Hammy could have beaten Rosberg over the last 10 laps in his grandmothers clapped out old Volvo with three year old Walmart snow tires on, well if hadn't pitted!!

 

Hamilton has been pretty vocal about questioning the team's calls in the past (over the radio)... Perhaps this contributed to a sense from the pit wall to respond to what he seemingly wanted. The majority of the responsibility still resides with the pit wall IMO, but Hamilton did have a role too.

I thought Ric was very lucky to get away without a penalty, especially after seeing what Alonso was nailed over. I think JustinL made a very good interpretation of the likely "real" thinking.

 

I agree about Ricciardo's move compared to Alonso's. Alonso was alongside, even slightly in front at the contact with Hulkenburg. While Ricciardo wasn't even close to alongside. The penalty decisions continue to be inconsistent and meddlesome.

Rich

 

Good lord, the trophy presentation interview was hilarious - Vettel couldn't help himself. Smiling, laughing, and interrupting the end of Nico's interview saying, "I am happy, I am happy." Brilliant. ROTFLMAO!!!!

 

I do not think so. As he continues to mature the one thing you can count on is that he will not forget. This May light a larger fire under his butt and Lewis will become relentless when it comes to Nico.

 

And a big WTF?! regarding the missing grid girls.

Sebastian Vettel took a moment after the Monaco Grand Prix to question the lack of grid girls after they were replaced by male models in Monte Carlo.

Though Formula One usually has a grid girl for every driver before a grand prix, their places were taken by men wearing white TAG Heuer t-shirts and jeans in Monte Carlo. It was the brainchild of Michel Boeri, president of the Automobile Club de Monaco, and appears to have been a one-off for the Monaco race.

In the post-race press conference Vettel made a light-hearted reference to the change.

"Why didn't we have any grid girls today?" Vettel joked. "What was that? You get there and park behind George or Dave. What's the point?"

The grid girl concept is a controversial one and was scrapped altogether by the World Endurance Championship at the start of the 2015 season. At the time, series CEO Gerard Neveu said: "For me, that is the past. The condition of women is a little bit different now."

 

Right! I was too hung-over and forgot about Riccardo's passing attempt. So I may have to retract my earlier statements about him being the driver of the race... whoops!!!

I expected him to get penalized based on the penalty to Alonso. From my armchair position that seems rather inconsistent... Maybe the stewards had more to drink than me the night before...

 

 

I too missed where they let Ricci through to have a run at Hambone. Still, there would have been plenty of times when this occurred in other teams and the car in the lead stayed where it finished rather than giving back the position. In fact scrap other teams...it happened under the same livery in past seasons more or less. As for the move on Kimi...Dan is just a racer and clearly a frustrated one at that. He was lucky to get away with it and probably won't try this again anytime soon.

 

I understand your point but the mistake stemmed 100% from the pit wall. The explanation from Mercedes was that a lack of accurate GPS (due to the buildings in Monaco) caused faulty data which threw off their algorithms. Nothing to do with Hammy. They thought they had the time and took a risk that didn't need to be taken.

As another poster noted Hammy could have kept everyone behind him in a Volvo! He didn't need to come in regardless of what tires anyone else was on.

Another example of the pussification of F1. First hybrid engines and now this.

 

They let him through coming out of the tunnel. KVY got instructions something to the effect of "Let Ricciardo by, you are on different strategies". It makes no sense that RIC would have had a shot at passing Hamilton. On track straight up passes just don't happen at Monaco, especially a RBR car on a Merc. I really like Ricciardo, and I think it was honorable for him to give the position back to KVY as I'm sure he would not have made a pass on his own in the first place. Had he not, he would have been jammed up with Kimi, Perez, and Button all within 5 seconds.

 

The whole thing underscores what a stupid race this whole thing is. As Alonso said after qualifying; "the weekend is over after Saturday, the rest is just a procession". I've seen Memorial Day parades that were more exciting.

 

I do think Grosjean braked a lot harder and earlier there than on a normal lap. The feed I was watching was on board with Verstappen and I remember being really surprised that Grosjean stopped so suddenly.

Clearly, though, Max should have been ready for it.

 

Actually looking at it again, Kimi did leave the door ajar enough to give Ricci an invitation. He shut that door very quickly but my guess is that's why there was no penalty. With Alonso, he lost control of his car which caused the minor collision therefore a penalty was handed out. Kinda interesting that they chose not to tell him until his pitstop.

 

Classic technique to back up your faster opponent behind you, brake a little earlier than you normally would and take off in the corner. Max will learn, he's only 17.