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Cape Town - Lewis Hamilton came, ran third for a while behind a slow team mate and conquered, when Red Bull fumbled Daniel Ricciardo out of a second successive chequered flag; the Aussie having led comfortably from pole at the 2016 Monaco GP.
Two of the world’s three best Formula 1 racers also had a moment on lap 37, when Hamilton overshot his entry into Nouvelle Chicane. Regaining the track at an awkward angle, Hamilton’s loss of momentum allowed Ricciardo a shot at his starboard side.
READ: 2016 Monaco GP - As it happened
Hamilton, however, stayed in front through what has commonly been described as “a rude barge across Ricciardo”.
The Merc is just faster
What has happened, in truth, was that the Hammer was on the dried out racing line, necessitating Ricciardo to move onto a wider wet line. Read outs clearly show that Hamilton’s rate of acceleration started to exceed Ricciardo’s at the point where the Aussie’s front wing draws level with Hamilton’s rear wheels, whereafter the Merc left the Red Bull for dead.
To his credit, Hamilton never veered of the racing line either, leaving Ricciardo more than a car’s width at all times.
So, check it out on video; no foul there. The stuff-up was rather committed by Red Bull themselves when the team, inexplicably, fell over themselves to find the right tyres at Ricciardo’s second stop, after Hamilton had extended the life of his wets, committing himself to a single-stop gamble.
The ever more impressive Sergio Perez completed a podium line-up that had a little runt called Beaver or Bieber hanging around as well.
READ: Ricciardo - 'It hurts' after Monaco GP pitstop bungle
And yes, Max Verstappen crashed. Life is not always so simple when you’re 18, nor when you’re hitting the barriers at age 34, mount your front wing and drive a Ferrari F1 car at even more pedestrian speeds than ever before.
Thankfully, Kimi Raikkonen parked his car straight after the tunnel. But there was no indication that he would, perhaps, park it for good.