Vettel wins Monaco GP ahead of Ferrari teammate Raikkonen

Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, had started on pole position but as a result of strategy ended up anchoring Ferrari’s first one-two since 2010 instead of standing on top of the podium.

The Finn looked far from happy on the podium, staring fixedly ahead and taking gulps of the Champagne as Vettel sprayed his. “For the team it’s good, but not for myself”.

“Obviously it’s the best place to start for tomorrow, but it doesn’t guarantee anything”, he said later.

“Of course I can’t afford another weekend like this, at the going rate with the Ferraris quick”, he said.

Raikkonen told reporters he had “got the bad end of the story.it’s still second place but obviously it doesn’t count a lot in my books at least”. “It’s how it goes sometimes”.

“We [Ferrari] have two cars on the front to try and make the most of it”.

This could’ve gone to Button for his more than hopeful lunge up the inside of Wehrlein or Hamilton for his poor qualifying performance, but it’s Marcus Ericsson that wins this one.

Yesterday’s pole amply demonstrated that Kimi still has it, even though at time he appears to have lost interest to the extent that he needs a gentle nudge. He came in early after being held up by backmarkers. Then Ferrari called Raikkonen to the pits even though he enjoyed the sweet advantage of track position on a circuit where passing is awkward at best. I never got them working as they did in P1 from then on.

“Valtteri didn’t have any struggles today, so I’m a bit confused and I can’t pinpoint the problem”, Hamilton said.

“That is why I just had to let my guys know we are not going to give up“.

Hamilton had a near miss early into Q2 when his vehicle wobbled at the Massenet turn and he complained of a lack of grip.

That said, in another late move, McLaren, needing a replacement diffuser for Vandoorne following his Q2 crash took the Briton’s which will hardly have helped his mood. “It’s going to be a long, hard race“. “There’s some reason for everything that happens in life”.

By lap 50, it was 10.2 seconds and the paddock was abuzz with claims about Vettel’s undisputed status as Ferrari’s number one driver. If that’s the case, he’ll likely spend the rest of the season supporting Vettel’s title bid.

After trailing Raikkonen throughout the first stint of the race, Vettel managed to extend his first stint out longer than his Finnish counterpart and produce a series of quick laps to get the jump through the pit stop cycle.

“You’d rather have 2 points or 4 points rather than none because this might make all the difference at the end of the season when it gets tight in the championship”, Mercedes head of motorsport Toto Wolff said. “As a driver I can do what I want but we work as a team – as simple as that”.