Monaco analysis - Mercedes finally hit the jackpot

For just under two hours and 18 minutes on Sunday afternoon talk of protests and ‘secret’ tyre tests was forgotten, as the Monaco Grand Prix did what it does best - serve up drama, excitement, tension and emotion. And no one was more emotional at the end of it all than race winner and Monte Carlo resident Nico Rosberg, as Mercedes finally converted their supreme qualifying speed into unbeatable race pace. We take a team-by-team look at the form book in the Principality…
Rosberg never put a wheel wrong, and withstood attack from Hamilton initially, then Vettel and Webber, not to mention two safety-car interventions and a red flag. This victory, which emulated father Keke’s 30 years ago, made them the only father-son duo in history to win at Monaco, and it was a stylish victory that confirmed the young German’s claim to be a top-line driver.
Hamilton admitted that he didn’t get it right when he was told how close he needed to be to Rosberg when the circumstance of the lap 30 safety-car deployment because of Massa’s accident obliged Mercedes to pit both drivers at once. That crucially dropped him from second to fourth.
It remains to be seen whether Mercedes have truly got on top of their tyre degradation, or whether their participation in a post-Spanish Grand Prix test with Pirelli may yet come back to bite them.
Both Red Bull drivers made great starts, only to find themselves with nowhere to go by Ste Devote. They were thus condemned to chase the Mercedes until Hamilton’s snafu handed them each a place, but there was no way this day for them to beat Rosberg and Mercedes. Vettel, however, stretched his points lead even more, as did Red Bull in the constructors’ stakes.
Ferrari had their worst race of the year. The F138 lacked pace from the start and front wing damage from part of Perez’s car hampered Alonso later on, too. The best he could manage was seventh, as the gap to Vettel grew. Massa started from the back, then crashed heavily again at Ste Devote. This time the team believe that something went wrong at the front of the car. The Brazilian was badly banged about, but was later released from hospital after routine checks, complaining of nothing worse than a sore neck.
 Raikkonen was a strong contender for fifth place until he was struck by Perez in the chicane on the 69th lap. The Lotus came off worst, necessitating a pit stop, from which the angry Finn recovered to an eventual 10th place. Grosjean was fighting for 12th place when he ran into the back of Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso. Both cars retired, and the Frenchman was given a 10-place grid penalty for Canada.