Max finishes fifth in Monaco: "Very disappointed, but nothing to do about it"
Published on 28 May 2017 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen finished fifth in the Monaco Grand Prix, where Ferrari reigned supreme. Sebastian Vettel took the checkered flag ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. At Red Bull Racing, the pitstop strategy benefitted Daniel Ricciardo the most, who claimed the final podium spot. Max put Valtteri Bottas (P4) under pressure for the greater part of the race, but despite the flawless race, there wasn’t much more in store for the 19-year-old driver.
“I am very disappointed, but I cannot do anything more to change the race”, says Max. “That my pit stop came so early was something I really did not expect. I really didn’t get it, because if the undercut on Bottas had worked, I still would have been stuck behind of Sainz. I don’t know where the rest of the field is driving so I expected to have clean air after my pit stop. When you get stuck behind of someone, it is hard to get pass them here. You could see that after the last safety car, when I was on new and softer tyres. When you get within one second of each other, it is difficult to follow and with the wider cars you cannot do anything at all here. Now I spent 77 laps driving behind that grey car.”
Max concludes: “That I eventually finished is positive, but I am not happy today. Hopefully the next race will be better.”
At the start of the race, the entire field is on the ultrasofts, the softest compound tyre, except the Saubers. When the lights go out and the Formula 1-drivers are let loose on the streets of the principality of Monaco, everyone gets round the first lap unscathed. This puts Raikkonen, Vettel and Bottas firmly ahead of Verstappen, Ricciardo and Sainz. Max has a good start from P4, as he has had all year long. Hamilton, starting from P13, gains one spot.
Both Ferrari’s immediately create a gap in the first few laps, as Max is able to follow Bottas’ Mercedes and keep his team mate Ricciardo at bay. But the difference between this threesome quickly starts building up to several seconds. There are no real battles on track.
On lap 17, Nico Hulkenberg is the first drop out when the gear box of his Renault fails him. From lap 27 onwards, the back markers are lapped. Jenson Button, having started from the pitlane, is the first to be lapped. By then, Max has a moment at the chicane as he gets off track due to some oversteer, but no harm is done.
On lap 33, Max starts his offence on the Mercedes running in front of him by being the first to do a pit stop and switching to the super softs. Bottas, who is a few seconds up on him, repels the attack by coming in one lap later and re-emerges on track, ahead of the Dutchman. While Raikkonen also pits, Ricciardo pushes as hard as he can for a few more laps. When the Ozzie switches to the supersofts on lap 38, he is ahead of Bottas and has subsequently gained two spots. A bitter pill to swallow for Max.
Vettel also manages to get the upperhand on his team mate by stopping later (lap 39). This causes the German to take the lead after the pit stops, ahead of Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Bottas and Verstappen. From Red Bull Racing’s perspective, that were fourth and fifth before the stops, they eventually gained a position. Hamilton stops on lap 47 and moves up to P7.
On lap 61, Button makes a very optimistic overtaking maneuver on Pascal Wehrlein, but it goes horribly wrong. The McLaren hooks the left front in the Sauber’s right rear wheel, causing the Sauber to take a leap and end up on its side against the tyre wall. The safety car is deployed and luckily Wehrlein walks away unscathed after the car has been put back on its four wheels. Max does a second pit stop in the meantime and gets a fresh set of ultra softs without losing a position.
With the new and fresher tyres, the youngster opens the attack again for Bottas’ fourth place, five laps later. As Ricciardo touches the guard rail in the first corner, a three horse race unfolds, but there is no change of positions. Elsewhere on track, things have taken a turn for the worse: Stoffel Vandoorne goes wide, hits the wall and drops out. Perez tries his luck with Kvyat, but due to them running into each other, the race prematurely ends for the Russian
Vettel secures his 45th Formula 1-win and outdoes pole sitter Raikkonen. Ricciardo takes home the third podium spot, ahead of Bottas and Verstappen in fifth. Sainz comes home in sixth ahead of Hamilton.
Monaco Grand Prix - Monte Carlo - Sunday 28 May
RACE RESULTS 01 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 78 1:44:44.340 02 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 78 +3.145s 03 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 78 +3.745s 04 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 78 +5.517s 05 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 78 +6.199s 06 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 78 +12.038s 07 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 78 +15.801s 08 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 78 +18.150s 09 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 78 +19.445s 10 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 78 +21.443s 11 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 78 +22.737s 12 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 78 +23.725s 13 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 78 +39.089s 14 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 71 DNF 15 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 71 DNF NC 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 66 DNF NC 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 63 DNF NC 22 Jenson Button McLaren Honda 57 DNF NC 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 57 DNF NC 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 15 DNF
