Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo claimed victory in Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix, holding on to the lead despite managing a power unit issue throughout most of the race.
Polesitter Ricciardo led every lap of the race after maintaining his early lead through the pitstop window.
On lap 18 of 78, he reported a loss of power to the team. Despite being 20kph slower than his rivals through the speed trap after having lost use of the MGU-K, Ricciardo maintained a gap of between one and two seconds over second-placed Sebastian Vettel.
Ricciardo was able to pull away from Vettel in the closing stages and eventually claim his first win in Monaco by over seven seconds.
Vettel was one of a number of drivers who struggled on the ultrasoft compound throughout the second half of the race. Low track temperatures meant that graining became a significant issue.
A late race virtual safety car was deployed after Sauber’s Charles Leclerc hit the back of Brendon Hartley’s Toro Rosso. Vettel took several laps at the restart to recover his prior pace which helped Ricciardo to pull clear.
Lewis Hamilton was another driver who lost ground in the final laps. He was one of the first drivers to complain about graining during both his opening stint on hypersofts and his run on ultrasofts. Hamilton was also the first of the leading group to make his one and only pitstop on lap 12.
Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth, managing to hold off Valtteri Bottas throughout the final third of the race. Bottas was one of few drivers to opt to use the supersoft tyres at his pitstop.
He was one of the fastest cars on track at mid-distance but was unable to pass Raikkonen.
Both were caught in the closing laps by Force India’s Esteban Ocon, who was one second per lap faster than the leaders in the last 20 laps. He finished sixth.
Pierre Gasly, who used the same strategy as Bottas, ended up in seventh. He was closely followed by Nico Hulkenberg and Max Verstappen in the closing laps. They had both switched to the hypersofts for the final stint after starting on ultrasofts.
Verstappen’s recovery from 20th and last on the grid to an eventual ninth-place hinged on starting on extending the opening stint. He did not pit until lap 48 and was the fastest car on track in the closing stages.
After passing several cars in the opening stint, Vertsappen battled passed Hartley and Carlos Sainz Jr during his time on the hypersofts. Sainz rounded out the top 10.
Fernando Alonso was battling with Gasly on lap 53 when the Renault power unit in his McLaren expired. It was Alonso’s first retirement of the season.
