Love Below: Hamilton triumps in wet dry Monaco thriller

When Ferrari wrapped up the front row of the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton’s only real hope of victory seemed to lie in the hands of the weather gods. It duly rained before the start,and that proved decisive.On a day when it all went wrong for Ferrari, with both team and drivers admitting mistakes, McLaren made the best judgement calls. That, allied to some stunningly consistent pace from Lewis Hamilton, was enough to put the Briton back in charge of the championship standings…It all seemed over for Hamilton after he punctured his right rear tyre after hitting the wall exiting Tabac on the sixth lap, but McLaren switched to a one-stop strategy and got him going quickly enough that he only dropped to fifth. He passed Alonso and Raikkonen when both made early stops, then outran Kubica and Massa and was thus able to refuel on lap 54 and stay in the lead. The final safety car could have ruined it for him, but he kept his head for a brilliant triumph which he described as the highlight of his career. Kovalainen’s car wouldn’t engage a gear at the start of the formation lap so he had to start from the pit lane with a new steering wheel. When he got a clear road he flew, but eighth and the final point was the best he could muster on another unlucky day.

LEWIS HAMILTON- "I am absolutely over the moon. To win here in Monaco is the highlight of my career and an occasion I will always remember. I want to thank everybody in the team for their fantastic job, and also my family for their continuous support. It was a very eventful race. I started well and immediately overtook Kimi, and also saw a chance to attack Felipe, but then the rain got heavier and visibility worsened. At the Tabac corner, there was a lot of water on the track, and suddenly I had oversteer and hit the barrier. It was just a slight touch, but the tyre was damaged and I had to pit. Fortunately, the first Safety Car period helped me to close the gap to the front. We changed our strategy, and I had to make only one more stop. When I was about 40 seconds ahead the team told me over the radio to take it easy. The second Safety Car period brought more excitement, but I was able to control the race also after the second re-start. What a day and what a result!”