Monaco Grand Prix- Driver Ratings
2015 was going so well for Lewis Hamilton until he reached Monaco, and then things went bad very quickly as Mercedes lost him a certain victory.
However, the Englishman was the stand-out driver of the weekend and scores 10/10, but how does everyone else fare?
Find out below.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes- 3rd
It takes someone with a heart of stone not to feel sorry for Lewis Hamilton, who was robbed of victory in Monte-Carlo.
Hamilton was so good on Thursday and Saturday that even the team were waxing lyrical about him more than usual.
During the race, he eased away from Nico Rosberg and was set to win for the second time around the famous street track until Mercedes called him into the pits during a safety car period.
This dropped him down to third, and he couldn’t find a way back past. Still, he gets 10 out of 10 for a scintillating weekend.
10/10.
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes- 1st
Nico Rosberg
Rosberg had the gods smiling down on him on Sunday afternoon, but he will have been concerned about Hamilton’s ruthless dominance of the whole weekend.
While, Hamilton drove away from Rosberg, the German battled with Sebastian Vettel for the majority of the race and struggled to create any real gap between them until the last few laps.
However, he controlled the race brilliantly when out in front and joins the Monaco greats with his third straight win in the principality.
7/10.
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari- 3rd
After being thumped in Spain, Ferrari returned with a vengeance in Monaco to remind Mercedes that they are not going away yet.
Vettel topped free practice three to warn the German team, and stuck to Rosberg’s rear wing for the majority of the race.
Some expert defensive driving maintained second when Hamilton out the pressure on, and he’ll be happy with a fifth podium of the year.
8/10.
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari- 6th
Kimi Raikkonen & Sebastian Vettel
It was another poor Saturday for Raikkonen, as qualifying continues to undermine his season. A dismal sixth looked like it was being converted to fifth during the race, until Daniel Ricciardo muscled back past.
On Sunday’s Raikkonen is as good as Vettel, but in qualifying he is struggling to get anywhere near him. That must change and fast.
5/10.
Felipe Massa, Williams- 15th
Williams expected to struggle in Monaco, but not even they expected to suffer quite like they did.
For a team accustomed to competing for the top five, it was must have been painful to acknowledge that Felipe Massa had done well to come 12th.
The Brazilian extracted the maximum from the car but ended any slim chance he had of gaining points by colliding with Nico Hulkenberg in Turn 1.
6/10.
Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas, Williams- 14th
Bottas struggled more than Massa and was hit hard by traffic in Q1 and ended up qualifying 16th.
In the race, he tried to do a 64-lap stint on one set of tyres in order to fight for points, but he struggled badly and only did 43. A weekend to forget.
5/10.
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull- 5th
Ricciardo should have qualified third but an engine setting problem allowed Vettel to sneak ahead. A poor start let Daniil Kvyat through, while he was jumped in the pits by Raikkonen later on.
However, he battled back and pulled off a brave move to regain fifth to cap off a strong weekend.
8/10.
Daniil Kvyat
Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull- 4th
Helmut Marko clearly knew what he was doing when he publically criticised Daniil Kvyat, as the Russian produced a flawless display in Monte-Carlo.
The 20-year-old qualified a steady fifth, just behind his team-mate, but jumped past him at the start.
He lost out in the pit window, but managed to get past again late on.
9/10.
Fernando Alonso, McLaren- Retired
The gods aren’t smiling down on Fernando Alonso this year, as the Spaniard retired yet again.
In qualifying, Alonso believes that he would have got into Q3 had he not broken down with an electrical problem.
In the race, he was on course for some points despite his penalty for hitting Hulkenberg before his car broke down again.
6/10.
Jenson Button, McLaren- 8th
Jenson Button.
Button was distraught not to make it into Q3 in qualifying, after yellow flags prevented him from making a top-10 lap. He moved into 10th due to penalties for Carlos Sainz and Romain Grosjean, while he jumped two more during the race.
These are McLaren’s first points of the season, and Button did well to earn them.
8/10.
Sergio Pérez, Force India- 7th
Perez’s performance in qualifying was arguably the best of the day as he dragged it into the top 10 and then kept ahead of both Toro Rosso’s and Pastor Maldonado.
In the race, he didn’t put a foot wrong and brought home six points. In the car he has, his effort should be applauded.
9/10.
Nico Hulkenberg, Force India- 11th
Nico Hulkenberg
Hulkenberg struggled to match the brilliance of Perez, and didn’t make it into the top 10 in qualifying, due to an error on his last run.
He collided with Fernando Alonso on lap one and ended up in the barriers with a broken front wing, He did well to climb back to 11th, but his race was over at the beginning.
6/10.
Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso- Retired
Toro Rosso amazed everyone with their showing in first practice, in which Verstappen finished 2nd. However, they were disappointed in qualifying to end up just ninth and 10th.
A poor pit stop cost Verstappen badly, but he did well to climb towards the points until a crash with Grosjean ended his race in dramatic fashion.
It was another steep learning curve, but he will be happy with how he got on up to then.
6/10.
Carlos Sainz jr. driving the STR10
Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso- 10th
Sainz has spent most of the season in Verstappen’s shadow but he’s gone about his work quietly and effectively.
He qualified well in eighth, but was forced to the back for missing the FIA weighbridge in Q1. In the race he did a huge 65-lap stint on his tyres and ultimately clinched a well-deserved point.
7/10.
Romain Grosjean, Lotus- 12th
A surprising error in qualifying cost Grosjean the chance of making it beyond Q2, while a five-place grid penalty hindered him further.
He drove solidly enough to run in 10th, but was the victim of Verstappen’s over-enthusiastic overtake attempt.
6/10.
Pastor Maldonado, Lotus F1 E21
Pastor Maldonado, Lotus- Retired
Maldonado likes Monaco and qualified impressively in eighth. However, another race turned to disaster as a hydraulic leak ended his race after only five laps.
7/10.
Marcus Ericsson, Sauber- 13th
In a poor car, it is best to be judged against your team-mate but sadly for Ericsson, he doesn’t come out of it too well.
In qualifying he finished over four tenths down on Felipe Nasr, while three pit-stops is never the way to go round Monaco. A poor weekend.
4/10.
Felipe Nasr
Felipe Nasr, Sauber- 9th
It was a brilliant performance from the Brazilian, who extracted more out of the Sauber than his team-mate.
He started down in 14th but quickly rose through the field as others fell by the wayside to earn some valuable points.
8/10.
Will Stevens, Marussia- 17th
It was a disappointing weekend for Stevens, who was beaten on track by his team-mate for the first time this season.
He still qualified ahead of him by 0.25s, but suffered a damaged front wing and was overtaken in the race.
5/10.
Roberto Merhi, Marussia- 16th
A confident Merhi entered the weekend expecting to be a lot closer to Stevens, but he crashed in FP2, which hampered his weekend.
In qualifying he was closer, but still finished behind by a quarter of a second. However, he was sharper in the race, made a bold move stick and drove away impressively.
7/10.
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