Car 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes won the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix for his 77th F1 win. This was his 4th win & 6th Top 3 of 2019. It was an emotional win as he was racing with a tribute to Niki Lauda who passed away May 20, 2019. 2nd Place Sebastian Vettel Ferrari posted his 3rd Top 3 of 2019. 3rd Place Car 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes posted his 6th Top 3 of 2019.
4Th Place Car 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda followed by 5th place Car 10 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing Honda. 6th Place Car 55 Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault followed by 7th place Car 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda. 8th Place Car 23 Alexander Albon Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda followed by 9th place Car 3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault. Lastly in the Top 10 was Car 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS Ferrari, in 10th place. Top Canadian Car 18 Lance Stroll Racing Point BWT Mercedes finished in 16th place.
F1 – 2019 MONACO GRAND PRIX SUNDAY PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
F1 – 2019 Monaco Grand Prix – Post Race Press Conference Transcript
DRIVERS
1 ā Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2 ā Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
3 ā Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes
TRACK INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by David Coulthard)
Q: So, Lewis Hamilton, your 77th victory, your third around the streets of Monte Carlo, and as you put the tribute hat to Niki Lauda on, I take mine off to you out of respect for that great victory. You had to work incredibly hard today.
Lewis Hamilton: That was definitely probably the hardest race Iāve had. I really was fighting with the spirit of Niki. Niki has been such an influential person in our team, helping us get to where we are, so I know he will be looking down and I know he would take his hat off today. I was just trying to stay focused and trying to make him proud. Thatās kind of been the goal all week and weāre going to try to continue that all year. We truly miss him. Oh God, that wasā¦ Iāve not driven on empty tyres since I think Shanghai 2007, when McLaren left me out for a ridiculous amount of time. Really fantastic. Iām glad the weather was good. Great crowd here, as always, and I hope it wasnāt too boring.
Q: Now, you had us worried there. We heard the radio transmission to your engineers. You were questioning the tyre choice. We were really with you in the cockpit and whether you would make it go the distance. How close were you to over-ruling the team and coming into the pits. The emotional rollercoaster must have been intense?
Lewis Hamilton: It was. I was never going to come in. A few years ago I was in the lead and I came in for a pit stop, so I learned the hard way. I lost the race here. So, I wasnāt going to come in. I was either going to crash or finish. Honestly I was driving around on nothing. You could see how much understeer I had; the car wasnāt turning. If you look at my back wheel we touched at the chicane. I didnāt see him until quite late soā¦ But dude, nonetheless, this team has done an incredible job. What we have achieved in these six races is incredible and Iām so proud to be a part of it. Iām so proud to be able to shine the silver star and I hope that I can continue to do so.
Q: You alluded to that contact at the chicane, just a quick word on that: it was close!
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, it was close. It was a bit of a late dive. Luckily I saw him last minute. I think his front wing was alongside my rear wheel, so he was not fully past. It was a light touch and move on.
Q: It didnāt scare you.
Lewis Hamilton: No. I was scared that if he had no tyres left.
Q: Congratulations, great victory. Sebastian Vettel, congratulations, second place. Itās been a difficult weekend for you, but you have to be happy with that result in the end as you try to find some way to beat these Mercedes guys.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it was obviously a tough race to manage. You know in Monaco something can always happen and today something happened. I thought we had a good stop but Max had an incredible stop. I saw them touching in the pit lane. I thought there was a good chance for me, obviously we could capitalise on Valtteriās puncture, which was a shame for him, but from there we tried to stay there, we tried to put the pressure on. Obviously with Maxās penalty after that we tried to always stay in range. I struggled a little bit towards the end of the race. I wanted to put a bit of pressure on myself but I struggled with my rear tyres. I donāt think I had any graining. I think Lewis and Max were in a worse position managing the tyres, but mine were just not getting hot. I donāt know. It was obviously a great result for us and great for the team. But we know we have a lot of work to do, we know that we are not yet quick enough compared to these guys, so plenty of work. Finally, today is obviously about the winner, so congrats to Lewis, but even more so about Niki. He would be happy today. He will always be around. We will definitely miss him. I think he has been an icon in the past and he will be in the future. My thoughts are with his family and with him.
Q: Beautifully said, congratulations on that result. Valtteri, you pushed Lewis to a point in qualifying that he said he has never dug that deep. Weāre seeing an amazing performance from you this season, but you just didnāt get the luck this day, this weekend, and then you had that contact with Max in the pit lane. And when you spoke to the team you seemed typically Finnish and calm. I think my heart rate would have been through the roof there. Tell us about the emotions of that pit stop and about the grand prix as a whole?
Valtteri Bottas: Yeah, obviously disappointing weekend for me, because I think the speed was really there, I was feeling good in the car. Small margins yesterday and that made today difficult. So we had to stop same time as Lewis and I lost a bit of time with the pit stop, so Max got me in the pit lane. He left me no room. I got a puncture from that and then I was stuck behind the cars, so a bit of a Sunday drive in the end.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, your 77thgrand prix victory, but just how tense was this one inside the cockpit today?
Lewis Hamilton: It was definitelyā¦ I think it was the hardest race Iāve had. Obviously Iāve had a lot of races in my entire career, even beyond Formula One. Yeah, I think just globally, just in the car, with the tyres, with the strategy, with the circumstances with Max behind, yeah it was the biggest challenge I think Iāve had. But Iām really, really grateful that I was able to pull it off.
But of course there were multiple things coming into my thought process. Iāve got 38 laps to go and Iāve got no tyres left and Iām thinking that āthere is no way that with the feeling that I have and with the pace that I have to do at the moment that Iām going to make itā. Itās a horrible feeling to have that, as the though of having to doing another stop obviously means weāre not going to win the race. Iāve been there before. A few years ago I was leading this race by 20 seconds, the safety car came out, pitted, came out third, and your heart just sinks, so I was like: āIām not coming in, whatever the case. Iām just going to drive around with no tyres until they blow up.ā With sheer will I just kept pushing. I really, really tried my best to stay focused and not crack under pressure, because Max was doing a great job behind on a much better tyre. And yeah, but ultimately, also this week has been such a hard week, emotionally, for us as a team and me personally, I just really, really wanted to do the job. I really wanted to deliver on the word of Niki, and imagining him taking the hat off in support. When I was driving I was like, āwhat would Niki do?ā so I just kept going. Ultimately Iām really grateful for the opportunity the team gave us this weekend to have the car we had and the team continues to evolve and improve and weāre growing constantly as a team, even through our faults. We win and lose as a team, and I also wanted to pull it through for the team, because so many guys aback at the factory deserve it. So a proud one for us today.
Q: You mentioned the fight with Max towards the latter stages, just how nervy were you when he started looking for moves and especially with that contact, which the stewards have now cleared, with no further action?
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, it wasnāt a case of feeling nervous. Obviously I could see him. He literally covered the whole of my mirrors. Obviously I was able to get out of the last corner and pull a bit of a gap. I was super slow through Turn 1 but Turn 3 my right-side tyres were OK and once you got downforce on they would work but then once I got to Turn 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, I had nothing. Moving the brake balance rearwards, engine braking, opening up diffs, trying to get this car turned. I could see him barrelling a lot of speed in. Obviously the harder tyre was a lot more resilient. I could see it opened up on his car and I was like, āOK, hopefully itās going to run out of tyres at some stage, as I am, but it didnātā. I kept thinking Turn 6 is probably where heās going to try to dive up the inside, because I was just waiting to get the car turned. So I was just trying to cover that whole area, tip-toeing and positioning myself so I could get a good exit out ofā¦ it was really strategy-wise one of the most strategic drives that I think I have ever had to do in terms of finding that balance around the track to try and keep that gap. Iām sure we touched multiple times and I definitely touched the barrier a lot of time throughout the laps but luckily kept the car in one piece.
Q: Well done. Sebastian, starting fourth in Monaco and finishing second, is that a satisfactory result today?
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, certainly obviously we didnāt quite expect that, but the way the race went we were able to benefit from mistakes other people made. Obviously Valtteri got squeezed in the pit lane and then had a puncture and we were able to get that position and with the penalty Max had it was just about to stay in range. Two laps to go I had, I think, Antonio Giovinazzi, and I didnāt quite know if he would let me go, and I lost like two and a half seconds. So I was thinking, āIām queuing here the whole raceā, because I could see that Lewis was struggling, āand all of a sudden you lose three secondsā, and it was obviously the target to stay within these five seconds, but it wasnāt a problem until the end. Good result, but not a good weekend for us. Obviously to lose one car yesterday in Q1 and Iām not sure what happened today with Charles, but itās always difficult when you start further back. So not the luckiest race for us as a team, but I think the lesson from here is that we are not yet where we want to be, the pace isnāt there. I think today we sort of tumbled into second place. So we did everything we could but certainly we didnāt have the pace to put the pressure on and go for a bit more.
Q: I was going to ask you about that. You have at least ended the Mercedes run of one-two finishes but what are the key lessons that Ferrari takes away from this weekend and the first six races this season?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, pretty similar with the last couple of races. We had one race where performance was standing out and we were quite strong. But I think where we areā¦ I saw that Valtteri was faster but there was no way he was going to pass, as our straight line speed is really good. Itās just because overall we are lacking downforce, a weakness that we know. I donāt think the car is as bad as it looks. The results should be better here and there but itās very difficult for us to get the car in the window where it is happy. Certainly when we get it in there weāre more competitive but still a way from where we want to be. Thatās really the key lesson: we need to focus on trying to get the car short-term more in that window. Looking forward for the next three, four, five races, obviously make sure we improve the car, put more grip onto the car so that we can go faster, simple as that. But that guy seems to hide fairly well. I donāt know exactly where he is right now, so if you find him, or if youāve got his number, that grip guy, but weāve been looking for him for a while. I donāt think there are any secrets we will be able to unveil. As usual, attention to detail and a lot hard work is the only way to get us up.
Q: Valtteri, moving on to you, obviously the key point in your race was the pit stops. Just talk us through what happened in the pit lane from your point of view.
Valtteri Bottas: Yeah, key point! That was really the thing that made the race a bit more difficult. We stopped the same time as Lewis. We had a bit of a gap between us for the stop but I donāt know, for some reason my stop was a bit slow. Max got alongside me on the pit lane, even though he was behind before and in the pit lane he was slightly ahead but we were side-by-side. I kept my line, he kept drifting to the right. We touched, I also touched a wall because there was no space. I got a puncture for that, but honestly, I thought that when I got the puncture and had to stop again, that I was going to be at the back of the grid but luckily only lost a couple of places. So, unlucky but lucky at the same time. Could have been a lot worse. Still important points, obviously disappointing going backwards from where you start from ā sometimes it goes like this.
Q: We saw Max have a lunge at Lewis late on, and you were close to Seb for many of those laps. Was there ever a moment or position when you were trying to line-up a move?
Valtteri Bottas: For sure, when there was a few things happening, like a bit more traffic or the last few laps, I was trying to be as close as I could to be involved if there would be an opportunity ā but there wasn’t really. Sebastian wasnāt doing any mistakes. I think our tyres, the harder compound, lasted better than Lewisā and Maxās. I think the pace was there but no opportunities unfortunately.
Q: Lewis, returning to you. You talked yesterday about your feelings after crossing the line and taking pole position in qualifying. What were the emotions like taking the chequered flag and securing the win today?
Lewis Hamilton: Honestly a very, very mixed emotion day to be honest. On the one side, winning the Monaco Grand Prix is an incredible accomplishment and feeling. I donāt feel like Iāve won here many times and itās always felt like the hardest race to crack and win. Iām trying to get my mind into ā and Iām sure I will over the next couple of hours ā get my mind into gear in terms of enjoying the moment. Because it is an achievement that I like to think I can be proud of. But I think itās aā¦ I donāt know if anyone can relate to when the pressure just builds up when youāre at work and you probably slap your keyboard, or whatever it is. Itās one of those heated days for me in the car and it was so easy to just burst out and Iām sure I did at some stages but ultimately able to release and able to continue to take it out on the tyres and on the car. Fundamental I really enjoyedā¦ it was an enjoyable race. If it hadnāt been for the Safety Car, it would have been a much, much easier race for us. I think I would have got to lap 20-22, whatever it was and stuck on another set of tyres and probably cruised to the finish in a more relaxed environment ā butā¦ hopefully it wasnāt a boring race for you guys to watch but it definitely wasnāt a boring race for me in the car so I appreciate a tough race and ultimately, as an athlete, you always want the toughest battles and you never know when theyāre going to come. Iām definitely going to enjoy my evening tonight. Canāt wait to give my Dad a call and see what he thought of it, and my Mum, and Iām sure Iāll get my chance to talk to Birgit as well after the race because I wanted to let her know how much I appreciated her and her support over these years with Niki as well, keeping us connected.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Luke Smith ā Crash.net) Lewis, congratulations. Itās been a very emotional week for both you and the team, I wanted to know how you dealt with it, driving the car this weekend. Was it a case of putting everything thatās gone on out of your mind or the opposite to that? Was Niki very much on your mind when you were racing today? Was he with you racing?
Lewis Hamilton: I definitely feel like he was with my racing today. I mean, naturally I wore his helmet. I had a helmet made, last minute, a big thank you to the guys at Bell Racing getting that done for me. I donāt think Iāve ever worn anyone elseās helmet design. Of course Iāve but a bit of Sennaās Senna S mixed with mine, so it was kinda cool. I think Sebastian had one like it too. It was great that so many drivers, we all got to wear the caps ā I donāt know where my capās goneā¦
Sebastian Vettel: Itās in the pool!
Lewis Hamilton: Itās in the pool, yeah. Itās just incredible to see how much support thereās been for Niki across the world. Messages from all over the world and just how much respect and appreciation there is for him. Ultimately, as a driver, my goal one day is to hopefully be as respected as he was. Yāknow? Heās definitely someone who led by a great example, left a great example, and was a real hero to so many. In terms of getting in the car, youāre able to compartmentalise it and do your job. Thatās what we have to do as athletes and drivers. So, in the car, I was able to focus solely on doing it ā but outside of the bubble thereās that pressure of wanting to pull something special out and do something where itās so hard to do.
Q: (Scott Mitchell ā Autosport) Valtteri, you talked through the incident in the pitlane. It took a while for the decision to come but eventually Max was obviously given a five second time penalty that dropped him behind the two of you. Obviously he did his utmost to get ahead of Lewis to overturn that five seconds. Given the consequent it could have had on your race, did you think a five seconds time penalty is sufficient in that scenario?
Valtteri Bottas: Itās a tricky one because there would be no way I could ever gain back the position so I lost, except I gained, at least, Maxās position with his penalty ā but example the position I lost to Sebastian. Thereās no way I ever gain it back, so I think he got his penalty and I think itās OK. Not much to say more than that.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire ā AP) Question for Lewis. Toto was speaking on television after the race and he said he thinks only you can drive like that: a race from a World Champion for a World Champion whoās no longer with us. How highly does this performance rank amongst your wins, given the difficulties that you had. You had that pole position in Singapore last year which was probably your best pole position. In terms of a drive, how high does this rank amongst yours.
Lewis Hamilton: I donāt know. How many races have I done? Have I hit 300 yet? 250 or 280 or whatever it is, I donāt remember every single one of them, Iām sure if I was to watch back whatever race it is, I think I can reminisce but often the wet races have always been some of the trickiest to have overcome but out of the 200+ thereās obviously going to be a good five to ten solid races that are up there. I do believe this has to be in the top five of the hardest races. Iāve got a poor memory but I think itās the hardest race Iāve ever had.
Sebastian Vettel: How many races do you remember? If you have a poor memory?
Lewis Hamilton: I have the worst memory man! I donāt really remember much past the last race!
Sebastian Vettel: Every race is the greatest race then! If you donāt remember the other ones!
Lewis Hamilton: Definitely! Thatās the great thing. Itās the first time every time. I still canāt believe that I managed to finish where I finished, if Iām honest. I don’tā know how I did it today. There were just so many opportunities to make mistakes, so many opportunities to give up, so many opportunities to make an excuse. Ultimately the wrong tyre. It just seems to be one of those races where every time I come each year ā which I love, like all of us do ā something happens. Sometimes it goes OK, nine times out of ten itās not, somethingās thrown at me and it just doesnāt seem to work. Itās almost like Iām destined not to win here too often. I appreciate the couple that Iāve had ā and today I was like: āIām not letting go of this thing!ā I was holding on for dear life.
Q: (Phil Duncan ā PA) Congratulations Lewis, weāve already seen you jump in the swimming pool to celebrate ā what are your plans for the remainder of the evening to toast this victory?
Lewis Hamilton: I donāt have any plans. Honestly. Like I was saying earlier, thereās been a lot of races where Iāve literally just packed up, left, gone home, got home, switched the race on, watched the rerun of the race. Iāve tried to do that more often, so you get a better idea of what people have been seeing. A friend of mine texted me saying you donāt celebrate enough, or take enough time to appreciate these great moments, and youāre doing such a great job. So Iām trying to keep that in mind. It wonāt be a crazy night. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow. Iād like to enjoy a whole full day and get workouts on ā but Iām definitely going to try to enjoy a good meal tonight and maybe a glass of wine, for example ā or a fewā¦
Sebastian Vettel: Just say ābottleā.
Lewis Hamilton: An expensive bottle.
Q: (Luis Vasconcelos ā Formula Press) Question for Valtteri and Sebastian. Valtteri, you talked about what happened in the pitlane but it was also very, very tight with Max in the first corner. Can you talk us through that, and also if you were happy the start after two not-so-good starts. And Sebastian, you had a grandstand view of the incident in the pitlane, because you were right behind.
Were you worried at any stage it might spill into you as well?
Sebastian Vettel: If they block the road, yeah!
Valtteri Bottas: For me, I think the start was OK. It felt like a normal start. Max had a really good one, he was in the inside then for Turn One ā but I knew if I stay outside, carry the speed, should be OK. There was a small moment at mid-corner where I was kind of expecting him to hit me from the inside but he didnāt, so I was happy and I got a good exit and, job done.
Sebastian were you worried about the road getting blocked or hoping that more would happen in front of you?
Sebastian Vettel: I was surprised. Max must have an amazing pit stop first of all, because I think we were all just right behind each other and I came out just behind Valtteri but Max jumped him, so he had a better stop than both of us. But then there was nowhere to go. I was worried actually, because some of the guys further down the pit lane were, not panicking, but they did really well the mechanics of ā I donāt know what itās called now, itās not Force Indiaā¦ Racing Point! Sorry! Clearing the hoses and giving way to two cars, yeah, not sure Max saw that Valtteri was really side-by-side but it was just getting closer and I could see it coming.
Lewis Hamilton: Iām sure he did!
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, but Valtteri had no place to go, but yeah, I thought maybe thereās something I can benefit, which turned out to be the case. Valtteri was lucky, I guess the lead pack had
such a big margin to the cars behind that he had eventually another free pit stop ā but itās not ideal, obviously, it could have ended his race there.
Q: (Giles Richards ā The Guardian) Congratulations Lewis. This race is a bit of an outlaw in terms of form but weāre six races into the season now and this is usually the time when you begin getting stronger and stronger. Do you feel ā as you are now, going into the mid-part of the season ā that there is more to come from this car and youāre just going to be on an upward curve now?
Lewis Hamilton: I definitely feel that itās been quite an average performance from myself, maybe above average but generally quite average for the first six races. I feel like Iāve got the best I could get. Iāve arrived prepared ā the best prepared I could be ā but in terms of extracting the true performance from the car, I feel like Iāve struggled a little bit in these six races. I guess thatās kind of similar to other seasons but without doubt itās going to improve as the knowledge you gain over the season race by race, particularly with the tyres this year, where the window is even smaller and maximisingā¦ I do anticipate things will get better as it will be for all of us. I hope, at some stage, that Iām able to crack the issues that Iāve had and get back to the form that I have within me. Whether thatās the next race or ten races from now, I canāt really say but I am very, very focused on making sure I rectify any of those.
Q: (George Bolton ā The Sun) Lewis, what do you and the team need to do ahead of Canada? Did today feel a bit too close?
Lewis Hamilton: They were as close as they could be. We came here this weekend, the car was really great whilst weāve done a great job in qualifying. Itās always a lot closer here. Our race performance generally was very very strong. Obviously we were on the wrong tyres, so strategically we could have done a better job, without doubt. We donāt always get that perfect and on todayās case, I think weāll definitely learn from it and what doesnāt break you only makes you stronger so I think going into the next race, a lot of analysis will be made and particularly towards trying to understand the tyres better and deliver better in terms of our processes and on my side, trying to work even better with my engineers to try and extract more from my car. That means Bono and Marcus and a lot of the engineers trying to extract more information from ERS and positioning the information in the right way so I can deliver more from this car. And also I know the guys back at the factory are working on developments, so obviously at the next race I think we will probably have a new engine by the next race, so the car will continue to move forwards as we will.
Q: (Daniel Horvath ā Racing Line) Lewis and Sebastian: Max got a five second penalty for an unsafe release which is obviously not the driverās mistake. Do you think there should be another type of
penalty applied for scenarios like that or is it OK as it is now?
Sebastian Vettel: I donāt know. Obviously here is a tricky one to call because you have no space in the pit lane soā¦ Iām not a fan of penalties in general but then you need to find some way of limiting some of the actions, obviously. It was close with some of the hoses if the pit lane is not designed to have two cars fighting each other. Yeah, I donāt know. Iām sure they looked at it again and again and again From behind, it looked like Max should have left more space but as I said, this small decisionā¦ I donāt know if Max was ahead, so I donāt know if it was necessary to squeeze Valtteri so much. I donāt know if there was something in front of him. I canāt see that much beyond his car but as I said, in general Iām not a fan of penalties but Iām sure they had to obviously look at it and thatās what they decided, so fair enough.
Lewis Hamilton: Well, ultimately itās a team sport so you pay the price together, collectively. If we make a mistake on track, the team pays a price and if the team makes a mistake the driver pays the price, so itās one of those scenarios. Iāve not seen it but I could imagine that the unsafe release is not a good thing but I think itās a potential for shunts. I think someone coming inā¦ we saw at places like Budapest years ago and also the mechanics who are sitting in the garage or in the pit lane, so it puts people in harmās way so ultimatelyā¦ but again, Iāve not seen it. But I do think itās a team sport so we take the price together.
Q: (John McEvoy ā Daily Mail) Lewis, I think the funeralās on Wednesday in Vienna. As it stands, are you going to that?
Lewis Hamilton: Of course.
Q: (Mikko Hyytia ā Iltalehti) Valtteri, thereās a hockey game again tonight. Is it a way for you to maybe get rid of this disappointment and if Lewis doesnāt have any plans for tonight, maybe he can join you watching?
Lewis Hamilton: I definitely wonāt play hockey with him!
Valtteri Bottas:ā¦ to join because Iāve eight Finnish friends at my apartment. Theyāve probably been drinking for three days now.
Lewis Hamilton: Iāve heard that they canāt keep up with the Finnish.
Sebastian Vettel: I heard the fire brigade before we came in, they showed that your apartmentā¦
Lewis Hamilton: I probably wouldnāt make the next race if I go and drink with all the Finnish guys.
Valtteri Bottas: For sure itās going to be a hockey night. Finland is playing for the gold against Canada and yeah, weāre going to be cheering, thank you, and they can save the day, so hopefully they get a win and then we have a bit of a celebration.
Sebastian Vettel: I hope Finland wins, because then maybe they donāt let you into Canada!
Valtteri Bottas: Thatās nice! Maybe I will have less fans in Canada. Weāll see.
Q: (Livio Oricchio ā GloboEsporte.com) To Lewis, how do you think the race would have been for you if you also had hard tyres? And also, Valterri, at one moment, around lap 63/64 you let Sebastian open up a gap to four seconds from you in order to make fastest lap, then quickly you were already on his gearbox so it looks like you had much better pace than him. Could you have won the race?
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, thereās all ifs and buts but if I had the other tyre I think it would have been a lot easier race for me. I think that the hard tyre we hadā¦ I hadnāt driven the hard tyre all weekend but we knew that it could do a whole race distance from our analysis so yeah, it would have been a much better gap behind me, thatās for sure, and it would have been much easier to have kept him at bay. But as I said, it made the race more challenging. Iām not going to say Iām ungrateful for it but it would have been nice to have a more chilled afternoon but I got by. I might have some grey hairs by now after that one but Iāll die it black! Have you (SV) got grey hairs?
Valtteri Bottas: Yeah, definitely there was a lot of pace left and I was kind of trying to see if I could get anywhere close to the fastest lap but a lot of pace. Honestly today the whole race felt like a Sunday drive around Monaco. It was a bit of a shame but thatās how it is sometimes.
Q: (Jerome Pugmire ā Associated Press) Sebastian, Mattia was saying that for you to win they need to give you a better car. Your last win was Belgium some 14 races (ago).
Sebastian Vettel: Whoās counting?
Q: (Jerome Pugmire ā Associated Press) Heās said āwe need to give Sebastian a better car for him to perform to the best of his ability.ā Do you agree with that or do you think you should also perhaps be doing better? Where do you put the share of responsibility, so to speak?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, Iām part of the team so I donāt put myself above. Iāve had some difficult moments this year where Iām fighting the car, Iām not really entering yet to the level where I feel a lot more comfortable and I feel comfortable to squeeze out more performance from the car but I think itās linked to the fact that we struggle to put our car in the right window. Once it is there, it is feeling better and youāre able to build up on that but it doesnāt happen very often but itās a combination of things. I think first we are lacking overall performance and that overall performance would help us probably to put the tyres more often in the window they would like to be in. I think itās not a secret, by now, after six races that these tyres this year seem a bit more critical to get exactly into that windowā¦
Lewis Hamilton: ā¦phone call.
Sebastian Vettel: Hang on. Youāve been giving the longest answers.
Lewis Hamilton: I wasnāt saying youāre talkative. I just said we have a phone call. Do you remember that phone call we have to do.
Sebastian Vettel: I remember. I was finishing quickly. Umm. Where was I? Anyway, I think itās not been the easiest and straightforward ride so far but I feel that thereās more potential in this car, thereās more potential in the team and as I said, Iām part of the team so Iām flattered by what heās trying to say but I think we need to stick together, we need to work hard and even if it would be nice to flip a coin and turn things around, probably for everybodyās sake except those two guys, itās not going to happen overnight. We need to work hard and pay a lot of attention to small things, to details in order to get closer and once we are matched I think we can put a lot more pressure on them. I will have a lot closer races but currently we are sitting too far away, behind Mercedes and probably a match on average with Red Bull is not where we want to be.
2019 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix ā de Monaco, Monte Carlo – Race Results
2019 May 26 Grand Prix of De Monaco Grand Prix Circuit Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. 1st Grand Prix 1950, Number of laps 78, Circuit Length 3.337 km. Race Distance 260.286 km. Lap Record: 1:14.260 Max Verstappen (2018)
Position Car Driver Team Laps Status
1. Car 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 78 1:43:28.437 ā Running |
2. Car 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 78 ā Running |
3. Car 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 78 ā Running |
4. Car 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda 78 ā Running |
5. Car 10 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing Honda 78 ā Running |
6. Car 55 Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault 78 ā Running |
7. Car 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 78 ā Running |
8. Car 23 Alexander Albon Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 78 ā Running |
9. Car 3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 78 ā Running |
10. Car 8 Romain Grosjean HAAS Ferrari 78 ā Running |
11. Car 4 Lando Norris McLaren Renault 78 ā Running |
12. Car 11 Sergio Perez Racing Point BWT Mercedes 77 ā Running |
13. Car 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 77 ā Running |
14. Car 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS Ferrari 77 ā Running |
15. Car 63 George Russell Williams Mercedes 77 ā Running |
16. Car 18 Lance Stroll Racing Point BWT Mercedes 77 ā Running – Canadian |
17. Car 7 Kimi RƤikkƶnen Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari 77 ā Running |
18. Car 88 Robert Kubica Williams Mercedes 77 ā Running |
19. Car 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari 76 ā Running |
NC. Car 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 16 ā DNF |
Note – Gasly scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. Verstappen received a 5-second penalty for an unsafe pit-stop release. Grosjean received a 5-second penalty for crossing the pit exit line. Stroll and Magnussen each received 5-second penalties for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Next Race: June 9th 2019 Canadian Grand Prix
Formula 1
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2019 F-1 Driver Championship | |||||||
Position | Driver | Car # | Team | Nationality | Wins | Top 3 | Points |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | 44 | Mercedes | Finnish | 4 | 6 | 137 |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | 77 | Mercedes | British | 2 | 6 | 120 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | 5 | Ferrari | German | 0 | 3 | 82 |
4 | Max Verstappen | 26 | Red Bull Racing Honda | Netherlands | 0 | 2 | 78 |
5 | Charles Leclerc | 16 | Ferrari | Monaco | 0 | 1 | 57 |
6 | Pierre Gasly | 10 | Red Bull Racing Honda | French | 0 | 0 | 32 |
7 | Carlos Sainz | 55 | Renault | Spanish | 0 | 0 | 18 |
8 | Kevin Magnussen | 20 | Haas Ferrari | Danish | 0 | 0 | 14 |
9 | Sergio Perez | 11 | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | Mexican | 0 | 0 | 13 |
10 | Kimi Raikkonen | 7 | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | Finnish | 0 | 0 | 13 |
11 | Lando Norris | 4 | McLaren Renault | British | 0 | 0 | 12 |
12 | Daniil Kvyat | 26 | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | Russian | 0 | 0 | 9 |
13 | Daniel Ricciardo | 3 | Renault | Australian | 0 | 0 | 8 |
14 | Alexander Albon | 23 | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | Thialand | 0 | 0 | 7 |
15 | Nico Hulkenberg | 27 | Renault | German | 0 | 0 | 6 |
16 | Lance Stroll | 18 | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | Canadian | 0 | 0 | 4 |
17 | Romain Grosjean | 8 | Haas Ferrari | French | 0 | 0 | 2 |
18 | Antonio Giovinazzi | 99 | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | Italy | 0 | 0 | 0 |
19 | George Russell | 63 | Williams Mercedes | British | 0 | 0 | 0 |
20 | Robert Kubica | 88 | Williams Mercedes | Polish | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2019 F-1 Constructor’s ChampionshipĀ | ||||
Position | Team | Wins | Top 3 | Points |
1 | Mercedes | 6 | 12 | 257 |
2 | Ferrari | 0 | 4 | 139 |
3 | Red Bull Racing Honda | 0 | 2 | 110 |
4 | McLaren Renault | 0 | 0 | 30 |
5 | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 0 | 0 | 17 |
6 | Haas Ferrari | 0 | 0 | 16 |
7 | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 0 | 0 | 16 |
8 | Renault | 0 | 0 | 14 |
9 | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 0 | 0 | 13 |
10 | Williams Mercedes | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2019 F-1 Race Results | |||
Date | Grand Prix | ||
Mar-25 | Australia | ||
Position | Driver | Car # | Team |
1 | Valtteri Bottas | 77 | Mercedes |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | 44 | Mercedes |
3 | Max Verstappen | 26 | Red Bull Racing Honda |
Date | Grand Prix | ||
Mar-31 | Bahrain | ||
Position | Driver | Car # | Team |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | 44 | Mercedes |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | 77 | Mercedes |
3 | Charles Leclerc | 16 | Ferrari |
Date | Grand Prix | ||
Apr-14 | China | ||
Position | Driver | Car # | Team |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | 44 | Mercedes |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | 77 | Mercedes |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | 5 | Ferrari |
Date | Grand Prix | ||
Apr-28 | Azerbaijan | ||
Position | Driver | Car # | Team |
1 | Valtteri Bottas | 77 | Mercedes |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | 44 | Mercedes |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | 5 | Ferrari |
Date | Grand Prix | ||
May-12 | Spain | ||
Position | Driver | Car # | Team |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | 44 | Mercedes |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | 77 | Mercedes |
3 | Max Verstappen | 26 | Red Bull Racing Honda |
Date | Grand Prix | ||
May-26 | Monaco | ||
Position | Driver | Car # | Team |
1 | Lewis Hamilton | 44 | Mercedes |
2 | Sebastian Vettel | 5 | Ferrari |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | 77 | Mercedes |