12.

It was a very early first stop as he ditched the super-soft tyre in favour of the soft. Considering Toro Rosso struggled with degradation and wear in Spain, he had looked set to stop twice – a more aggressive strategy to move through slower cars. However, that was not the case and he stayed out for an incredible final stint of over 60 laps, moving up the order to 10th. Nice work, Carlos!

Pit Stop Problems

Speaking of Toro Rosso, Max Verstappen had looked on course to score a top eight finish. However, a painfully long first stop on lap 29 – lasting 52 seconds from pit entry to exit – due to a problem on the right-rear. He lost several positions but did well to recover some ground around the tight and twisty Circuit de Monaco.

He pitted again on lap 46 to try and pass Valtteri Bottas. He ended up moving ahead of the Williams driver when Bottas pitted later in the race but then collided with Romain Grosjean and hit the barrier heavily at Turn 1. The Dutchman said Grosjean braked earlier than expected, and he clipped the Lotus E23 as he tried to avoid his rival. A tough end to what had been a promising weekend.

Jack Leslie

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