Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won the Monaco Grand Prix with a one-stop ultrasoft-supersoft strategy as expected, after running a longer first stint than his team mate Kimi Raikkonen at a quicker pace, who qualified on pole and finished second.

The same ‘overcut’ strategy was also used by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo to make up two places from his grid position and claim a podium finish. McLaren’s Jenson Button and Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein instead tried an early stop in the hope of gaining track position.

Most drivers adopted a one-stop tactic, although some tried an alternative approach. During the safety car period with about 15 laps to go, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took on a final set of ultrasofts in an attempt to get past the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton started from 13th on the grid and completed a long opening stint on the ultrasoft before ending up in a points-scoring seventh. A couple of punctures were noted during the race, because of a problem with the track at the exit of Turn 1 towards the end of the grand prix.
Leaving aside the safety car period, this was one of the fastest grands prix in Monaco ever held, with the fastest race lap set by Force India’s Sergio Perez being more than three seconds faster than the 2016 equivalent (which was already beaten on lap two today).

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING
“Although it was always clear that a one-stop strategy would be optimal, there was a very wide range of possibilities as to when the drivers could stop, clearly seen throughout the race. As expected, wear and degradation were low, which allowed for long stints even on the ultrasoft, even though track temperatures were quite high for Monaco. Congratulations to Ferrari for sealing a historic one-two at this very special circuit.”

TRUTHOMETER
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won the race using a one-stop strategy, as we expected. He started on the ultrasoft tyre and stopped for the supersoft on lap 39, five laps after his pole-sitting team mate Kimi Raikkonen.