2015 Monaco Grand Prix Sunday - Monaco Grand Prix
Live Text
Sort by
Hamilton pits, having been clear enough out front to not get too involved in responding to others' stops.
"Oh, we didn't make it," says Vettel on the radio.
Rosberg holds onto second ahead of Vettel, who certainly launched the Ferrari at Ste Devote in a bid to keep up the pressure.
Better luck for the other Ferrari - Raikkonen has jumped Ricciardo.
Better luck for the other Ferrari - Raikkonen has jumped Ricciardo.
Raikkonen is in as well, as the next part of his duel with Ricciardo.
So, Alonso's on the quicker tyre - but with 40 laps to make them last. There are 12 seconds between him and Button.
Rosberg pits, responding to Vettel's stop.
Raikkonen steps up his pace as soon as he is freed by Ricciardo's stop.
Verstappen's pitstop woe means that after their stops Button and Alonso have resumed in eighth and ninth - with Felipe Nasr's Sauber occupying the final point-paying position.
Ricciardo is in as well, rejoining well behind team-mate Kvyat who stopped earlier.
Vettel pits from third.
Ricciardo says he's struggling with the rears, and feels "close to the cliff".
Interesting that nobody felt the need to respond to Kvyat's earlier stop. He's seven laps into this stint on softs and the rest of the top six are still circulating up ahead on their super-softs.
Button stops from seventh.
LAWRENCE BARRETTO: "'Don't give up,' Toro Rosso tells Max Verstappen after a slow pit-stop dropped him out of the points. The main benefactor from Verstappen's misfortune is Saubers Felipe Nasr, who is now in the points having started 14th."
The Mercedes drivers are trading blows - Hamilton faster that time by and the gap is back up to 7.4s.
Vettel continues to fall away from Rosberg, he's now 2.1s back.
Vettel continues to fall away from Rosberg, he's now 2.1s back.
Rosberg's recent turn of speed has dropped Vettel. The Ferrari has fallen to 1.9s behind the Mercedes.
Rosberg continues to catch Hamilton - the gap is down to 6.5s now.
EDD STRAW: "Alonso did a good job there to maintain track position over Nasr - did a good job in the closing stages of that stint to preserve the gap."
Raikkonen didn't want to get closer than 1s behind Ricciardo earlier, but he's now just 0.5s behind the Red Bull and ramping up the pressure.
Alonso pits in the McLaren, he was running in ninth - he's served his five-second penalty and takes on a set of new boots.
Team-mate Button is running seventh, holding off Kvyat at present.
Team-mate Button is running seventh, holding off Kvyat at present.
Personal best lap (1m19.9s) for Rosberg that time around, so he's taken another two tenths out of Hamilton to bring the gap down to 8.3s. The world champion is still in the driving seat.
Hamilton, Monaco GP
Rosberg grabbed half a second back on the previous lap, after Hamilton got caught up with Stevens at the final corner.
EDD STRAW: "Hamilton's got a gap he could slot into in third place if he stopped now with some clear air."
Hamilton can't believe he's pulling away with such ease, he's asking if everyone else is "struggling with deg".
EDD STRAW: "Another pitstop problem for a Toro Rosso. Team seems to have more than its fair share of that sort of thing whether it's slow stops or unsafe releases."
Hamilton's lead is now up to 9s - he's taken nearly another second out of Rosberg and continues to race away.
Terrible - a problem with the right-rear wheel on the pitstop for Verstappen. That's his race massively compromised. He rejoins 13th.
LAWRENCE BARRETTO: "Unfortunately for Kvyat, he's rejoined behind McLaren's Jenson Button, rather than slotting into the 10-second gap between Button and sixth-placed Perez."
Verstappen pits - this is his chance to jump Perez.
Vettel briefly got within a second of Rosberg thanks to that traffic, but he's not been able to stay in DRS range. Radio chatter suggests both Germans could be pitting soon.
Hamilton's lead still building thanks to that traffic, he's now over 7s clear of Rosberg.
Just a second separates Perez and Verstappen now - but taking seventh will be, or should be, a lot tougher for the Toro Rosso driver than catching the man currently in the position has been.
Kvyat is the first of the leaders to blink. He pits for a set of softs.
Perez is asking for a front wing tweak at the pitstop, he wants the angle reduced.
LAWRENCE BARRETTO: "Nico Rosberg is having a shocker with the traffic today, the German lost 1.7s last time around of which one second of that was in the middle sector. The gap to Lewis Hamilton now six seconds and as a result Sebastian Vettel is catching."
The traffic is hurting Rosberg, he lost 1.7s to Hamilton on the previous lap. He's spend more than a whole lap trying to get past any of these cars.
EDD STRAW: "Hamilton is very close to pulling the required gap over Raikkonen and Ricciardo to be able to pit and come out ahead of them. Still needs a little more time though."
Hamilton, Monaco GP
Hamilton complaining that he lost time in traffic. He really didn't.
Vettel smells blood as Rosberg closes on traffic, the Ferrari is closing up.
EDD STRAW: "Alonso is actually pulling a few tenths here and there on Nasr. Advantage is now 26s. You'd expect his pitstop plus penalty to cost somewhere in the region of 24-25s.
By: Scott Mitchell, Edd Straw, AUTOSPORT staff, Glenn Freeman, Lawrence Barretto
Published:
Lap:
