Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Brendon Hartley was punted into retirement by Sauber driver Charles Leclerc after holding 12th at the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix. Leclerc slammed into the back of Hartley when his Sauber suffered a brake failure exiting the tunnel, with the impact forcing both drivers out of the race.
Race stewards decided to take no further action after investigating the crash, noting that the collision was caused by the failure of the left brake disc of Leclerc’s car and ‘not through the fault of either driver’.
“It was a tough race starting from 15th,” commented Hartley. “I had a pretty good start, but I damaged my front wing on the first lap at Turn 5 which was annoying.
“It was an uphill battle from there, the tyres quickly faded with lack of front downforce, but we held on and made a big effort to make the Ultrasofts last until the end.
“We pitted really early to make an undercut which was a good strategy, and towards the end of the race I was catching Carlos for P10, but then I got hit from behind by a Sauber.
“Charles (Leclerc) and I spoke afterwards and he said he lost the brakes, it’s pretty frustrating, but that’s Monaco. We were strong all weekend apart from Q1, where we didn’t get it all together. I was happy with how I was driving today but ultimately it wasn’t meant to be.”
Hartley’s team mate Pierre Gasly fared better finishing in seventh.
“My first Monaco GP in Formula 1 and my second time in the points, honestly, it was an amazing race! Starting P10, we knew it could be difficult but the car was just so fast! I tried to be careful with the tyres from the beginning, and when I was alone on track I could just push flat out because I was feeling good with the car.
“We managed to exit after the pits in front of the others and I fought hard to keep Hulkenberg behind because we know that in Monaco it’s hard to pass. I just tried to stay focussed and not to make any mistakes because in the end the tyres were quite used – It wasn’t easy but we managed to finish in P7. I’m just super happy!”
Race results
1 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 78 1h42m54.807s
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 78 7.336s
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 78 17.013s
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 78 18.127s
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 78 18.822s
6 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 78 23.667s
7 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Honda 78 24.331s
8 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 78 24.839s
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 78 25.317s
10 Carlos Sainz Renault 78 1m09.013s
11 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 78 1m09.864s
12 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 78 1m10.461s
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 78 1m14.823s
14 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Renault 77 1 Lap
15 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 77 1 Lap
16 Sergey Sirotkin Williams/Mercedes 77 1 Lap
17 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 76 2 Laps
18 Charles Leclerc Sauber/Ferrari 70 Collision
19 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso/Honda 70 Collision
– Fernando Alonso McLaren/Renault 52 Gearbox
Drivers’ standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Lewis Hamilton 110
2 Sebastian Vettel 96
3 Daniel Ricciardo 72
4 Valtteri Bottas 68
5 Kimi Raikkonen 60
6 Max Verstappen 35
7 Fernando Alonso 32
8 Nico Hulkenberg 26
9 Carlos Sainz 20
10 Kevin Magnussen 19
11 Pierre Gasly 18
12 Sergio Perez 17
13 Esteban Ocon 9
14 Charles Leclerc 9
15 Stoffel Vandoorne 8
16 Lance Stroll 4
17 Marcus Ericsson 2
18 Brendon Hartley 1
19 Romain Grosjean 0
20 Sergey Sirotkin 0
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